Phil Koperberg

Philip Christian Koperberg (born 28 April 1943), is the Chairman of the New South Wales Emergency Management Committee, responsible for advising the New South Wales government on emergency response strategies, since 2011.

Dutch-born Koperberg arrived in Australia in 1953 from Indonesia.

Prior to his involvement in emergency management, he worked in various fields including the finance industry.

Koperberg fought his first bushfire as a teenager on the South Coast in 1959.

He joined the North Springwood Bush Fire Brigade (now Winmalee Rural Fire Brigade) as a volunteer in 1967, working his way up to become captain of that brigade in 1969 and fire control officer for the Blue Mountains Fire Control Officer between 1970 and 1982.

He held positions as the inaugural chair of the Fire Control Officer's Association, chairman of the Bush Fire Council of New South Wales and executive officer of the then Bush Fires Branch of the Office of the Minister for Police and Emergency Services.

In 1985 Koperberg was appointed Chairman of the Bush Fire Council of New South Wales and Executive Officer of the Bushfires Branch of the Office of the Minister for Police and Emergency Services.

However, in December he was forced to stand aside due to a police investigation regarding domestic violence allegations from 1987.

The NSW Director of Public Prosecutions declined to press charges and Koperberg was reinstated to the Ministry.

Almost immediately, it was revealed that Koperberg had been issued with an Apprehended Violence Order in 1987 after a domestic violence incident involving his wife of the time, Katherine Specking.

On 6 November, Sydney radio personality Alan Jones made comment on air in response to these revelations:

Before this he had been Director-General of the New South Wales Bush Fire Service from May 1990.

However, Gibson was dumped from Cabinet almost immediately when he was accused of assault against an ex-lover, former Minister for Sport Sandra Nori, in 1991.

Police later found Gibson had no case to answer.

In 1993 he became of Commissioner of Bush Fire Services.

Prior to his political career, Koperberg was the Commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) in Australia between 1997–2007.

In September 1997, Koperberg was appointed the RFS Commissioner when the Service was formed under the Rural Fires Act.

On 1 September 1997, following the proclamation of the Rural Fires Act 1997, Phil Koperberg was appointed to the position of Commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.

In April 1999 when severe hail storms battered eastern Sydney causing damage to more than 30,000 properties Koperberg was appointed to operationally coordinate the emergency control / initial recovery effort.

He continues to chair the Rural Fire Service Advisory Council, the Bush Fire Co-ordinating Committee and the State Rescue Board.

He is a member and director of the Australasian Fire Authorities Council and a member of the Institute of Emergency Services.

Koperberg was Commissioner during the following major environmental events, most of which involved his professional skills:

In separate action, a negligence claim was lodged in the ACT Supreme Court for damages against the NSW and Australian Capital Territory governments resulting from the 2003 Canberra bushfires.

Koperberg was listed as a defendant in the Canberra bushfires legal proceedings in which the appellant claimed that he called the NSW Rural Fire Service Fire Control Centre 24 times over ten days, but was ignored.

In hearings before the ACT Supreme Court, Koperberg admitted that at a meeting held in Queanbeyan he had understated the threat of the bushfires to Canberra's western suburbs.

On 2 November 2006 Koperberg announced his intention to seek Labor Party preselection for the state seat of Blue Mountains in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly at the 2007 state election after Attorney-General and Environment Minister Bob Debus announced he would not recontest his safe Labor seat.

"The move comes despite denials as late as this week by Mr Koperberg that he had no plans to seek preselection in the seat which Labor holds by a 14.8 per cent margin. Mr Koperberg's years of high profile work fighting fires would make him a popular choice for the bushland electorate."

Koperberg is a former Australian politician, was the New South Wales Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water between 2007 and 2008; and was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the electorate of the Blue Mountains for the Labor Party between 2007–2011.

In March 2007 he was elected to State parliament and appointed to the Ministry.

In 2007 it was revealed on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Four Corners TV program that legal action was launched by residents in the Blue Mountains against the NSW Rural Fire Service, the local fire brigade, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Sydney Catchment Authority, as a result of damage caused by the 2001 Black Christmas/Warragamba bushfires.

On 12 January 2007, Koperberg stood down from his role as RFS Commissioner in order to begin his campaign for political office.

Official notification was sent (via e-mail) to RFS staff the following day announcing that Assistant Commissioner Robin Rogers AFSM had assumed the role of Acting Commissioner.

In the 2007 NSW election, he was elected to the seat of Blue Mountains.

On 30 March, New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma announced Koperberg would be the Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water.

In the aftermath of the election, it was revealed that Koperberg's ex-wife Specking had been involved in an affair with Paul Gibson, the Member for Blacktown and as a result the two men were bitter rivals.

Koperberg had in fact earlier suggested Gibson was behind the domestic violence allegations, accusing him of running a smear campaign "bordering on evil".

On 2 December 2007, the claims regarding Koperberg's violence toward Specking re-emerged, this time with the additional implication that he had also assaulted his stepdaughter Paula Coad "with such force that one of her fillings was knocked out".

Further claims were laid that the NSW Labor Party knew of the allegations before Koperberg's nomination for election and attempts were made to cover them up.

He resigned from the Ministry on 22 February 2008.

Koperberg did not recontest the 2011 state election.