Coalition fuel reduction policy risks runaway fire
Friends of the Earth
The Shadow Minister for Public Land Management, Melina Bath, has announced the Coalition’s fuel reduction policy ahead of the November Victorian election.
As expected, they have opted to pursue a percentage target, citing the Bushfires Royal Commission as saying that at least five per cent of public land should be treated annually.
“As fire seasons become longer and more intense under climate change, pushing land managers to meet hectare targets is a recipe for disaster” said Cam Walker, campaigns co-ordinator with Friends of the Earth. “Rhetoric from The Coalition about ‘reducing bureaucracy’ in fuel reduction work is dangerous. Under the current system, the final decision on whether to proceed with a burn is taken by the Planned Burn Operation Officer conducting the operation. To suggest otherwise is an incorrect representation of the current system. So called 'Red Tape' can mean the difference between a safe fire operation and a fire getting away on firefighters and threatening human assets.”
As is noted by Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV), the authority tasked with carrying out fuel reduction on public lands, ‘Ideal weather conditions for planned burning are becoming harder to predict, making it more difficult to safely burn off forest fuels like dry leaves, wood and soil that become bushfire fuel’.
“Reverting to a percentage target is dangerous and irresponsible for two reasons:
Firstly it means that large areas remote from human settlement may be burnt in order to meet targets. This could come with unacceptable ecological costs.
Secondly, it potentially pushes land managers to attempt to burn in conditions that are not optimal for safe operations. It would be very unfair to push burn officers and crews to proceed in risky conditions in order to meet targets.”
A much safer option is to pursue current fuel reduction measures, which take a risk reduction approach. Fuel reduction is most effective close to human assets like houses, rather than being done in forested areas remote from settlement.
In preparing the final report into the Victorian Fires of 2026, the conservative parties represented on the cross party committee including the Liberals, Nationals and Pauline Hanson's One Nation, opted to try and vote down Finding 2 of the report, which noted that climate change is making fire seasons longer and more intense (story here). This flies in the face of the opinion of all government fire management agencies in the country and mainstream climate science.
“They have now compounded the error of ignoring mainstream science by backing a potentially dangerous percentage target” concluded Mr Walker.
Further comment
Cam Walker, campaigns co-ordinator, Friends of the Earth
Cam is an active volunteer firefighter and member of the CFA Planned Burn Taskforce.
0419 338 047
Check here for a summary of land management authorities position on climate change and fire management.