❓ Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions—Fire management 43. Mr Peter Rundle to the Premier : I refer to the January bushfires that devastated more than 220,000 hectares of the Fitzgerald River Nati
AnsweredQoN 43Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions—Fire
management
43. Mr Peter Rundle to
the Premier :
I refer to the January bushfires that devastated more
than 220,000 hectares of the Fitzgerald River National Park and Dunn Rock
Nature Reserve, and to claims from a local chief bushfire control officer that
the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions is underfunded,
understaffed and under-resourced.
(1)
What is the current annual budget allocated to fire mitigation and prescribed
burning in the Fitzgerald River National Park?
(2)
Does the Premier believe the existing funding and staffing levels are adequate
given the scale of the destruction we have just seen?
management
43. Mr Peter Rundle to
the Premier :
I refer to the January bushfires that devastated more
than 220,000 hectares of the Fitzgerald River National Park and Dunn Rock
Nature Reserve, and to claims from a local chief bushfire control officer that
the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions is underfunded,
understaffed and under-resourced.
(1)
What is the current annual budget allocated to fire mitigation and prescribed
burning in the Fitzgerald River National Park?
(2)
Does the Premier believe the existing funding and staffing levels are adequate
given the scale of the destruction we have just seen?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2)
I thank the member for the question, of which some notice has been given.
I can
confirm that the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions has
an annual recurrent operational budget of $2.2 million for prescribed burning
and bushfire mitigation across all national parks and nature reserves in the region,
including Fitzgerald River National Park. The Fitzgerald River National Park
bushfire was one of the largest and most complex incidents seen in the South
West land division in recent years. Fires of this scale, regardless of the
tireless work of firefighters, have a devastating impact on wildlife and the
local environment. The fire, sparked by a lightning strike on 16 January in
extremely remote and inaccessible terrain, rapidly escalated under severe
conditions. Across the incident, more than 160 firefighters and around 60
incident management personnel were deployed. Again, as I said, containing a
fire of this size is exceptionally challenging. Thanks to the tireless work of
all involved, no private property was lost and there were no injuries. In our
drying climate, resilience against natural disasters is more important than
ever. We are always looking at ways that we can respond to these changing
conditions.
I thank the member for the question, of which some notice has been given.
I can
confirm that the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions has
an annual recurrent operational budget of $2.2 million for prescribed burning
and bushfire mitigation across all national parks and nature reserves in the region,
including Fitzgerald River National Park. The Fitzgerald River National Park
bushfire was one of the largest and most complex incidents seen in the South
West land division in recent years. Fires of this scale, regardless of the
tireless work of firefighters, have a devastating impact on wildlife and the
local environment. The fire, sparked by a lightning strike on 16 January in
extremely remote and inaccessible terrain, rapidly escalated under severe
conditions. Across the incident, more than 160 firefighters and around 60
incident management personnel were deployed. Again, as I said, containing a
fire of this size is exceptionally challenging. Thanks to the tireless work of
all involved, no private property was lost and there were no injuries. In our
drying climate, resilience against natural disasters is more important than
ever. We are always looking at ways that we can respond to these changing
conditions.
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