The Federal Government has answered the call to provide a support package for businesses significantly economically impacted by the recent fires.

State Nationals MP, Tim Bull, who has made several representations over recent weeks on this issue, said he was delighted, but added it was now time for the State to stump up a similar offer.

“We have worked hard on this for a number of weeks with the State and Federal Governments and it is the Federal Government that has answered the call,” he said.

To qualify for $10,000, businesses must be 40% down over a three-month period compared to the previous year.

“What I would like to see is for the State to match this. The reality is, if businesses are down 40% over three months, it is going to be a lot more than $10,000, so it is time for Daniel Andrews to stump up a matching contribution,” said Mr Bull.

“It is supports like this that will alleviate the mental and financial stresses on business owners and help prevent the mental health issues that arise as a result.

“Mental health supports are important and needed, but if we can do more to address the causes, which are often financial, it will alleviate some of the need for a mental health response.”

Mr Bull said the problem with previous business supports was that only businesses that had been directly fire impacted were eligible.

“It offered nothing to those who had their peak trading period removed when the region was evacuated. They took a major economic hit over their busiest period of the year.

“The point I have been making for several weeks now, is that these businesses needed help to keep the doors open and that is why today’s announcement is good news.”

Federal Member for Gippsland, Darren Chester said there were a number of local businesses that would benefit from this support package.

“It is no secret that many in our commercial sector have done it tough and this provides a level of support that will assist them through this challenging period,” he said.

The Federal Government also is working with State officials to ensure people have greater access to concessional loans of up to $500,000 with “fewer documents and fewer security requirements”.

Caption: State Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, pictured at Esplanade Mini Golf Lakes Entrance has asked the State Government to match the Commonwealth’s support for fire affected businesses.

A new campaign is aiming to put maximum pressure on the Andrews Labor Government to increase fuel reduction on public land to better protect country communities from bushfire.

Nationals MPs recently joined Bush Users Group United (BUGU) to call on the government to adopt a five per cent target, as recommended by the 2009 Black Saturday Royal Commission.

Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull said East Gippsland’s devastating bushfire season had highlighted the urgent need to do more to keep our communities safe.

“The Andrews Government has recklessly abandoned a five per cent fuel reduction target on public land, leaving our communities at unacceptable risk,” said Mr Bull.

“We know that planned burns are absolutely vital to making sure that bushfires aren't as intense and aren't as destructive as we've seen this summer, but Mr Andrews has dropped the ball.

“Take the example of the Painted Line Track fire (pictured) on New Year’s Eve (which was a horrific day), when the crown fire reached the area which had been fuel reduced, the heat scorched the trees for about 20 metres on the east side of the track, but the fire was then stopped as there was no ground fuel to burn.

“The benefits of fuel reduction burning I think are best outlined in a presentation from a firefighter named John Fisher, who addressed a previous Inquiry and said:

The opponents of fuel reduction burning fail to realise the operational difficulty of fighting a wildfire in extreme conditions. The only option or tool that we have available is the manipulation of fuel in the fire triangle (oxygen, ignition and fuel is the fire triangle – the three things fire requires).

Even in a fuel-reduced area on extreme days there is no question that fires can burn through those fuels as well - on extreme days - but the moderating effect of that fuel reduction activity is quite profound and is quite useful in the periods of the day when those extreme fire behaviours wane.

“Closer to home an Inquiry after the 2011 Tostaree fire - which occurred in the area between Lakes Entrance and Orbost - concluded that the network of previous fuel reduction burns in and around the Tostaree area was an important element of the control and containment strategies used on the fire.

“Reports from local firefighters said it was only when that fire front hit the area that had been exposed to a fuel reduction burn that its intensity diminished to a level that it could then be controlled.

“Every year we put out large numbers of lightning strikes in summer, which we need to do to protect communities, but they would normally amble through our landscape in the warmer months before they hit an area that was burned the previous year or in recent years.

“When we put out all these lighting strikes, we alter what would normally occur and then we do not restore the balance when it is safer.

“In a warmer and dryer environment, if we allow fuel loads to build up again to record levels without the appropriate levels of control, this will just happen again down the track. We need to make up in the cooler months for what those lightning strikes would normally do in summer.

“The Nationals are committed to making sure that our communities are as safe as possible and that includes listening to the experts by recommitting to a target on planned burns,” said Mr Bull.

“I have initiated a petition that will be circulated in our most vulnerable communities in East Gippsland in support of this campaign.”

Leader of the Nationals Peter Walsh urged East Gippsland people to get behind the BUGU campaign.

“Fuel reduction burns save lives, it’s that simple,” Mr Walsh said.

“Victorians deserve to be safe and more planned burns will increase community safety.

“Daniel Andrews must recommit to what the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission recommended, a five per cent planned burns target.”

BUGU is a group of everyday Australians who are avid recreational bush users concerned with public land management in Victoria.  BUGU has over 15,000 members state wide.

