Robert McClelland (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Ballarat for her question and I congratulate her on the leadership that she has shown—and other members have shown as well—in respect to supporting the communities which have been so devastated by the Victorian fires. As the Prime Minister has indicated, the federal government will fully cooperate with and assist the deliberations of the royal commission in Victoria, which is commencing its public consultations today.

The disaster in Victoria has been described as Australia’s worst natural disaster, and certainly it is that in terms of the catastrophic loss of life and the extreme damage to property. But, regrettably, the description does not fit all of the fires because some of those fires, as we are now starting to learn, were deliberately lit. As incomprehensible as it is and as reprehensible as it is, as indicated by the attitude of all members in this House, regrettably it is the case. It has been estimated by the Australian Institute of Criminology that up to 50 per cent of fires in Australia are deliberately lit—at a cost of about $1.6 billion to the Australian economy. In that context it is necessary to have effective law enforcement measures, but it is also important to have effective prevention and deterrence measures in place. With that in mind I have established a national forum on the reduction of deliberate bushfires in Australia—the first of its kind.

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