St Patrick’s Day fire victims are waiting too long for compensation and insurance claims, south-west politicians say, as they call on the state government to speed up the process.
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Western Victorian Upper House member James Purcell said affected farmers had told him of their fears that legal action against Powercor over the fires would be drawn out and tedious.
“History tells us that insurers will drag out any settlement for years to reduce the resolve of farmers and minimise payments,” he said in Parliament, calling on Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford to ensure a quick resolution.
Member for Polwarth Richard Riordan said he had also heard concerns from those impacted by the fires.
“Many farms, farming families and community members are now suffering post-fire stress and heartache as the slow wheels of the legal redress system begin to crunch forward,” he told Parliament.
“Victims in my electorate are very much calling for a quicker and more responsive system. We must avoid the now 10-year legal process that many from the awful Black Saturday fires faced.”
Ms Pulford said litigation and the identification of fault needed to be resolved by the courts. “These things do need to run their course. Frustratingly, they can take some time,” she said.
“Everything within our control we have done as quickly as is humanly possible, and I think that the learnings from earlier events have certainly taught all others involved in litigation around these matters about the benefits of expediting matters.”
Ms Pulford described the fires as “an extraordinary event”. “The fire-affected area lost on-farm assets of a total value of just shy of $55 million,” she said. “The clean-up and recovery work continues. In total 295 properties have been impacted, and nearly 3000 livestock were lost.”
Maddens Lawyers has launched class actions against Powercor for the Garvoc, Terang/Cobden, Camperdown/Gnotuk and Gazette fires. About 190 people have registered to participate in the class actions. Maddens principal Brendan Pendergast said there was strength in numbers and urged affected people sign up.
The Victorian Supreme Court has listed each of the four class actions for a directions hearing on June 29.