Brumby wants Marysville survivors home

10 Mar 2009, 6:25 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Victorian Premier John Brumby will seek permission from the coroner for bushfire survivors to return to the ashes of their Marysville homes under supervision.

Victorian Premier John Brumby will seek permission from the coroner for bushfire survivors to return to the ashes of their Marysville homes under supervision.

Mr Brumby made the pledge as it was revealed it could take months for bodies to be released to their loved ones and some may never be found.

Meanwhile, a political stoush has erupted over warnings issued in the lead-up to Black Saturday and the terms of the royal commission.

As question time returned to the Victorian parliament for the first time since the February 7 disaster, the government came under repeated attack from the opposition over its handling of the fires.

But Mr Brumby relented when asked by Nationals leader Peter Ryan about supervised access for Marysville residents desperate to return home.

Marysville has been off limits to the public for more than a month as police continue the search for bodies.

"I will raise the matter again with the coroner and with the chief commissioner of police but these are obviously very difficult matters where there are still some persons who are missing and some deceased persons who are yet unidentified," Mr Brumby told parliament.

"Under international protocols in those circumstances it is not usual practice either to release the bodies of deceased persons or to allow access back to sites."

Attorney-General Rob Hulls told parliament it could take "many months" before all the victims were identified and some, who had no remains, would be subject to coronial inquests.

The opposition has criticised the government for not providing sufficient warnings early enough to alert people to the bushfire threat.

But Emergency Services Minister Bob Cameron said there were "many" warnings and called for the opposition to show bipartisanship and decency.

"This is nothing more than despicable political opportunism," he said.

Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu also accused the government of gagging public servants by stipulating that all government agencies and departments be represented by one joint legal team at the bushfires royal commission.

"What's apparent is that the government is seeking to gag public servants from making submissions without fear or favour," he said.

"The notion that there be centralised control to stifle the flow of information is quite at odds with (John Brumby's) commitment and his promise."

Mr Brumby said the issue was a furphy and accused the opposition of impugning commissioner Bernard Teague's independence and integrity.

"This is a veiled attack on the royal commission," he told parliament.

The premier said separate legal teams would only blow out the cost and timeframe of the inquiry and the government was keen to see an interim report ahead of next summer.

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