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Free Community Newspaper for the People of the Bushfire Affected Areas Incorporating the tradition of ‘The Evelyn Observer’ (Est. 1873), Kinglake Advertiser, Whittlesea Advertiser, Diamond Valley Advertiser, Yarra Ranges Advertiser and Yea Advertiser
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editor@thephoenix.com.au FREE
MONDAY, MAY 4, 2009
‘4 CORNERS’ TV CLAIMS - FULL TRANSCRIPT BUSINESS VICTIMS MISS OUT Page 3
In an episode titled Eye Of The Storm, As the Royal Commission prepares for its first block of public hearings next Monday, ABC- Jackson focuses on the Marysville fire in TV has posed important questions about the which more than 30 people were killed. Black Saturday fires, in a report by Liz JackShe traces the fire believed to be lit near son of the Four Corners program. the Murrindindi sawmill, and which is thought
MILLIONS TO FLOW
‘Eye Of The Storm’
LANDY PROMISES THAT CASH PAYOUTS ARE ON THE WAY
$13 MIL. RAIL CASH SURPRISE Page 2
OPEN MINDS - TEAGUE Page 4
LOCAL FOOTY RESULTS Page 18
to have quickly spread to Narbethong and Marysville on the afternoon of February 7. With thanks to the ABC, The Phoenix Newspaper this week includes a transcript of the explosive TV program.
PHOTO: FOUR CORNERS
● Glen Fiske, Captain of the Marysville CFA, has been again thrust into the national spotlight when he was profiled last week by reporter Liz Jackson on the ABC TV series, Four Corners.Glen fought the Black Saturday fires, whilst his wife Lizzie and teenage son Dalton perished. Glen and his surviving children are currently living in a borrowed home and expect to return to Marysville. See P8.
BURN-OFF AMNESTY ■ There will be open-air 'burning off amnesty in Murrindindi municipality on the weekends of May 8-9, 15-16, 22-23 and 29-30, says Shire CEO Mark Henderson. "There is a considerable amount of fire hazard material (such as vegetation material, tree limbs and cuttings, dried leaves) within some residential properties in the Shire,” Mr Henderson said. - More details on Page 2
ONLY $34 MILLION of the $332 million raised for the Victorian Bushfire Relief Fund had been distributed to victims, Advisory Panel chairman John Landy admitted late last week. But this is now changing and money is being distributed at the rate of $1.5 million a day, the former State Governor, 79, said. Mr Landy said $235 million of the fund had been “made available”. Pay-outs as of last week represented just 14 per cent of the money raised for victims of the bushfires, which occurred nearly three months ago. Mr Landy made the facts available in an interview with Neil Mitchell of raqdio station 3AW. He detailed the funds being made available to home owners whose properties were destroyed and damaged, to tenants, and to folk who had been living in the bushfire affected region. There were also “needs-based” allocations of funds. Mr Landy, who has worked tirelessly in the administration of the unprecedented donated funds, said that the Appeal’s Advisory Panel may look to “re-visit” the region, and address needs as a cold winter approached. He exampled how cold Kinglake ande Flowerdale were likely to be this winter.
● John Landy
Mr Landy said people had to be assisted to survive “in very difficult conditions”. He spoke of the trauma associated with the fires, and the fact that 17 young people, aged under 18, had been orphaned by the Black Saturday fires. He likened Marysville to a battle-scarred area from World War II, especially when viewed from the air. He said only 14 out of 400 houses remained standing at Marysville.
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