What is the progress of the Governments smoke alarm installation program?
Mr KNOWLES: I remind the House that just a few weeks ago a very severe fire caused extensive damage to a Department of Housing home in Ambarvale. In fact, the fire was so extensive it damaged surrounding properties. It was a result of a candle left burning in the dead of night. The family at the property – a mother and her three teenage daughters – were sleeping but managed to escape the fire as a consequence of the hard-wired smoke alarms that were installed by the Department of Page 6025 Housing just a few months before. On investigation of the fire, the authorities made it clear that had those hard-wired smoke detectors not been installed the four people would inevitably have perished in the fire. I am very pleased to report that in just over two years since we began our hard-wiring program all 330,000 public housing tenants will be better protected by smoke alarms by the end of July this year. This work is the most significant improvement in home safety and security ever undertaken
Related Questions
- Can the Minister advise honourable members about the new requirements under the Governments smoke alarm legislation?
- How can I tell which smoke alarm in a multi-station (interconnected) installation initiated the alarm?
- Can you tell us about progress on the installation of home security alarm systems in judge’s homes?
