Volunteer Fire Fighters Association

Even a hippy in Nimbin knows that greenies are to blame for the power and intensity of NSW’s latest bout of tragic bushfires.

“The Greens have to cop it on the head — they have been obsessed with no fires and no burning,” Michael Balderstone told The Australian as bushfires engulfed the north coast.

It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. They oppose any sensible land management that is proven to reduce the severity of routine regular summer bushfires.

And when the inevitable happens they blame climate change.

A fierce feud has ignited between NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro and the Public Service Association following revelations the number of rangers, who perform hazard reduction burns, has been cut by a third since the Coalition came to power in 2011.

The Public Service Association has accused Mr Barilaro of gross hypocrisy after the Deputy Premier blamed the department for contributing to the state’s catastrophic fire conditions by failing to carry out extensive hazard reduction in the lead-up to bushfire season, labelling his comments “worse than an insult”.

In this time of catastrophic drought and bushfires, when is modern Australia – with all its technology and science – going to listen to Aboriginal people and how our ancestors survived this harsh continent? Warren Mundine asks.

If you think humans can control the weather, the elements and the climate, you’re kidding yourself. You’d have more success as King Canute sitting on his throne on the beach turning back the tide.

We can never stop or control the weather, the elements or the climate. But with Aboriginal traditional knowledge of this continent and modern science and technology working together we can manage it better with less destruction and loss of life.

On the eve of a potentially catastrophic day of bushfires, Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall has admitted not enough had been done to reduce the risk.

Mr Marshall said more hazard-reduction burns were needed more regularly, as farmers said they are fed up with environmentalists pushing to lock up national parks to keep “pristine” forest.

It comes as Volunteer Fire Fighters Association president Mick Holton claimed NSW authorities currently perform hazard-reduction burns on less than I per cent of fire-prone land each year.

An inquest into the fires that burned in 2017 has ordered the RFS to work with farmers to improve communication during major bushfires.

The Coroner found that the origin of the fire was on the property known as ‘Flagview South’ Sir Ivan Dougherty Drive, Leadville. The cause of the fire was a lightning strike on or near the top of a wooden strainer fence post which caused the post to smoulder for a number of days before igniting the fire on 11 February 2017.

The VFFA has been pushing for improved land management practices that include cool burning and other mitigation activities since our inception in 2004.

The following article is being shared as a point of interest, a type of “media watch” so that we can openly debate and discuss the issues.

ABC – RN Summary: It’s been the most devastating September for bushfires in this country on record. Experts are warning of more unprecedented weather events than ever before, and they’re calling for urgent national leadership. In this special collaboration.

A Coronial Inquiry into the Sir Ivan fire near Dunedoo is investigating its cause and how it was handled. Faith in the management of fire services has been shaken, and reports suggest volunteer numbers are dropping.

The VFFA has been observing a trend in recent years where farmers are increasing their own firefighting capability. In some cases, farmers are pooling resources in a manner that is somewhat like the beginnings of early bush fire services in NSW.

Photo: Grant Johnston in Tenterfield

Like many farmers I have been fighting bushfires for over 40 years doing no more than any farmer in helping neighbours.

But in that time I have watched the Rural Fire Service (RFS) develop into a mega bureaucracy that is probably justified in the hinterland of cities and towns but appears overly bureaucratic and expensive around broadacre farms.

Let the volunteers make the decisions that have done all the firefighting for many years and have been fairly happy with the setup.

Since the release of the review, the Rural Fire Brigades Association Queensland (RFBAQ) has been pushing for place-based decision making that would allow local volunteer brigades to have the final say.

“I don’t think any rural fire brigade was ever consulted and gave their approval of an outside group coming to take charge of the fires here and take charge of your machinery and all the rest of it,” he said.

“I don’t think that setup is going to lead to harmony, I think it’s more likely to lead to conflict.”