Aussie fires: Residents to sue S'pore co
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Aussie fires: Residents to sue S'pore company
SYDNEY: - A Singapore-owned energy delivery company is facing a class action suit over allegations that one of its power lines sparked last week's deadly Australian bush fires which broke out in the Kinglake area of Victoria state.
Residents there are launching legal proceedings against SP AusNet over a fallen power line which is believed to have started the blaze.
SP AusNet is 51 per cent-owned by Singapore Power and listed on both the Australian and Singapore stock exchanges.
The company said yesterday that it would cooperate fully with any investigation into the cause of the fires.
'We stand ready to assist the relevant authorities with their enquiries if it is necessary for us to do so now and in the coming months,' said spokesman Louisa Graham.
The company's priority at the moment was to restore power to the area as soon as possible, Ms Graham added.
Mr Daniel Oldham of Slidders Lawyers told the Melbourne Age newspaper that the class action lawsuit would be 'made on the basis of negligent management of power lines and infrastructure'.
The suit, which is understood to have been issued in Victoria's Supreme Court on Friday, is expected to cover residents, businesses and farmers who lost their homes in the disaster.
According to the 2006 census, Kinglake had a population of almost 1,500 people.
Other law firms are believed to be considering similar action.
The total cost of last week's devastating fires is believed to be more than A$500 million (S$497 million).
But SP AusNet's legal liability has been capped at A$100 million under a deal previously struck between the state government and private utility operators during the privatisation of the power industry in 1995.
Victoria Police Commissioner Christine Nixon declined to comment on the cause of the Kinglake fire, saying that investigators were still trying to determine how it started.
She also refused to confirm reports that a power line and pole had been taken away as evidence.
'We have taken a range of evidence and we will, obviously, be working with fire authorities about what might have caused it,' she said in a television interview.
'I understand that there is some legal action that people are taking, but at this stage, we are still investigating its cause.'
However, Ms Fran Bailey, a federal politician who lives in the area, claimed that firemen had told her that one of the lines had been broken in the high winds. She said the line whipped against the ground and sparked.
SP AusNet is one of Australia's largest publicly-listed energy delivery businesses, employing 1,300 people in its electricity and gas network.
It serves 600,000 customers in Victoria over an area covering more than 80,000 sq km.
On its website, the company declares it is 'committed to continually improving our performance by investing in upgrades and the maintenance of our networks'.
SP AusNet Finance Trust holds most of the debt of the SP AusNet Group and provides financing.
SPI Management Services, which is a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Singapore Power, provides core management services to the Australian operation.
A week after the inferno, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday returned to Victoria to attend a memorial service in honour of the victims.
He paid tribute to volunteer firefighters and expressed his confidence that the destroyed communities would rise again.
'As we move forward we intend and we resolve to be with you every step of the way,' he said.
Church services were held all over Australia as the country remembered those who died in the worst bush fires the nation has ever suffered.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard pledged that the government would enforce a national early warning system for natural disasters.
It followed criticism that not enough had been done to alert those caught up in the Victoria conflagration.
'We're bringing a spirit of determination to getting this done,' she promised.
Survivors from Marysville, one of the worst-hit communities, were able to return to their village for the first time over the weekend.
As many as 100 of the population of 600 died and hardly a building was left standing.
The residents set off in a convoy of coaches on the understanding that they would not be allowed off the bus or to take photographs when they got there.
When they finally arrived, many said it looked like a bomb had been dropped on the area.
'It was worse than any war film I have ever seen,' said Ms Jenny Pullen, who lost her home and four cottages which she rented out to tourists.
'It was as black as black can be, blacker than ever I've seen before, not even a blade of grass,' she added.
Victoria's death toll remained at 181 last night, but it is expected to increase as emergency workers find more bodies.
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relac... must see temasek holding got any stake in the company bo...
But then again, I feel sorry for sam who lost her home due to the wildfire... she so innocent...
Oh btw, I was refering to Sam the koala bear...
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who changed my title till so 文绉绉 and which cb moved it here?
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is this 拉�出屎怪马桶?
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原æ�¥you are the è‡é©¬æ¡¶
why can't it be chit chat?
must be political meh? -
i referring to the news lah
why u æ¤åœ°æ— 银三百两? -
tsk si fifi
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u both very cute
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ppl want to sue us liao leh, 还 cute......
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sue the company or sue fifi?
arbor ish fifi the owner of the coy?
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Old man, its your fault, keep playing mousehunt, don't want to watch the stove.
Go out, never turn off the water heater, and the clothes iron. -
u see lah, how can this thread be in this kind of cb forum?
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Originally posted by TehJarVu:
u see lah, how can this thread be in this kind of cb forum?
you mean sgforums?
anyway, they can try sueing... But how strong their case and who is really at fault still remains to be seen.
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Originally posted by laurence82:
sue the company or sue fifi?
arbor ish fifi the owner of the coy?
sue ah gong lah.
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One spark does not ignite everything. They shud also sue their own countrymen for starting the fires in other areas...
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SP Aus Net is protected by the cap of legal liability and insurance.
Also,the law firm involved is very active for this kind of legal claim.
http://www.slidders.com.au/wb/safe.php?page=11
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Class-action suit premature, says A-G
SYDNEY: - Victoria state Attorney- General Rob Hulls has attacked the filing of a class-action suit even before the causes of the recent deadly Australian bush fires in the state have been established.
'There does seem to be an unseemly rush by some lawyers to the court even before the causes of these fires have been fully investigated,' The Age newspaper yesterday quoted him as saying.
His comments come in the wake of reports of a class-action suit filed against a Singapore-owned energy company by residents and land owners who suffered losses in the Feb 7 fires.
The people accused SP AusNet of allowing its power lines to catch fire, igniting the inferno at Kilmore and Beechworth that destroyed their homes.
The claim is expected to run to hundreds of millions of dollars, media reports said.
SP AusNet, which is controlled by Singapore Power and supplies electricity to areas in Victoria, has said it would defend itself against the lawsuit, although it called the claim 'premature and inappropriate'.
Mr Hulls was reported as saying that the coroner and a royal commission would investigate the causes of the fires. The commission has been charged with providing an interim report by Aug 17.
Several law firms in the Western District, in south-west Victoria, were reportedly considering acting on behalf of home owners affected by the fires, but some expressed reservations.
Law firm Slater & Gordon said it was premature to consider a class action until the royal commission released its findings.
'That process will necessarily take some time and, in our view, it would be wasteful, distracting and pre-emptive to replicate that pro-
cess with collateral private action,' The Age quoted the firm as saying in a statement.
The newspaper also reported that law firm Gadens Lawyers had been in discussions with a client about a legal claim against a power company, but had declined to act in the matter.