So many Australians died in the bush fires, and it is heart rending.

Brumby says we're not in a bad state

Paul Austin
July 25, 2009

JOHN Brumby will go to India in September on a mission to rescue Victoria's good name as a destination for foreign students and tourists.

The Premier has conceded the recent spate of violent attacks on Indian students in Melbourne, and the massive coverage the assaults received in the Indian media, "did some brand damage to our state".

"It's important to visit and it's important to reassure the Indian Government and the Indian community that Victoria is a great place in terms of education and that Victoria is a safe place," Mr Brumby said yesterday.

He will meet senior Indian Government figures, business leaders and key media players during the 10-day visit that will take in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Mr Brumby revealed details of the mission during a wide-ranging interview with The Age to mark his second anniversary as Premier. He also:

■ Nominated Planning Minister Justin Madden as a potential successor to him as premier.

■ Rejected calls to sack or demote Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky, saying he had no plans to reshuffle cabinet before next year's election.

■ Warned that Melburnians could face tougher water restrictions next summer unless there was good rainfall in the next three months.

■ Conceded the performance of Melbourne's train system was "unacceptable" last summer but said he was confident the worst was over.

■ Gave a ringing endorsement of the performance of Country Fire Authority chiefs on Black Saturday in February, while acknowledging "systems failures" during the firestorms.

Mr Brumby said most of the recent attacks on Indian students were "the random assaults that occur in any big city".

"People need to take care about walking down narrow lanes late at night carrying a mobile phone and a laptop — sometimes that can invite danger," he said.

But there was "no doubt" some of the violence was fuelled by racism.

"To put it in perspective, it's a very small proportion of the crimes that were racially based … But if there's one case of violence or assault or abuse which is racially based in our society, it's one too many."

Mr Brumby said Mr Madden — who is moving from the upper house to the lower house at next year's election and has publicly signalled his ambition to be part of the Labor leadership — had the attributes to become premier.

"I like to think that if John Brumby fell under a bus tomorrow that there'd be a number of people who have the skills and capabilities and understandings to become premier," Mr Brumby said.

He agreed that Mr Madden would be one of them but would not name others.

"I'm not going to go into that, but I've made no secret of the fact that I thought it was a good thing to bring Justin down (to the lower house), to strengthen the overall team."

The Premier said he accepted that the public transport system had "failed Victorians" last summer — when the train network went into meltdown on hot days — and that the buck stopped with the Government.

"Governments have an overriding responsibility to manage the fundamental services well — so that's health and education and transport and community safety," he said.

"It's our responsibility — it's my responsibility — to make sure that the system works well."

But he said he had no plans to move Ms Kosky or any other minister, and that the overhaul of the system — including the $38 billion, 12-year transport plan announced last year — was starting to pay dividends.

"I am confident you will see continuing improvements in the rail system."

Mr Brumby conceded that water supplies would continue to be under extra pressure until the north-south pipeline began bringing water to Melbourne next year and the desalination plant began operating in 2012.

He said the Government would make a decision in November on whether Melbourne would have to tighten water restrictions this summer.

"I can't make a judgment about that now."

Mr Brumby urged Victorians to remember the successes as well as the horrendous losses of Black Saturday.

"I have supported publicly and very strongly our CFA, including its leadership, and I'll continue to do that.

"I think everybody in the CFA did their best to protect the state. In terms of effort and endeavour, I don't think you can fault that," he said.

Nonetheless, some "systems" had failed on the day of the fires. The triple-0 telephone service and the websites of emergency services had been overloaded and did not cope.

The Government was now injecting more money into those areas, and preparations for this fire season would be the most comprehensive in the state's history.

Mr Brumby said people should not forget that the CFA had saved countless lives on Black Saturday by quickly extinguishing a blaze at the foot of the Dandenongs.

"They made the right call and deployed huge resources there," he said.

"Had that fire got away, that would have unquestionably burnt through the whole of the Dandenongs and we would have seen a repeat of Ash Wednesday."