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August 28th, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
WESTERN Australia’s police chief was left watching the cricket oblivious to an unfolding bushfire disaster in February that destroyed 71 homes because no one told him what was happening.
The extraordinary breakdown in communications meant the high-level state disaster co-ordination group chaired by Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan did not meet until five hours after homes began burning.
The sensational revelations put further pressure on embattled Police and Emergency Services Minister Rob Johnson, two weeks after a damning report by former federal police commissioner Mick Keelty found his Fire and Emergency Services Authority was incompetent and deceitful.
FESA chief Jo Harrison-Ward was forced to resign but Mr Johnson has refused to accept any blame.
Opposition Leader Eric Ripper yesterday accused Premier Colin Barnett of “staggering complacency and arrogance” for continuing to protect him and demanded he be sacked.
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Mr O’Callaghan added fuel by declining to say whether he had confidence in the minister: “I’m not in a position to do that. That’s for the public of Western Australia to make decisions about, not me,” he said.
His office later sought to retract the damaging comment, releasing a brief statement advising that the commissioner was “prevented by law and by public sector policy” from commenting on a minister’s performance.
“My refusal to commit to a position this morning should not, under any circumstances, be interpreted as a personal view of confidence or otherwise and I would object strongly to such an interpretation,” the statement said.
Mr O’Callaghan said the first he knew of the devastation was three hours after homes began burning when his deputy became so concerned by media reports that he called him at the cricket.
He immediately left the one-day international match between Australia and England to convene a meeting of the state emergency co-ordinating group.
He said it was ludicrous the police had to rely on the media for the information: “I don’t think anyone would deny that,” he said.
He said his phone was on at all times but the only contact from FESA was a call at 2.30pm when he was told there was a fire but nothing more.
He was not told of any threat to homes, even though a number had already been destroyed by that time.
The Premier said Mr O’Callaghan clearly should have been notified earlier. “You would have thought the gravity of that fire, the serious situation, would have been brought to the police commissioner’s attention immediately,” he said.
But he denied it was relevant to Mr Johnson’s performance.
“What it does is make the point that what we need to have is a fire and emergency services commissioner, a fire commissioner in uniform clearly in charge able to deal directly with the police commissioner if that’s necessary,” he said.
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