The federal and state governments have come under fire for the slow pace of the bushfire recovery in the Blue Mountains with the clearing of blocks lagging behind similar bushfire disasters in Victoria and Tasmania.
Blue Mountains mayor Mark Greenhill went on the attack last week, frustrated at inaction on the issue.
“I’m really troubled that three weeks has passed and no government-sponsored clearing of blocks has occurred. I don’t understand why the residents of Blue Mountains are being treated differently to the residents of other parts of Australia who have been through similar things,” he told the Gazette on Friday.
Three weeks after the Victorian bushfires in 2009 the state government had appointed a contractor, Grocon, to co-ordinate the clearing of bushfire devastated blocks. A clean-up contract was also announced shortly after the Tasmanian bushfires this January. No such action has occurred in the Blue Mountains.
Acting opposition leader Tanya Plibersek expressed concerns about the bushfire recovery progress last Thursday.
“Recovery and clean-up is being hindered by a lack of action from the government that simply does not understand the issues facing the community and businesses as a result of the most devastating bushfire seen in the Blue Mountains for decades,” she said.
Ms Plibersek called on the Prime Minister to take “urgent action on the recovery of bushfire affected areas by immediately adopting a clean-up strategy consistent with that implemented following the Victorian 2009 bushfires”.
But Blue Mountains MP Roza Sage defended the pace of the recovery, saying “every disaster and the clean-up operations that follow are different”.
“Taking a cookie-cutter approach will benefit nobody, least of all affected families. Safety is absolutely paramount and is the number one concern for me, the NSW Government and all the hard-working agencies involved in the effort,” she said.
“NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell has been quick to act on the advice of the Bushfire Recovery Committee, led by Phil Koperberg. I don’t accept any comments implying that Mr Koperberg is not leading this recovery in the safest and most timely fashion possible.”
But the mayor was quick to point out his concerns were never about Mr Koperberg’s handling of the recovery.
“Phil Koperberg has my complete support. What disappoints me is the inaction from government,” he said.
He said clearing the blocks was important for two reasons.
“It is obviously a key step in the reconstruction effort but it’s also an important emotional step because it tells people we’re moving on,” he said. “But while those blocks remain as they are people are emotionally stuck and physically stuck, moving nowhere. I’m concerned about the residents who have lost their houses but also those who are left behind in the streets with the rubble of the fires around them as a constant reminder of that terrible day.”
Blue Mountains-based Labor Senator Doug Cameron said he was “appalled at the dithering and delays between the Abbott and O’Farrell Governments at a time when immediate assistance is required by the Blue Mountains community”.
In defending the federal government’s handling of the recovery — including calling in Defence Force personnel to work with SES and RFS volunteers — Federal Member for Macquarie Louise Markus said the different levels of government were working together co-operatively.
“I am and will continue working with my federal and state colleagues to obtain the assistance required for recovery and will not be drawn into political point-scoring by Senator Cameron,” she said.
For his part, recovery co-ordinator Phil Koperberg said the NSW Government was “committed to making this [recovery] exercise as painless as possible”.
“At the moment it is moving as quickly as it can, in negotiation with the federal government, to see whether or not there can be a ‘one-stop shop’ approach to... the clearing of all sites. It is nevertheless a complex issue.”
Mr Koperberg said he continued “to keep the government advised on the urgency of this matter” and was hopeful a funding announcement would be made imminently.
He also praised the mayor and Blue Mountains City Council for their part in the recovery effort.
“We would never have got as far as we have without the resources they’ve made available and the co-operation they’ve extended to us,” he said.
