The ACT government has refused to release details of its public risk management strategy for the recent Spilt Milk music festival in which six cars caught on fire in the car park and one young woman died from the highly contagious disease meningococcal.
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A Freedom of Information request lodged by The Canberra Times was denied, cited by the ACT Chief Minister's information officer as being "contrary to the (sic) public interest information".
Around 45,000 people, many of them from interstate, attended the music festival held in late November last year.
Six cars caught on fire in Exhibition Park's northern car park off OId Well Station Rd after drivers were directed to park there.
Firefighters suspected the cause of the fire was as a result of the hot exhaust system of a vehicle igniting the dry grass underneath, and the fire quickly spreading to other cars.
Tens of thousands of dollars in property damage resulted as fire crews scrambled to extinguish the blaze. Access to the cars on fire was made difficult by the way in which parking had been managed.
Firefighters had to cut a hole in the chain link perimeter fencing to gain sufficient access to put out the fire.
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The question of whether the ACT government should accept liability for any negligence is still to be tested by vehicle insurers.
Keeping grass height at low levels within the Exhibition Park carparks in readiness for big events is a requirement, and mowing crews were seen cutting the grass several times in succession in the lead-up to this month's Summernats to avoid a repetition of the Spilt Milk fire issue.
A few days after Spilt Milk, an 18-year-old South Coast woman who had been admitted to the Canberra Hospital died of meningococcal, prompting the ACT Chief Health Officer to request people who attended the festival to monitor for symptoms.
The Canberra Times sought the strategy from the ACT government to ascertain whether fire risks and health risks had been properly and fully assessed beforehand.
However, access to this information - even in a redacted form - has been denied by the ACT government.
"This [risk strategy] document details the various risks which may affect the festival and could be used quite effectively to cause disruption to the safety of future attendees and staff," the information officer said in a statement.
"Importantly, the release of the document which has been developed in consultation with the police may hinder the carrying out of the police's duties given they are specifically referred to in relation to certain risks."
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