DENYING the CFA legal representation at the bushfire royal commission has been a travesty of justice, says PETER RYAN

With yet another bushfire season on our doorstep, the horrors of this year's Victorian bushfires remain fresh in people's minds.

There's now a public expectation that lessons have been learned, and that with adequate planning and the continued efforts of our dedicated fire fighters, a similar tragedy will be avoided this summer.

The bushfires royal commission is playing an integral role in this process.

Established in the wake of Black Saturday, the commission, headed by Justice Bernard Teague, will hand down its interim report on August 17, with initial recommendations to be implemented before temperatures again start to soar.

But the refusal of the Brumby Government to provide independent legal representation for the Country Fire Authority during the commission hearings has been a travesty of justice.

In announcing the royal commission Premier Brumby assured Victorians that the commission "will have the capacity to examine every aspect of the bushfires - no stone will be left unturned."

It soon became clear the Government had a different agenda.

It has tried to sanitise the message presented to the commission by employing a legal team to represent all government departments and agencies, when some groups - including the CFA - undeniably deserve separate representation.

From the moment the commission ruled that only those organisations whose conduct was under scrutiny could be represented, the CFA should have had its own legal counsel.

The "stay or go policy" and emergency communication failures on Black Saturday have been closely scrutinised by the commission and will be the focus of the interim report.

Senior CFA figures faced a barrage of questions on those questions while the Government largely escaped scrutiny.

For example, while it has been crucial to develop an understanding of what led to the loss of so many lives, several questions directed to the CFA should also have been asked of Emergency Services Minister Bob Cameron.

According to the Victorian emergency management manual, the role of the Minister is to ensure adequate measures are taken by government agencies and to co-ordinate the activities of government agencies carrying out their statutory functions, powers, duties and responsibilities in taking such measures.

Numerous issues should have been canvassed with the Minister as to how he discharged these responsibilities.

The Minister for the Environment should be made to answer questions surrounding issues of funding for back-burning and fire-prevention measures.

In recent years the Department of Sustainability and Environment has sought extra funding to curb the risk and severity of bushfires.

The Victorian Liberal-Nationals Coalition understands its bid to State Cabinet was rejected.

In April 2008, wind storms struck and the Triple O system was overwhelmed by calls.

The Government commissioned an investigation and received a report in September last year. By Black Saturday, it had done nothing to address the many issues the report raised.

Not surprisingly, this vital element of emergency communications failed again.

Previous reports to the Government about deficiencies in the state emergency warning signal which were evident in bushfires in the past few years were not addressed.

The Premier should be required to answer questions as to the funding of those and other vital communication initiatives.

On February 7, our brave CFA volunteer fire fighters did everything they could against all odds in the face of a monster - and the death toll would have undoubtedly been higher than 173 had it not been for these selfless individuals, many of whom lost their homes while protecting others.

But those volunteers and the public at large need to be certain that all the facts are out on the table.

Until the CFA has its own voice before the royal commission, people will wonder whether such is the case.

And one of the truly iconic institutions of Victoria will continue to cop a hammering without being able to properly defend itself.

• Peter Ryan is leader of The Nationals and shadow minister for bushfire response.