CHILDERS FIRE TRAGEDY

As the international community continues to mourn the 15 backpackers who tragically lost their lives in the Childers fire last month, the Beattie Government is taking steps to minimise the risk of this tragedy happening again.

Within 24 hours of the fire, I established a high level, multi-agency taskforce to examine a wide range of legislative and regulatory issues arising from the Childers fire.

That taskforce will make a preliminary report to me by August 31.

I also ordered an immediate fire safety audit of all accommodation premises in Queensland catering to the backpack market.

Fire officers are in the process of inspecting all these premises to ensure they have fully operating fire protection systems such as fire alarms, as well as fire evacuation plans and clearly marked emergency exits.

To date, fire officers have inspected 356 of 2020 premises offering accommodation to backpackers; including hostels, boarding houses, budget motels and hotels with backpacker accommodation.

Fire safety breaches have been identified in the vast majority of premises inspected - thankfully most of these breaches have been minor in nature and easily remedied.

They have included defects such as flat or missing batteries in smoke alarms, out of date fire extinguishers, defective light bulbs in exit signs, no evacuation plans and inadequate maintenance of fire fighting equipment.

Other identified defects are more serious - including obvious overcrowding; inadequate maintenance of fire fighting equipment, locked or blocked emergency exits, lack of fire alarm systems or systems that are not properly maintained.

Proprietors at all these establishments have been instructed to rectify these defects and will be subject to follow-up visits to ensure compliance.

The Queensland Fire and Rescue Authority is also in the process of producing multi-lingual fire safety brochures for distribution to guests in premises catering to backpackers.

These immediate measures reflect the Beattie Government's commitment to taking decisive action to minimise the risk of this tragedy ever being repeated here in Queensland.

I would like to place on record the Government's heartfelt thanks to those emergency services workers and volunteers who assisted the community during this difficult time.

The first auxiliary firefighters on the scene of the fire on that fateful morning had the dangerous task of rescuing backpackers from the burning hostel and controlling the blaze, while local ambulance officers treated the survivors.

Over the following days emergency services workers and SES volunteers from Childers and surrounding communities, police and community workers rallied together to provide every assistance to the backpackers and local residents.

The Premier and I visited Childers twice in the days following the tragedy.

While the feeling in the town was one of overwhelming grief, we were heartened and humbled by the professionalism and skill of every single emergency service worker and volunteer we encountered.

These men and women worked tirelessly to do everything they could for the community, from investigating the cause of the fire to guarding the privacy of the survivors.

To you all, thank you for your professionalism and your dedication