❓ Mr Waldron questions the Minister for Environment on the government's approach to prescribed burning following criticism from the Wilderness Society. The Minister strongly defends prescribed burning as a crucial bushfire mitigation tool.
AnsweredQoN 6Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FIREFIGHTING
EFFORT — PRESCRIBED BURNS
6. Mr T.K. WALDRON to the
Minister for Environment:
The Wilderness
Society has called for a halt to what it claims are kneejerk calls for more
prescribed burning following recent bushfires at Northcliffe and Boddington.
Can the minister outline the government's approach to prescribed
burning and the importance of managing fuel loads?
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen!
EFFORT — PRESCRIBED BURNS
6. Mr T.K. WALDRON to the
Minister for Environment:
The Wilderness
Society has called for a halt to what it claims are kneejerk calls for more
prescribed burning following recent bushfires at Northcliffe and Boddington.
Can the minister outline the government's approach to prescribed
burning and the importance of managing fuel loads?
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen!
AnswerView source ↗
I encourage the
member for Girrawheen to get up and also ask a question on the matter, if she
wishes.
Firstly, I echo the
comments of the Minister for Emergency Services on the hard work of members of
all the state agencies and volunteers who have been down at Northcliffe and
Boddington—and, indeed, all the interstate firefighters who have come
over to help. I believe over 100 firefighters, volunteers and interstate
service personnel are still at Northcliffe today dealing with the aftermath of
those fires. Let me also state right from the outset that the Liberal–National
government strongly supports prescribed burning as the main tool to reduce the
impact of bushfires. I am extremely disappointed in the Wilderness Society
coming out and saying that we should resist calls for more prescribed burning
and to label such calls as kneejerk and, in one instance, even ''machoism'',
which I thought was irresponsible and a dangerous position to take on such an
important issue.
Science and experience have consistently shown that reducing the fire
hazard by reducing the fuel load through prescribed burning across the
landscape is essential to help protect communities and the environment from
damaging bushfires. Prescribed burning does not eliminate bushfires—no
government has ever said that it will eliminate bushfires—but it better
protects lives and properties by being a critical mitigation measure that
reduces the speed and intensity of a bushfire and gives us a base from which to
fight the fire. Northcliffe is the perfect example of where prescribed burning
can assist. Our current program aims to maintain some 40 to 45 per cent of the
total south west forest fuel age area on a cycle of less than a six-year-old
fuel load. This approach has been shown over decades to work in the south west
forests, and amounts to an annual target of some 200 000 hectares. From time to
time this can be an ambitious target, but this is a target that the Liberal–National
government considers entirely appropriate. This government agrees as well that
more prescribed burning should be undertaken to continue to meet the target and
also to provide a better level of risk mitigation to the community. That is a
brief update for the house. We are at about the halfway point of this year's
prescribed burning program and have currently achieved 80 per cent of the
target for the prescribed burning year. We have achieved good results where the
climate window and other factors have allowed us to. However, we are again looking
at the broader issue of prescribed burning, particularly in the south west, and
other mitigation efforts across our landscape. In the meantime, the Department
of Parks and Wildlife will continue to maximise every opportunity for
prescribed burning, where it is safe to do so.
member for Girrawheen to get up and also ask a question on the matter, if she
wishes.
Firstly, I echo the
comments of the Minister for Emergency Services on the hard work of members of
all the state agencies and volunteers who have been down at Northcliffe and
Boddington—and, indeed, all the interstate firefighters who have come
over to help. I believe over 100 firefighters, volunteers and interstate
service personnel are still at Northcliffe today dealing with the aftermath of
those fires. Let me also state right from the outset that the Liberal–National
government strongly supports prescribed burning as the main tool to reduce the
impact of bushfires. I am extremely disappointed in the Wilderness Society
coming out and saying that we should resist calls for more prescribed burning
and to label such calls as kneejerk and, in one instance, even ''machoism'',
which I thought was irresponsible and a dangerous position to take on such an
important issue.
Science and experience have consistently shown that reducing the fire
hazard by reducing the fuel load through prescribed burning across the
landscape is essential to help protect communities and the environment from
damaging bushfires. Prescribed burning does not eliminate bushfires—no
government has ever said that it will eliminate bushfires—but it better
protects lives and properties by being a critical mitigation measure that
reduces the speed and intensity of a bushfire and gives us a base from which to
fight the fire. Northcliffe is the perfect example of where prescribed burning
can assist. Our current program aims to maintain some 40 to 45 per cent of the
total south west forest fuel age area on a cycle of less than a six-year-old
fuel load. This approach has been shown over decades to work in the south west
forests, and amounts to an annual target of some 200 000 hectares. From time to
time this can be an ambitious target, but this is a target that the Liberal–National
government considers entirely appropriate. This government agrees as well that
more prescribed burning should be undertaken to continue to meet the target and
also to provide a better level of risk mitigation to the community. That is a
brief update for the house. We are at about the halfway point of this year's
prescribed burning program and have currently achieved 80 per cent of the
target for the prescribed burning year. We have achieved good results where the
climate window and other factors have allowed us to. However, we are again looking
at the broader issue of prescribed burning, particularly in the south west, and
other mitigation efforts across our landscape. In the meantime, the Department
of Parks and Wildlife will continue to maximise every opportunity for
prescribed burning, where it is safe to do so.
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