Brumby stalls on key bushfire proposals

The Victorian government is unlikely to engage in a mass buyout of homes in bushfire
hot spots and is resisting a multi-billion dollar program to bury powerlines
underground.
In its interim response to the bushfire royal commission's final report, Victorian
Premier John Brumby said the government also wanted more time to consider proposed
public fire refuges and replacing the bushfire services levy with a property-based
tax.
The government says it supports "in principle" 59 out of the commission's 67
recommendations.
Among them is the appointment of a fire commissioner, who the government says will
be in place in time for the next fire season, and increasing controlled burns to
five per cent of public land.
The government has also agreed to overhaul its bushfire safety policy with stronger
warnings and introduce an evacuation strategy. But the implementation of both
measures will hinge on further consultation.
While the government is resistant, one of the royal commissioners said replacing the
state's ageing electricity infrastructure, although costly, was inevitable.
Commissioner Ron McLeod said the commission was aware of the cost pressures on
governments but it was driven by a desire to make Victoria a safer place to live.
He said the electricity infrastructure referred to in the report had been in place
for 50 to 60 years.
"It's ageing infrastructure, it will gradually continue to degrade, it's exposed to
the elements, at some point in time it's necessary for that ageing infrastructure to
be replaced," he told reporters in Melbourne.
"It's not something a community can seek to avoid, it's an inevitability."
The premier and key ministers will travel to bushfire communities over the next two
weeks to consult with residents, with a final response expected soon after.
"The overwhelming majority of the recommendations made by the commission are
supported in principle," Mr Brumby said.
"Of those 59, there's probably half a dozen where we do need to talk to the
community about the implementation."
The government will also seek community input on the other eight recommendations
before releasing its final response.
Those recommendations include the underground cabling, home acquisitions, fire
refuges and a fire property tax.
Mr Brumby said the cost of replacing 59,000km of overhead powerlines - estimated at
$20 billion - was a huge expense and would have a significant impact on Victorians.
He expressed concerns that a voluntary state buyout of homes in bushfire areas would
jeopardise the recovery of towns like Marysville, which are popular for their
natural beauty.
"It would potentially undermine, I think, the viability and the confidence of those
communities," Mr Brumby said.
Commissioner Susan Pascoe said while the detail had been left up to the government
to implement, the proposed buyout scheme envisioned prioritising properties located
on ridge lines, surrounded by gullies and within 100 metres of forest.
The commission's report used the examples of Bald Spur Road and Pine Ridge Road in
Kinglake, which are surrounded by national parkland, where multiple fatalities
occurred on Black Saturday.
Other recommendations not immediately supported by the government include forcing
vendors to disclose their homes' bushfire risk to prospective buyers and extending
fire building codes to apply to non-residential buildings like schools, hospitals
and nursing homes.
Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu slammed the government for not supporting all of the
recommendations but said it had a poor track record of implementing them in the
past.
Mr Baillieu said a range of options was proposed for replacing overhead power lines,
not just underground cabling, and rejected suggestions it would cost billions of
dollars.
He said it was a reasonable proposition to buy out home owners who did not want to
remain in bushfire areas and he didn't expect the program would be taken up "in huge
numbers".