Caption; Local MP Tim Bull says planned burns are vital to reducing the destructiveness of bushfires and cites the example of the wildfire at Painted Line Track on 31st. December 2019 (right hand side of photo) that ran into an area where a fuel reduction burn had been carried out in March 2019 (left hand side of photo) and helped to contain it.

Logging contractors have had a rare win with the announcement that they will be paid by Vic Forests in line with both their contractual obligations and the Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act 2005.

“The impetus for this came from timber industry businesses that were being threatened with penalties under a new State law that requires them to pay their owner drivers and contractors within 30 days of submitting their invoices,” said Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull.

“No one in the industry objects to meeting these payment terms, but logging business under contract to VicForests were telling me that VicForests was often not crediting their bank accounts until just before midnight on the 30th. day.

“Logging businesses quite reasonably would schedule the work performed by their owner drivers and set the due date of their invoices to coincide with the Vic Forests payments.

“But Vic Forests made it impossible to make same day payments to their contractors to comply with the 30 days payment terms of the Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act 2005.

“Late last year I asked the Agriculture Minister to instruct Vic Forests to at least make its payments to logging businesses during business hours.

“This week I was advised that Vic Forests has been instructed to do even better than that – it will pay two days inside the 30 days, which in the current environment is a rare concession for the logging industry,” said Mr Bull.

Caption; Local MP Tim Bull says logging contactors have achieved a rare win with Vic Forests bringing forward its payments by two business days.

There is no current East Gippsland specific tourism promotion after funds for the previous campaign ‘ran out’ at the end of February, but Daniel Andrews this week found hundreds of thousands of dollars for the AFL to have St Kilda play a home game at its home ground, which is astonishingly owned by the AFL.

The St Kilda v Port Adelaide clash was to be played in China, which now cannot occur due to Coronavirus, but it is ridiculous to pay money to have it back when you consider the AFL is the nation’s wealthiest sporting code, which had a profit of just over $48 million last year.

“It really shows where this Government’s priorities lie,” said local Nationals MP Tim Bull.

“East Gippsland is going to need long term support for its tourism and business sectors, so it is time we stopped seeing billions spent in the city and the country being ignored – this is our time of need.

 

“The Premier said it was being done to ‘have a celebration of our Chinese community’. Surely, he can pick one of the other 200 odd games to do this. It is ridiculous paying the AFL for a club to play a home game at its home ground which the AFL owns.

Mr Bull said it was appalling the East Gippsland campaign had stopped after the Premier said just a few weeks ago that he would stand by every fire-impacted community in their recovery.

“So how is it, the tourism campaign was so short, it was over in five weeks and finished just a week after the region was declared bushfire free.

 “Easter and the school holidays are coming. These periods will be critical for local businesses, but there is no promotion. It is a matter I raised in Parliament this week and hope to see an immediate response.

“It’s just another example of this Government saying what will be popular at the time and not backing it up with anything of substance,” said Mr Bull.

Caption: Nationals Gippsland East MP, Tim Bull says the region’s tourism promotion must be recommenced.

Re-opening of our National Park tourist areas and other visitor locations – like Cape Conran and the partially opened Buchan Caves Reserve – need to be fast-tracked by the State Government and timelines provided to communities.

Nationals Gippsland East MP, Tim Bull, said that while some areas required more work than others, it needed to be a strong focus of Government in the coming weeks and the local business sector holds the same view.

“The remainder of the summer and Easter in particular will be critical for our region. Take Cape Conran for instance, where access to the boat ramp is open, but popular areas such as Salmon Rocks (that requires a stair rebuild) and East Cape (the area’s most popular swimming beach) remain closed with Easter approaching.

“The Cape Conran Coastal Park camping ground is also closed and what is causing concern in the business community is that there are no timelines being given publicly for when these locations or the Park will re-open.

“I am advised the public cannot even book a camp site for next summer at Cape Conran on the Parks website.”

Marlo Hotel publican, Russell Bates, said the re-opening of these locations was critical.

“When areas like East Cape and Salmon Rocks open, I put on more staff, it is a simple as that. These are locations that attract large numbers of visitors.

“We also need to know what is going on with the Park itself. We know cabins were burnt as were the camping areas and it would be good to have a timeline for re-opening and also some detail on what will be rebuilt,” said Mr Bates.

Mr Bull said a number of the business community in the Orbost / Marlo area are seeking such details.

“I have written to the Minister asking Parks to provide timelines for the forecast opening of each of the public areas that have been fire impacted in the region to be made public.

“On top of this, it would be good to have the specifics on the works that will be undertaken and whether facilities will be rebuilt to an improved level.

“In relation to Cape Conran, there is a great opportunity to improve the facilities that were destroyed by fire into something not just aesthetically and environmentally appropriate, but really special.

“This is something I would strongly encourage and have suggested to the Minister,” he said.

Caption: State Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, pictured at the entrance to Salmon Rocks at Cape Conran has asked the Environment Minister to provide a timeline for the re opening of fire impacted parks.