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10 March 2007 Media
Release Call for rural communities to be compensated. The response to the enormous losses and hardship experienced by rural communities as a result of the current bushfires should be based upon rebuilding communities rather than just disaster relief, according to a group of companies championing regional economic development. The "Champions of the Bush" (COTB) group is calling for an urgent response to the plight of rural communities. COTB Chairman Richard Rijs, of Patties Foods, said today that communities needed to be rebuilt financially and psychologically, and that direct compensation should be offered to individuals whose livelihoods had been decimated by recent bushfire events. "Communities should be assisted to make claim for their costs and out-of-pocket expenditure incurred in fighting fires and protecting water catchments from pollution,Ó Mr Rijs said. ÒBusinesses in rural communities must be assisted, to maintain employment and an ongoing skills base." The group regards the important lessons learnt from recent fire prevention methods as crucial pointers for the protection of rural communities and their water supply catchments in the future. It lists 10 aspects of fire prevention and the maintenance of assets which could be addressed for rural communities: 1. Fencing lost which divides Crown land from private land should be totally replaced by the government to a standard that precludes the passing of wild life. (eg: rabbits, wild dogs, kangaroos) 2. Fencing on private land which was lost to fire emerging from Crown land, ie: provide land owners with a grant to replace this loss to a standard suited to the nature of the land use. 3. Land holders who have lost what little feed they had should not be left to either buy-in unduly expensive feed or sell stock at rock bottom prices. (Following on from the financial losses due to the drought, farmers will have very limited capacity to restock, especially since that can only occur when the drought finally breaks and stock prices go sky high.) Low interest or interest free loans should be made available to viable farms. 4. Stock (animals, crops, plantations, etc.) that was lost in fire emerging from Crown land should be compensated to full market value. 5. Tourism is a significant component of many economies adjacent to fire areas. Some tourism marketing has already been undertaken through government funding. This needs to be generously extended to other fire affected tourist areas. 6. Privately stored water which has been used for fire fighting (and is in need of replenishment) should be replaced (at nil cost to the landholders). 7. Farm infrastructure losses (water supply, bridges, sheds, machinery etc) should be compensated. 8. Businesses that suffer losses due directly to the fires should be able to claim for offset for those losses. (Small grants and low interest Rural Finance loans, whilst welcome, are not sufficient.) eg: Farm produce that is lost to processors and impacting their ability to maintain employment and sustain sales. The losses and disruption incurred by releasing staff for the bushfire fight could also be compensated. 9. The CFA volunteers, people applying privately owned fire fighting equipment, bulldozer and grader drivers, and sandwich makers, should be directly compensated for their out-of-pocket expenses and income losses. 10. The government should re-establish new properly constructed fire access tracks and keep them open and maintained, so that future fires can be accessed readily. Mr Rijs said that "Whilst important fire prevention lessons had to be learnt from recent events on Crown land, rebuilding and restructuring regional economies should also be a critical area of focus for our local communities." Contacts: COTB Chairman: Richard Rijs, Managing Director of Patties Foods, Ph: 03 51501868 (Geoffrey Carruthers, Convenor of COTB, Ph: 0419 885 672) [Champions of the Bush Inc is a not-for-profit association of companies and organisations who are committed to regional development, employing collectively of 10,000 people in regional Australia.]
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