Victorian Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio has again come under fire in state parliament over Powercor's "imaginary" power pole maintenance and replacement program.
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Member for Polwarth Richard Riordan on Tuesday evening asked Ms D'Ambrosio whether Powercor's program was in line with the Black Saturday Royal Commission's recommendations.
Mr Riordan said that in the week of the first anniversary of the The Sisters/Garvoc St Patrick's Day bushfire, which was caused by a power pole snapping, Powercor announced it would replace approximately 2200 power poles each year in the fire-prone western half of Victoria.
At this rate we would be relying on poles put in by the first fleet.
- Member for Polwarth Richard Riordan
"With 570,000 poles in the ground, that means it will take 259 years to replace them all," he said.
"Is Powercor's replacement schedule of power poles in south‑western Victoria in line with the recommendations of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission and the subsequent Grimes review?
"The manufacturer of the power poles used by Powercor in south-west Victoria, Koppers Pty Ltd, says on its website that these poles have a design life of 50 years in most environments.
"Given the replacement schedule of these poles is 259 years and with a design life of 50 years, on what basis is the minister able to assure Victorians in the south‑west that the government is taking their fire‑risk concerns and the power pole disaster seriously?"
On Wednesday, Mr Riordan said Powercor's power pole replacement program was "imaginary".
"At this rate we would be relying on poles put in by the first fleet," he said.
"After 10 years the minister still has no plan to manage potentially deadly infrastructure.
"The minister is happy to sit back and wait. Many home and communities cannot wait to know they are going to be safe."
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Ms D'Ambrosio has not responded yet, but she has made numerous comments in recent months acknowledging there has been community concern and welcoming additional inspections of 19,000 power poles in the south-west by Powercor.
"Energy Safe Victoria is verifying Powercor's results and I look forward to seeing the forthcoming report. We're taking action to reduce the risk of bushfires and protect communities across Victoria," she said recently.
"In line with the recommendations of the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission we have invested $200 million to replace powerlines in areas with the highest bushfire risk by 2019.
"We're investing $750 million to deliver the recommendations of the Royal Commission and taking every measure possible to reduce bushfire risks and save lives."
A spokeswoman for the minister said the Inspector-General for Emergency Management recently reported that the Victorian Government had delivered on all of the recommendations from the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission.
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