Ms CHARISHMA KALIYANDA (Liverpool) (15:29): I make a brief contribution to debate on the Emergency Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. The main purpose of the bill is to make miscellaneous amendments to the Fire and Rescue NSW Act 1989, the NSW Reconstruction Authority Act 2022, the NSW Reconstruction Authority Regulation 2023, the Rural Fires Act 1997 and the State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989, in order to streamline and simplify emergency and rescue management arrangements. The amendments proposed in the bill are important and necessary for a number of reasons. Most important is the need to ensure that our emergency services are best prepared in order to meet the coming fire season, which is likely to be quite serious and significant. We have already seen some initial indications of that.

The bill allows the NSW Reconstruction Authority to have the power to direct local councils and other relevant entities. The primary object of the NSW Reconstruction Authority Act 2022 is to promote community resilience to the impact of disasters in New South Wales through prevention, preparedness and adaptation, as well as recovery and reconstruction following disasters. The authority has a range of powers and functions under the NSW Reconstruction Authority Act 2022, including the power to direct local councils and other relevant entities to take action in certain circumstances. This power exists to remove red tape when urgent and immediate action is necessary to assist communities to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters. The direction power ensures the NSW Reconstruction Authority can work with local councils and relevant entities to unblock the system and keep things moving so that communities are better prepared for and recover more quickly from disasters.

As a local councillor I saw firsthand how emergency responders and local government can work closely together to not only respond to disasters, but also be the initial point of contact for many residents and the source of information, news and other resources that our communities look to during times of great change and natural disasters. The amendment to the NSW Reconstruction Authority Act 2022 is required to clarify that local councils, like other relevant entities, can be directed to take action in the exercise of any functions prescribed by the NSW Reconstruction Authority Regulation 2023.

The bill makes provision for the commissioner to be the local authority for the Western Division for the purposes of the Act. The amendment resolves an unintended consequence of the abolishment of the position of Western Lands Commissioner. The amendment proposes to specify that the Rural Fire Service Commissioner is the local authority for certain lands within the Western Division if the Minister does not appoint someone else to that role. Local authorities have key powers under the Rural Fires Act 1997 and the Rural Fires Regulation 2022 relating to the administration of rural fire brigades and bushfire prevention strategies. Section 7A of the Rural Fires Act 1997 provides that the Minister can appoint a person to be the local authority for land within the Western Division that is not within a local government area. Since the abolition of the role of the Western Lands Commissioner under the previous Government, parts of the Western Division that are not within a local government area have not had a local authority appointed.

The Rural Fire Service Commissioner has the power under section 14 of the Rural Fires Act 1997 to delegate any of the commissioner's powers under the Act to another member of the service. As section 7A is a ministerial appointment, the commissioner is unable to delegate these functions in the Western Division. The amendment rectifies an unintended consequence of the abolishment of the Western Lands Commissioner by making the Rural Fire Service Commissioner the default local authority where the Minister does not appoint someone else to the role, thereby removing an accidental administrative issue. The bill ensures that the commissioner will be able to exercise some powers as the local authority. Local authorities have certain responsibilities in relation to bushfire planning and preparedness under the Rural Fires Act 1997, and this amendment will ensure that the commissioner can exercise these powers in the Western Division or delegate them where appropriate.

The bill removes the requirement for the NSW Rural Fire Service to seek permission from Transport for NSW before closing a road to traffic. The obligation to seek permission before closing streets or public places was originally restricted to lands managed by rail authorities. However, this widened the impact of section 27 to roads not associated with the operation of a railway, which appears to have been unintended and has created operational problems for the Rural Fire Service. I am advised that the requirement to obtain permission from Transport for NSW to close roads has created significant practical difficulties for the Rural Fire Service due to the complexity associated with identifying whether a road is vested in or under the control of Transport for NSW or a different authority. The bill resolves this issue by allowing the Rural Fire Service to close roads without a requirement to seek permission first. However, it ensures that Transport for NSW will still be advised in a timely manner after a road is closed.

There are a range of administrative issues which the amendments proposed in the bill seek to clarify so that the Rural Fire Service and other emergency services are best prepared to meet the challenges of the coming fire season. I take my hat off to the Rural Fire Service and all other emergency services that have been involved in protecting our community over many years. Last month I visited the Casula Rural Fire Service Brigade for the launch of the bushfire season. The brigade's members included the community in their activities and hosted a much-loved feature of our community, a Bunnings barbecue. As a result they educated, especially, young families in my community, some of whom may never have experienced a bushfire season like the one we are about to have. That makes community engagement and awareness all the more necessary and important for many people within my community who may have migrated to the country recently, so that we can prevent situations escalating. For those reasons, I commend the bill to the House.