2015-10-08
Mr BARBER (Northern Metropolitan) — We are now seeing on our TV screens images that we never wanted to see but knew that we would see again — that is, homes being destroyed by bushfires and people being evacuated. Our thoughts are certainly with those affected, as well as with the career and volunteer members of the emergency services. The emergency services commissioner, Craig Lapsley, said the day before yesterday that we have not experienced these types of temperature-wind speed combinations this early in the season in the history of Victoria, although climate scientists have predicted a longer and more severe fire season coming in light of global warming for many years prior to this.
Just today we saw a special update of the climate outlook released by the Bureau of Meteorology due to a significant shift towards a drier October, November and December nationwide, so it is pretty clear to me that climate-related risks are going to be the biggest challenge we face here in Victoria over the next six months. What we need to hear from the government, and in fact from almost every minister across the front bench, is their response to these climate risks.