415:
bushfire evacuation, and during the commission various bureaucrats' performance and judgment was scrutinized, including
Commissioner of Emergency Services Bruce Esplin, and CFA Operations Officer Jason Lawrence but most significantly CFA Chief Officer Russel Rees. Rees's knowledge and the rapidity of his actions (mainly lack of) were questioned, and his defense included: that 7 February was the first day the Integrated Emergency Coordination Centre (IECC) had been tested and it worked well; that intelligence was unclear during the day; that the IECC were very busy; the fires were being fought from the inside and not the outside; and that he couldn't focus on one fire because it would narrow his statewide perspective. The commission's questioning explicitly revealed that Rees had not kept close contact with the progress of the Kilmore East fire. At 4pm, ten minutes before the Strathewen fires had consumed the area, Rees had accepted a state situation report claiming the fire remained in Mount Disappointment's forest and wouldn't reach Whittlesea for five hours, 30 minutes later the Kilmore East fire reached Kinglake West and swarmed Kinglake less than three hours later. News of deaths reached the Kangaroo Ground CFA office at 5pm and Rees said he'd first been informed of these deaths between 7 and 8pm. Rees was also unaware: of the aircraft line-scan taken after the fire erupted, chief fire behavior expert Dr Kevin Tolhurst's presence and predictive map he and his team produced. Rees's evidence explained that warnings weren't issued from the centre but from the periphery, the local incident-control centers (ICCs), the IECC's only responsibility was to place such warnings on the CFA website, but nor Rees or any IECC members saw the warnings.
407:
419:
passively shelter or evacuate to be stuck on the roads. The policy was defended by Esplin, who argued against the proposal of compulsory mass evacuation insisting that people intending to leave their homes should have been gone long before specific fires were imminent. He clarified that threat messages weren't a signal to evacuate but exclusive prompts to assist people who planned to defend their property. Robert Manne adds "In the philosophy of Bruce Esplin … the kind of mid-afternoon warnings the citizens north of
Melbourne so desperately needed on 7 February simply had no place".
744:
124:
22:
63:
398:; and Susan Pascoe, the Commissioner of the State Services Authority. The Commission was given very broad terms of reference, with Premier Brumby saying that the Commission would be "he most open inquiry that is possible. No stone unturned. Every bit of information on the table. And if that means calling ministers or premiers, or whoever it is, we will be happy to assist."
452:, Michael Ryan, one of the victims who lost houses in Bendigo and who works in forestry, said that Victorian authorities need to "manage fuels appropriately in diverse forest types, and residents at the rural-urban interface need to be properly prepared—and on 7 February the reality is that many were not."
414:
In the preliminary hearing on 20 April, commission counsel Jack Rush delivered in his opening address that an interim report assessing the inadequately short notice warnings would be delivered by the commission to the government by August. The report would evaluate the current "stay or go policy" for
431:
Manne drew his own conclusions based on the evidence heard at the Royal
Commission: "From the evidence collected at the royal commission, the cumbersome new bureaucratic machine, the IECC, seems to have operated like an army without a general, where no one thought it their responsibility to take the
418:
The working bushfire 'stay or go' (evacuate or protect your home) policy was scrutinized and severely questioned. The policy was founded on the empirical claim, researched by Dr
Katherine Haynes, that concluded that survival was more likely for people to be actively fighting the fire at home than
422:
In its final week, the commission looked at the fuel-reduction burns in
Bendigo and Gippsland. As it turned out, none of the 51 recommendations the commission handed down dealt with fuel reduction, but there was significant public concern that something more should have been done.
765:
779:
796:
435:"Because of the false empirical assumptions of the stay-or-go policy, many of those at the IECC seem to have convinced themselves that if last-minute warnings triggered flight, this would pose a deadlier threat than staying put.
276:
438:"Far too few inside the firefighting bureaucracies were willing on 7 February to break the rules, to disobey authority or to act spontaneously at time of crisis". The interim report was released to the public on 17 August.
819:
813:
807:
800:
783:
271:
248:
825:
772:
332:
266:
141:
87:
35:
711:
448:
379:
into the fires to examine "all aspects of the government's bushfire strategy", including whether climate change contributed to the severity of the fires.
