Page 479 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 20 February 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: The New South Wales government has absolutely not committed to a two-year maximum in out of home care.
ACT Fire & Rescue—equipment
MS CODY: My question is to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. Minister, what technology has the ACT government invested in this summer to prepare for bushfires?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Ms Cody for her interest in and support for our emergency services and safety for the ACT. Before I go into detail, I want to begin by giving my thanks to all of the hardworking personnel and volunteers from the ESA and parks and conservation who have been responding to the storm and bushfire season, and I thank their families for supporting them. They do an incredible job, and they are dedicated and passionate.
The government is investing in our front-line services as our city grows. The investment is being made in partnership with those who keep our city safe. I am proud that we have been able to roll out for the first time cutting edge specialist intelligence gathering—SIG—capabilities. This allows for live video streaming and spatial data collection of fires. A new infra-red camera will provide critical fire line and hot spot information in real time.
The recent Tidbinbilla and Mount Gingera fires were spotted by the SIG helicopter, enabling a speedy response. Without this new capability, these fires may not have been detected until the next day, when they were much larger. The real-time mapping and intelligence were used during the recent Corin fire to quickly identify areas for staging and refuelling to assist ground crews arriving at the remote location.
MS CODY: Minister, does this new investment extend to new equipment?
MR GENTLEMAN: With the help of the government, the ACT Rural Fire Service have taken steps to improve the safety of their members through the allocation of new personal protective clothing, PPC, that will update the 10-year old design and material. The contemporary PPC is lighter, better fitting and more suitable for a diverse volunteer workforce; offers superior fire protection and greater washability; and reduces heat stress.
Last week saw the start of a service-wide rollout of the new fire ground shirts, jackets and pants. The fire ground shirt is a new initiative for the ACT Rural Fire Service that will provide greater versatility when conducting fire ground operations. ACTRFS members can remove their PPC jacket, which reduces their exposure to heat stress associated with wearing the full PPC.
The government, through the midyear budget, is making a $2.3 million investment in firefighters from ACT Fire & Rescue to roll out the next generation of structural firefighting protective clothing. This is in addition to the $270,000 delivery of new structural firefighting helmets previously announced in the 2018-19 budget. The new
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video