STATEMENTS

Mr TAYLOR (Hume—Leader of the Opposition) (15:23): Mr Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation. The SPEAKER: Does the Leader of the Opposition claim to have been misrepresented? Mr TAYLOR: Yes, most egregiously, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: You may proceed. Mr TAYLOR: During question time, the member for Eden-Monaro said that I impugned RFS firefighters. I did no such thing and never would.

I was referring to the failures of national park management in the lead-up to the devastating 2003 fires in the Snowy Mountains. This is what I said in Kiandra, in the heart of the Snowy Mountains: Year by year by year, the National Parks decided they didn't want people here. … They thought the only knowledge or experience that mattered was in an office … or in a bureaucracy. … In January of 2003, the dry storms rolled through … and fire started and the National Parks said, 'We're not going to put them out' … So I did not blame firefighters; I blamed the mismanagement of the National Parks bureaucracy.

What I said was based on a Commonwealth report published in 2003 called A nation charred that showed evidence that the National Parks's mismanagement had resulted in excessive fuel load, inadequate hazard reduction, poor fire-trail access and a lack of management planning. I table this report, Mr Speaker. The member for Eden-Monaro should withdraw and apologise.

The SPEAKER: Is the Leader of the Opposition seeking to table a document? Mr TAYLOR: I do seek leave to table the report. Leave not granted.