673:
390:, would chair the Commission, to be assisted by two other Commissioners. On 16 February, the assistant Commissioners were appointed: Ron McLeod, former
188:
160:
340:
167:
41:
174:
847:
156:
842:
758:
586:
503:
554:
852:
181:
225:
207:
105:
49:
469:
644:
525:
145:
683:
495:
410:
A map of the fire events and fatalities on 7 February 2009 that were the main focus of the Royal
Commission
649:
387:
78:
706:
530:
360:
395:
134:
391:
243:
582:
757:
Archived
Website of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission as at 27 September 2010 (
8:
353:
73:
749:
376:
359:
that concluded on 31 July 2010 that investigated the circumstances surrounding the
356:
678:
383:
836:
406:
239:
611:
615:
620:
616:"Why we weren't warned: the Victorian bushfires and the Royal Commission"
473:
123:
472:. 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission Website. Archived from
558:
577:
575:
441:
572:
426:
739:
333:
Archived at Trove - Snapshot as at 27 September 2010
148:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
583:"Wide-ranging powers for bushfire inquiry: Brumby"
546:
382:On 13 February 2009 Brumby announced that Justice
834:
707:"Victorian fires: retrospective and prospective"
674:"Black Saturday report savages fire authorities"
820:Establishment and Operation of the Commission
496:"Brumby announces bushfires Royal Commission"
277:51 Recommendations in the 1st Interim Report
367:February 2009 which caused 173 fatalities.
157:"2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission"
50:Learn how and when to remove these messages
394:and the head of an inquiry concerning the
764:Letters Patent for the Royal Commission (
350:2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission
255:2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission
226:Learn how and when to remove this message
208:Learn how and when to remove this message
106:Learn how and when to remove this message
405:
814:Fire Preparation, Response and Recovery
780:Trove via National Library of Australia
773:Trove via National Library of Australia
766:Trove via National Library of Australia
759:Trove via National Library of Australia
606:
604:
272:7 Recommendations in 2nd Interim Report
835:
671:
642:
552:
808:The Fires and the Fire-Related Deaths
610:
442:Criticism of the fuel-reduction burns
704:
601:
146:adding citations to reliable sources
117:
56:
15:
587:Australian Broadcasting Corporation
504:Australian Broadcasting Corporation
370:
13:
848:Victoria (state) royal commissions
643:Devine, Miranda (20 August 2009).
555:"Teague to chair royal commission"
526:"Victorian fires royal commission"
427:Criticism of the stay or go policy
267:67 Recommendations in Final Report
14:
864:
735:
553:Austin, Paul (13 February 2009).
401:
31:This article has multiple issues.
742:
375:Premier John Brumby announced a
122:
61:
20:
826:The Statements of Lay Witnesses
672:Hughes, Gary (18 August 2009).
645:"Fire prevention on backburner"
133:needs additional citations for
39:or discuss these issues on the
698:
665:
636:
518:
488:
462:
317:– 31 July 2010
1:
843:Bushfires in Victoria (state)
624:. No. 47. pp. 22–35
470:"Commission draws to a close"
455:
7:
705:Ryan, Michael (June 2009).
81:. The specific problem is:
10:
869:
309:16 February 2009
853:2000s in Victoria (state)
650:The Sydney Morning Herald
446:In a guest editorial for
388:Supreme Court of Victoria
338:
328:
305:
285:
259:
361:Black Saturday bushfires
396:2003 Canberra bushfires
237:
411:
392:Commonwealth Ombudsman
386:, former judge of the
249:considered for merging
409:
142:improve this article
88:improve this article
77:to meet Knowledge's
712:Australian Forestry
476:on 14 February 2010
449:Australian Forestry
256:
778:Interim Report 2 (
771:Interim Report 1 (
589:. 16 February 2009
412:
254:
686:on 21 August 2009
534:. 9 February 2009
506:. 9 February 2009
346:
345:
341:Archived at Trove
236:
235:
228:
218:
217:
210:
192:
116:
115:
108:
79:quality standards
70:This article may
54:
860:
752:
750:Australia portal
747:
746:
745:
729:
728:
726:
724:
702:
696:
695:
