Two weeks after Black Saturday, the Prime Minister of Australia was asked in parliament: “My question is to the Prime Minister, and I recognise that he answered part of this to the member for McEwen earlier. My question relates to the Prime Minister’s comments at yesterday’s memorial service that successive governments have failed in terms of bushfire management, and also comments made by Wurundjeri elder, Aunty Joy Murphy, from Healesville who said that Aboriginal people historically burned the land every seven years for ‘cleansing and regrowth’, but Black Saturday was a ‘torture of the land’. Prime Minister, could you elaborate on your comment and, given that every inquiry since 1939 has focused on fuel reduction in fire-prone areas, do you believe it is time we learnt from Aboriginal Australians, whose firestick management practices created the bush environment that white Australians are attempting to modify to a landscape that has never existed?”
Restrictions on burn-offs increase risk of bushfires, expert warns
One of Australia’s leading fire experts has warned that the failure to conduct enough controlled burns is exposing people to another large-scale disaster, declaring the lack of intervention is creating Black Saturday-sized fuel loads.
How much prescribed burning is required?
It is safe to conclude that it is not until we undertake a 15% pa burning program that we could expect no life loss. The gain at 5%pa is small but by 8% pa it is becoming very much better. There is informed opinion amongst fire managers that 10 – 12% is the optimum for fire protection.
Fire management – what has changed?
In the last decade there have been a number of developments which are pulling Australian bushfire management in opposing directions. These include: publication of several Australian compendia on ecology and management of fires, transfer of large areas of multiple use forests into national parks and the declaration of roadless wilderness areas, listing of frequent fire as a threatening process under environmental legislation, many very large and damaging fires and subsequent government enquiries, a number of international conferences on fire management, establishment of the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), a current trend of global warming, declining rainfall or droughts in parts of Australia, declining forest health in long unburnt areas and the ever-increasing numbers of Australians living at the urban/rural interface. Some of these developments are tempering the counter revolution, but the overall imbalance remains.
Catastrophic Fuel Loads, More Bad Fires, More Business
By Dr. Christine Finlay, (PhD, Bushfire Management, UNSW; BA Hons, Disaster Management, JCUNQ; BA UNSW) In my PhD, I find that fires in buildings were common news events, but until the 1920s stories on bushfires were rare. This change to
Firestick Ecology by Vic Jurskis
Aborigines came to Australia and burnt out most of the trees and bushes.
The megafauna starved whilst eucalypts, herbs, grasses and mesofauna flourished.
The ancient culture survived an ice age, global warming and hugely rising seas, forging economies in woodlands and deserts.
Europeans doused the firestick, woodlands turned to scrub, mesofauna perished, megafires and tree-eaters irrupted.
Foresters rekindled the firestick and greens stole it.
Megafires and declines are back with a vengeance whilst ecologists dream-up reasons not to burn.
Ecological history shows that we must apply the firestick frequently, willingly and skillfully to restore a healthy, safe environment and economy.
Beating bushfires: Who’s right – The RFS, conservationists, farmers, politicians or firefighters?
Who’s right – The RFS, conservationists, farmers, politicians or firefighters?
Decide carefully. If you live in the Blue Mountains or bushfire-prone country, your home could literally depend on it.
Words of Wisdom on Hazard Reduction
The following letter was sent to the Inspector General for Emergency Management in Victoria by John Mulligan, an 84 year old fourth generation East Gippslander. It was also sent to us.
Round them up and move them out – Lock it up and burnt it out
This article is republished as a tribute to Laurie Norton who passed away on Wednesday 18th March 2015. Laurie created the article for the April 2009 edition of the VFFA Magazine.
Laurie was a foundation member of the VFFA and our first treasurer. When Laurie spoke everybody listened. He was a man of great knowledge and conviction. He will be sadly missed.
“If only these people could work with nature – not against it… It is no longer an open pristine alpine area, but a mutilated jungle”
WA needs more controlled burns
Western Australia needs to have more controlled burns to curb the risk of out-of-control bushfires, the WA premier says.
Mr Underwood said Australia was “doomed to savage bushfires” without prescribed burns.