Bushfire report set for July 31 release

The Victorian government won't act on any recommendations from the bushfires royal
commission until almost spring, just weeks out from the start of the bushfire
season.
Despite an 18 month royal commission into the Black Saturday disaster that claimed
173 lives, Premier John Brumby says more consultation is needed before the
government formulates its response to the commission's findings.
Seven out of 51 recommendations made in the commission's interim report, released
last August, have yet to be implemented.
The final report will be made public on July 31.
Mr Brumby said a two to three week consultation period would follow so that the
"thousands" of individuals and organisations who did not appear before the
commission could put forward their views on the recommendations.
"I've always believed that if it's a choice between no consultation and more
consultation, it's best to allow the people of our state to have a say before we
make final decisions on things which will have a lasting impact on the people of
Victoria," he said.
Mr Brumby said the consultation period could run until the end of August.
The fire season is set to start as early as late October/early November and the
premier gave no guarantee the recommendations would be implemented in time.
But he did rule out releasing the government's response to the final report under
the cover of the federal election.
"If you're asking me if we're going to release a report on the day of the federal
election or the day before I can tell you categorically we're not," Mr Brumby said.
A progress report, released on Tuesday, shows the government has yet to implement
seven out of the 51 recommendations made in the interim report.
Particularly contentious is the declaration of Neighbourhood Safer Places (NSP),
which are a refuge of last resort in a bushfire.
The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) has been allocated $1 million since
Black Saturday to help 65 councils in bushfire-prone areas establish NSPs -
amounting to $15,000 per council.
But MAV chief executive Rob Spence said millions of dollars was required to cover
the expense of identifying and setting up safe places.
There are 94 designated NSPs in Victoria and Mr Spence said while more were being
designated, some areas were simply too bushfire-prone to meet the requirement of a
300m cleared space and would instead need costly fire refuges.
Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu is calling for a full day of parliament to be
dedicated to a bushfires debate.
But the premier said the debate could be accommodated within the regular
parliamentary schedule, as with the interim report.