693:
691:
682:. Archived from
669:
663:
662:
660:
658:
640:
634:
633:
631:
629:
608:
599:
598:
596:
594:
579:
570:
569:
567:
565:
550:
544:
543:
541:
539:
522:
516:
515:
513:
511:
492:
486:
485:
483:
481:
466:
377:Royal Commission
371:Preceding events
366:
357:Royal Commission
324:
322:
316:
314:
257:
253:
231:
224:
213:
206:
202:
199:
193:
191:
150:
126:
118:
111:
104:
100:
97:
91:
65:
64:
57:
46:
24:
23:
16:
868:
867:
863:
862:
861:
859:
858:
857:
833:
832:
748:
743:
741:
738:
733:
732:
722:
720:
703:
699:
689:
687:
670:
666:
656:
654:
641:
637:
627:
625:
609:
602:
592:
590:
581:
580:
573:
563:
561:
551:
547:
537:
535:
531:Daily Telegraph
524:
523:
519:
509:
507:
494:
493:
489:
479:
477:
468:
467:
463:
458:
444:
429:
404:
373:
364:
320:
318:
312:
310:
301:
281:
252:
232:
221:
220:
219:
214:
203:
197:
194:
151:
149:
139:
127:
112:
101:
95:
92:
85:
66:
62:
25:
21:
12:
11:
5:
866:
856:
855:
850:
845:
831:
830:
829:
828:
822:
816:
810:
804:
789:
788:
787:
776:
769:
754:
753:
737:
736:External links
734:
731:
730:
697:
679:The Australian
664:
635:
600:
571:
545:
517:
487:
460:
459:
457:
454:
443:
440:
428:
425:
403:
402:The commission
400:
384:Bernard Teague
372:
369:
344:
343:
336:
335:
330:
326:
325:
307:
306:Inquiry period
303:
302:
300:
299:
296:
293:
292:Bernard Teague
289:
287:
283:
282:
280:
279:
274:
269:
263:
261:
234:
233:
216:
215:
130:
128:
121:
114:
113:
69:
67:
60:
55:
29:
28:
26:
19:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
865:
854:
851:
849:
846:
844:
841:
840:
838:
827:
823:
821:
817:
815:
811:
809:
805:
802:
798:
795:
794:
793:
790:
785:
781:
777:
774:
770:
767:
763:
762:
760:
756:
755:
751:
740:
718:
714:
713:
708:
701:
685:
681:
680:
675:
668:
652:
651:
646:
639:
623:
622:
617:
614:(July 2009).
613:
612:Manne, Robert
607:
605:
588:
584:
578:
576:
560:
557:. Melbourne:
556:
549:
533:
532:
527:
521:
505:
501:
497:
491:
475:
471:
465:
461:
453:
451:
450:
439:
436:
433:
424:
420:
416:
408:
399:
397:
393:
389:
385:
380:
378:
368:
363:on Saturday 7
362:
358:
355:
351:
342:
339:Final Report
337:
334:
331:
327:
308:
304:
298:Ronald McLeod
297:
294:
291:
290:
288:
286:Commissioners
284:
278:
275:
273:
270:
268:
265:
264:
262:
258:
250:
246:
245:
244:Infobox event
241:
230:
227:
212:
209:
201:
190:
187:
183:
180:
176:
173:
169:
166:
162:
159: –
158:
154:
153:Find sources:
147:
143:
137:
136:
131:This article
129:
125:
120:
119:
110:
107:
99:
96:February 2017
89:
84:
80:
76:
75:
68:
59:
58:
53:
51:
44:
43:
38:
37:
32:
27:
18:
17:
792:Final Report
791:
721:. Retrieved
716:
710:
700:
688:. Retrieved
684:the original
677:
667:
655:. Retrieved
653:. p. 17
648:
638:
626:. Retrieved
619:
591:. Retrieved
562:. Retrieved
548:
536:. Retrieved
529:
520:
508:. Retrieved
499:
490:
478:. Retrieved
474:the original
464:
447:
445:
437:
434:
430:
421:
417:
413:
381:
374:
349:
347:
295:Susan Pascoe
242:
222:
204:
195:
185:
178:
171:
164:
152:
140:Please help
135:verification
132:
102:
93:
86:Please help
82:
71:
47:
40:
34:
33:Please help
30:
723:6 September
690:6 September
657:6 September
628:6 September
621:The Monthly
593:17 February
564:13 February
480:12 February
238:‹ The
90:if you can.
837:Categories
824:Volume 4:
818:Volume 3:
812:Volume 2:
806:Volume 1:
719:(2): 59–60
538:9 February
510:9 February
456:References
321:2010-07-31
313:2009-02-16
198:April 2022
168:newspapers
36:improve it
354:Victorian
247:is being
83:See Talk.
42:talk page
500:ABC News
251:. ›
240:template
72:require
797:Summary
559:The Age
329:Website
319: (
311: (
260:Outcome
182:scholar
74:cleanup
432:lead.
365:
184:
177:
170:
163:
155:
352:is a
189:JSTOR
175:books
725:2009
692:2009
659:2009
630:2009
595:2009
566:2009
540:2009
512:2009
482:2010
348:The
161:news
801:PDF
784:PDF
782:) (
144:by
839::
761:)
717:72
715:.
709:.
676:.
647:.
618:.
603:^
585:.
574:^
528:.
502:.
498:.
45:.
803:)
799:(
786:)
775:)
768:)
727:.
694:.
661:.
632:.
597:.
568:.
542:.
514:.
484:.
323:)
315:)
229:)
223:(
211:)
205:(
200:)
196:(
186:·
179:·
172:·
165:·
138:.
109:)
103:(
98:)
94:(
52:)
48:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
