The ACT Supreme Court has quashed a key finding from Coroner Maria Doogan's report into the 2003 bushfires that four senior officials ''knew'' the fires ''would burn into Canberra'' before the firestorm did actually hit the national capital more than six years ago.
Chief Justice Terence Higgins found yesterday that conclusion ''overstates the evidence to an impermissible degree'' and struck it out. But he backed the coroner on another 40 adverse comments she made in her report about the officials the then Emergency Services Bureau executive director Mike Castle, chief fire control officer Peter Lucas-Smith, planning manager Tony Graham and acting risk manager Rick McRae.
Among the comments the judge upheld was that the four men did know by the evening of January 17 that the fires posed a serious risk to the edge of Canberra, but they did not issue warnings to people in the urban area who were in the direct path of the fires.
Chief Justice Higgins also found it was open to Ms Doogan to comment, as she did, that her overall impression was ''that senior personnel at the Emergency Services Bureau lacked competence and professionalism and that the bureau was disorganised and was functioning in a chaotic, uncoordinated fashion''.
He also allowed comments that Mr Castle and Mr Lucas-Smith did not release accurate information about the true threat of the fires, Mr Graham's lack of experience in fire behaviour led to poor decisions including withdrawing crews from the fires on the night they ignited and that Mr McRae's system to predict fire spread and subsequently trigger community warnings was ''flawed'' and ''dangerous''.
The judge nevertheless also suggested the men ''did their best'' during the fire fight.
''It should not be inferred, of course, that the plaintiffs had deliberately ignored the need to warn the public. It was, however, open to conclude that they failed to respond to the growing fire threat in a timely and effective way, including the issue of warnings to the public,'' his judgement read.
He found Ms Doogan conducted her inquiry ''honestly and without fear or favour''. The four officials wanted the court to quash 41 comments made about them in Ms Doogan's report, issued in December 2006, arguing they had been treated unfairly and NSW firefighters had escaped any adverse comment, despite a NSW fire fuelling the firestorm.
For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times
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