Brumby bailed up in bushfire town

Victorian Premier John Brumby's resolve to consult with bushfire communities has hit
a snag, with a Black Saturday survivor dismissing his listening tour as a media
stunt.
Callignee resident Tony Mann confronted Mr Brumby during a tour of Gippsland fire
areas on Tuesday, angry that the local community recovery committee (CRC) wasn't
invited.
The confrontation was another headache for the Labor government, which is under
pressure for not adopting all the recommendations of the bushfires royal commission.
Mr Brumby and key ministers have embarked on a two-week tour of fire communities to
canvass their views before formulating a final response.
But the goodwill tour backfired when Mr Mann, who was burnt out on Black Saturday,
accused the premier of not consulting widely enough during his tour of Calignee's
new fire station and community hall.
He said there were more media present than residents.
"It comes down to community representation and at the moment I can't see that here
at all," Mr Mann said during an embarrassing exchange with the premier.
"At the moment you've got literally no members of the CRC here."
Mr Brumby spoke briefly with Mr Mann in front of a throng of news cameras.
Their discussion continued at the home of the local Country Fire Authority captain,
who hosted the premier for lunch.
A spokeswoman for Mr Brumby later said some members of the CRC were also at the
lunch, adding that consultation with the Calignee community was continuing.
The opposition has lambasted the government for not adopting eight of the
commission's 67 recommendations and says the consultation has been done and it's now
time for action.
"If they're not careful they'll end up with a royal commission about the royal
commission," opposition bushfires spokesman Peter Ryan said.
"We have 67 recommendations that have arisen out of protracted, tortuous process
undertaken carefully over a period of 155 days. We've got the template to move
forward, let's do that."
Two of the most contentious recommendations shelved are proposed voluntary property
buyouts in bushfire danger areas and replacing overhead power lines, potentially
with underground cabling.
Mr Brumby said while there were a "small number of people" who would like to sell
up, most wanted to get on with the job of rebuilding their communities.
He said the cost of replacing power lines - estimated at $20 billion - had to be
weighed against putting more money into firefighting resources, like aircraft and
CFA equipment.
"Those sort of things that can put fires out quicker and stop them before they
spread, so these are all factors being considered," he said.
Mr Brumby conceded that meeting the new prescribed burning target of five per cent
of public land per year was ambitious and would take several years to achieve.
In other developments, Emergency Services Commissioner Bruce Esplin has indicated he
will stay in the job despite casting doubt over his future after being criticised in
the commission's final report.