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Royal Commission Hearings Begin

The 2009 Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission began formal hearings today with a preliminary directions hearing.

The early hearings address applications for leave to appear before the Royal Commission.

Public hearings commence on 11 May 2009 and run for approximately eight weeks.

Emergency Services Commissioner Bruce Esplin said the beginning of the Royal Commission’s official proceedings was an opportunity for change.

“Judge Stretton wrote in the 1939 Black Friday Royal Commission that ‘good must come out of bad’. This is a one in a hundred years opportunity for change,” Mr Esplin said.

The 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission was established on 16 February 2009 to investigate the causes and responses to the bushfires which swept through parts of Victoria in late January and February 2009.

The Commission is chaired by the Honourable Bernard Teague AO, and supported by Commissioners Ron McLeod AM and Susan Pascoe AM.

For more information and to listen to the Royal Commission via a live web cast, click here.