Are Australia's State Governments doing enough to combat bushfires? The Stretton Group and Federal Liberal Party MP Stewart McArthur don't think so. And it seems the public is also unsure.

In October 2005, 49% of Australians believed that the Australian Government was doing enough about bushfires. A Morgan Poll released today shows that with winter approaching a majority of Australians (53%) now believe the Government is doing enough.  However the new majority is only slight and should not hide the fact that opinion is still split. As in the October poll only on water conservation and illegal drugs does the Government score lower.

With opinion divided over the issue, Stewart McArthur and The Stretton Group invited members of the public to attend their forum on National Parks and Bushfires last Thursday night (23/2).

Their invitation described a situation unfortunately all too common in Australia today:

"A lightning strike on Thursday 19 or Friday 20 January, 2006 started a fire at Mt. Lubra in the Grampians National Park. This fire burnt 130,000 hectares of National Park and surrounding private property. The Brisbane Ranges, near Anakie, had a similar experience."

“Minimal fuel reduction burning in these parks provided the ideal set of conditions for the devastation which ensued. Parks and DSE fire-fighters failed to extinguish the fires when they were small."

The Stretton Group has long been critical of the various State Governments handling of bushfires (Australia-wide) and their policy towards National Parks which the Stretton Group describes as “Lock ‘em up and Let’em burn”. In an ABC radio interview in 2004, Tony Cutcliffe said of the 2003 Victorian Bushfire Inquiry, headed by Emergency Services Commissioner Bruce Esplin,

“The big concern about the Esplin report holds true for all of the governments in Australia in that they've got state governments locking up National Parks and forests for the sake of promoting green credentials, but at the same time they're not devoting the money or the resources to look after them properly. So what they're creating is huge incendiary bombs in the middle of our community.”

McArthur and The Stretton Group believe that little has changed since 2003 purporting that the recent bushfires in Victoria “were a repeat of the 2003 fires of North East of North East Victoria and Gippsland. The authorities have learnt nothing.”

Controlled burning to mimic the natural cycle of fire and regrowth to reduce the potential for National Parks to become “incendiary bombs” is a common solution suggested by those who criticise Government policy towards bushfires.

 A newsletter from Forest Fire Victoria Inc. in 2004 asserts, 

“While some of the pre-European fires were large, they burnt where previous fires had produced a mosaic of fuels. The 2003 fire damage was caused because natural fires had been deliberately extinguished and little or nothing had been done to reduce fuels by planned burning or any other means. So these fires were "feral", behaving in ways alien to the natural processes that forests require for their health, diversity and sustainability.”

The environmental effects of bushfires are disastrous and, as mentioned, threaten biodiversity, but why are non-environmental groups so upset with State Governments’ handling of bushfires in National Parks?

First of all there is the human cost; the potential loss of life or injury, not to mention the physical and emotional strain placed on firefighters and volunteers. Then there is the uncertainty that accompanies life for those living around these ticking bomb National Parks.

Next there is the economic cost. Seasonal conditions such as drought and flood make conditions tough enough for farmers without the added burden of a potential property razing due to bushfire. Farmers and local businesses lose millions of dollars either directly or indirectly as a result of bushfires that could be prevented with a change in Government policy.

In 2002, Professor Sim of Monash University’s Unit of Occupational and Environmental Health, wrote,

“There are considerable economic costs to the community from bushfires. It has been estimated that the damage bill for the 2000 expected insurance claims from the 2001/2002 fires in Australia will be more than A$70 million, with at least as much again spent on fighting the fires. After the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires, a full economic assessment was undertaken. Including such costs as impact on state forests, bushfire mitigation methods, and medical treatment, the authors calculated the total cost to be around A$400 million.”*

Another issue arising from these “unnaturally” large bushfires borne from un-maintained National Parks is the potential loss of biodiversity which is not only an environmental concern but can have medical and scientific implications further down the track.

The Stretton Group is a strong advocate for accountability and good management of National Parks. Forums such as those put on by the Stretton Group provide an opportunity to raise public awareness of efforts to prevent bushfires as well as providing public discussion on possible future initiatives to limit the impact of bushfires. 

Speakers Jeremy Upton, Daryl Ferry, Robert Cooke and Simon Armytage were critical of current State policies towards bushfires prevention and damage limitation. While Governments fiddle our National Parks are stockpiling flammable materials. Thankfully some people are paying attention and perhaps we can limit the damage from bushfires if we listen to some of their ideas.

Yesterday in parliament Stewart McArthur will presented his paper on this important issue. A full copy is available here.

A full transcript of the Stretton Group Forum is available here.

*Estimate taken from: Healey DT, Jarrett FG, McKay JM, eds. The economics of bushfires: the South Australian experience. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1985.