Page 116 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 12 February 2020
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spends decades planning what to buy for the types of conflicts it expects to be in; it does not necessarily translate perfectly into a bushfire setting.
Thousands of ADF personnel assisted in bushfire-fighting efforts this season, including doorknocking, assisting with the clearing of properties and working in evacuation centres, and we are extremely grateful for this assistance. Perhaps we could train more local volunteers to assist with some of the roles the ADF have been tasked with. My husband, for example, is in the ADF and is also a member of the local CFU—the Community Fire Unit. The CFUs are able to assist with some of the tasks the ADF members were used for, such as doorknocking. With a little more training they could assist in preparing the ACT for the season more than they do at present. This is just one area that we could look into.
On the topic of hazard reduction burns and cultural burns, I have previously raised the need for additional training and resources to conduct hazard reduction burns when the conditions are favourable. I know we must be cautious about these burns, which is why I have raised the possibility of activating our RFS and other volunteers to assist with these efforts on good days, which I believe is a practice that we used to employ. Three years ago, just seven per cent of hazard reduction burns were completed in the ACT. The year after, just 24 per cent were completed. After raising this matter on multiple occasions, and with the minster telling me that nothing could be done about it, I was really pleased to see that last year 75 per cent of the burns were completed. While there is still room to improve, there has been progress, which I welcome. So well done to the parks and conservation service and the firefighters there for getting through so much in a shorter than usual back-burning season.
We should also look at how we can incorporate more cultural practices when reducing fuel loads. There are many methods employed across Australia and in other countries, including selective tree removal; the mulching of the undergrowth and dead tree matter to speed its conversion to soil, not fuel load; cultural burns, which are generally cooler burns that are more targeted and precise; and the various forms of grazing, which I know we use to some degree already.
On the topic of planning, I am sure that management of our natural places and how they interact with urban areas and housing will form part of the local and national conversation after this fire season. However, it is worth revisiting the assumptions behind our bushfire operational plan and our bushfire prone areas and the planning implications that come with that. Perhaps we do not have to accept as inevitable that our bushland will go up in smoke every 15 to 20 years.
I think there is an appetite in the community—I have certainly had several phone calls from locals in my area about this—for the use of effective fire breaks around our suburbs, and there have been questions about whether they are being maintained as well as they could be. For example, the fire break in Duffy, which is mown or grazed, is sometimes overgrown and, according to those who have spoken to me, this does not fill the community with confidence. There are questions about the fire trails. I know the minister stated yesterday that the fire trails had been used well and were being well maintained, but it is something to look at, nonetheless, to inform the community better.
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