Message from Gippsland General Manager Malcolm McKenzie

Gippsland General Manager Malcolm McKenzie

The Gippsland community was responding to significant fires more than a week before Black Saturday, having experienced what is known as the Delburn Complex fire which burned out 6,000 hectares in a week. This was followed by the fires on the 7th of February where effectively 24,000 hectares were burnt out in one day in Churchill and Jeeralang alone. The ferocity of this fire and others across Gippsland was unprecedented.

I would like to express my appreciation to our volunteer and career firefighters, support staff and the many agencies that assisted in this massive effort to fight these fires. At one stage we had five Incident Control Centre’s operating in the Area which required high level logistics, technical skill and attention to detail.

As we return to a sense of normality in the Gippsland Area there are a number of initiatives being developed to assist the community to readjust and to re-establish businesses and general community activity.

The rehabilitation of the areas burnt by the fires is being supported by work being undertaken by land management agencies such as the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE), local Councils and catchment management authorities. The focus is on land restoration, especially in the areas of high erosion risk by providing treatments to prevent or minimise damage.

Land rehabilitation is a relatively new area of responsibility for CFA with our efforts being focused on restoring 150 kilometres of fire breaks and damaged fences surrounding 130 private properties in the Area. We are receiving a lot of support from the local knowledge of our staff and members as well as that of the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority.

A major community initiative is the proposed development and construction of the Callignee Community Hub which will encompass the new Callignee fire station, and a community hall burnt down in the fires. This is a multi agency project and a community consultative committee has been established, which includes Callignee CFA Captain Ian Hewitt, to meet the challenge of completing this project by Australia Day 2010.

Central to the recovery effort is the Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund (GERF) which is aiming to raise $4 million to be able to offer grants to affected local residents to assist in meeting immediate needs. One recent and very successful event was the Gippsland Emergency Relief concert held in late March which was attended by more than 16,000 people. Free tickets were distributed to CFA volunteers as a thank you for their efforts during the fires. This event raised a total of $130,000 and featured artists such as Evermore and Adam Brand.

There is also a strong economic development focus on encouraging visitors back to the Gippsland region to experience the hospitality and tourist attractions including; national parks, vineyards and the Gippsland Lakes to name a few. The recent Easter break saw many visitors to these areas and local businesses recommencing regular trading.

Although many businesses and individuals have been significantly impacted by these fires it is encouraging to see the resilience of the community starting to show through. All should be commended for their efforts.


Gippsland General Manager Malcolm McKenzie

Earthmoving Equipment working on rehabilitating fire breaks after the fires in Gippsland