By Kyra Gillespie
As bushfire-affected communities begin to recoup after the devastation of the weekend, mounting complaints are surfacing about authorities inaction to forest management.
Cardinia Shire Mayor Graeme Moore has hit back at the claims, arguing the weekend fires were an unstoppable ‘act of God.’
“Back burning is quite a dangerous thing to do as they can get away from you – a lot of bushfires start from back burning; where do you stop and start with this thing?
“At times like this everyone likes to point fingers, but I think it was God’s fault; lightning came started the fire and the wind came and blew it.
“I know council and other agencies are getting some bad press at the moment, but it’s really horrible and unfounded and unfair because a lot of people say they like the bush, but how safe can you make your property alongside it?
“Clearing doesn’t do all of that, native animals live in those trees and you have to protect their habitat. People are saying, ‘Well now the animals are dead and gone’, but no-one knows when there’s going to be fire there.”
Cr Moore said that while the weekend’s procedures will be reviewed, bush living and forest management is a difficult combination.
“After something like this we have to debrief and assess what we can do from now on,” he said.
“We do choose to live in regions which are surrounded by trees. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like at my place or at a winery that didn’t have any trees or birds – the ambience of area would be horrible. So where do you draw the line?”
The Mayor lambasted the surging online negativity surrounding the weekend’s efforts.
“I’ve been belted from pillar to post and I can tell you it’s unfair, it’s unfair for the CFA who defended those properties, and all they do is get negativity back because they didn’t roll up to someone’s house.
“They hit this fire with that many resources – it was like the Avalon Airshow out there.”
Gembrook MP and Shadow Emergency Services Minister Brad Battin said a DELWP report reveals there has been a reduction in planned burning to minimise the risk of bushfires in areas such as Cardinia.
The 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission found that ‘prescribed burning is one of the main tools for fire management on public land,’ however, the DELWP report reveals that the amount of planned burning in bushfire-prone areas such as Cardinia has dropped from 234,614 hectares in 2014-15 to only 64,978 hectares in 2017-18, a reduction of almost 75 per cent under the Andrews Labor Government.
“The 2009 royal commission was unequivocal about the importance of prescribed burning as ‘one of the main tools for fire management on public land,” Mr Battin said.
“That’s why it’s so important for the Andrews Labor Government to be upfront with regional Victorians about the true situation with prescribed burning.
Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said CFA volunteers inspected over 293 properties on Wednesday 6 March and confirmed about nine houses had been destroyed and another damaged.
Those numbers are expected to grow.
Planned burning proves difficult, as Mr Crisp explained, “we have been doing planned burning, but with two years of record low rainfall the window for conducting those burns is very small.”
