LAWYERS for the Victorian government have launched their strongest attack so far on the Bushfire Royal Commission's legal team over the team's criticism of the handling of the Marysville fire.
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Counsel for the government, Allan Myers, QC, labelled remarks about the management of the Marysville fire as ''irresponsible, sensationalist, adversarial, pointless and damaging''.
Mr Myers reiterated the government's view that no one involved in the firefight on Black Saturday should be adversely named.
Premier John Brumby later also said it was ''too early'' for the commission to make conclusions about individuals.
The commission's legal team has outlined a catalogue of failures regarding the management of the Marysville fire at this week's hearings.
For two days it has presented recommended findings about the February 7 fires to the commissioners for consideration ahead of their final report on July 31.
Counsel assisting the commission, Peter Rozen, said firefighters on the ground had been ''badly let down'' by commanders at the Department of Sustainability and Environment-run incident control centre in Alexandra on Black Saturday, with a ''disturbing'' lack of strategic planning in place on the day.
''Can the people of Victoria have any confidence that anything has really changed?'' Mr Rozen asked.
Mr Myers hit back, labelling the question ''risible''.
''The irresponsible implication of that question is rejected,'' Mr Myers said.
Such comments were not useful, he said. ''They will not help in dealing with these issues in the future and nor will they help ease the minds of those who suffered loss of family, friends or property on February 7.''
In response, senior counsel assisting the commission Jack Rush, QC, read to Mr Myers from the royal commission's terms of reference, saying his comments were ''tantamount to indicating that counsel assisting … should withdraw from the proper role and function it has in the royal commission''.
''We will not do so,'' he said.
Premier Brumby later said the government was entitled to put forward its view, but that it was up to the commissioners to make their judgments independently.
''I don't believe, and the government doesn't believe, it is helpful to conclude views now about particular individuals,'' he said.
Earlier, Mr Rozen commended emergency services volunteers, police and firefighters on the ground in Marysville for their efforts.
He praised SES volunteers and police for their ''courage and presence of mind'' in leading an evacuation from the Marysville Oval minutes before fire swept through the town, and singled out local firefighters for their willingness to leave town and fight the fire when it began at the Murrindindi Mill, 20 kilometres away.
Counsel assisting the commission also took issue yesterday with aspects of planning and management for the Churchill fire in Gippsland, in which 11 people died, but pointed to the Redesdale fire near Heathcote as an instance of ''exemplary'' management and response.
The hearings continue.
