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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-10-15 Daily Xml
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BUSHFIRE PREVENTION

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (15:01): My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation. Will the minister inform the house about the importance of last week's launch of the 2013-14 prescribed burning season?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:01): I thank the honourable member for his very good question. As you are no doubt aware, sir, prescribed burning forms a very important part of the government's efforts to protect the environment and, most importantly, human life and property from the ravages of bushfire. Fire is, of course, a natural process, a natural part of our South Australian environment. Many species of flora have adapted and evolved to rely on bushfire as a means of reproduction. For thousands of years the Aboriginal people of Australia used fire to maintain their lands.

Yet, of course in this modern day, with human settlement reaching further into traditionally bushfire-prone areas, the impact of bushfires has increased. As the honourable member points out, last week I opened the 2013-14 prescribed burning season, one of our most important tools in minimising the risk of bushfire.

The opening took place at Black Hill Conservation Park and provided me with an opportunity to inspect the park's impressive firefighting facilities and meet some of the hardworking and dedicated fire management staff of the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. These fire staff demonstrated the meticulous and methodical approach that they take to tackling the threat of bushfires in our state, and I was able to see how they ignite and then manage prescribed burns.

I was incredibly pleased to see firsthand the great passion the department's fire management staff have for their role in the prescribed burn process, but also the serious approach they bring to the task. Prescribed burning on the management of fuel loads is the only real physical element of bushfires that we can manipulate as a prevention measure. By reducing fuel loads in strategic places across our landscape we can influence the behaviour of fires and potentially provide options for earlier and safer containment of fire. Heat, wind and low relative humidity, and steep and difficult terrain are all factors our experts must grapple with when a fire begins, but if we can remove the aspect of fuel load from this equation as much as possible beforehand it makes the job of fighting bushfires easier and safer.

Prescribed burning is, of course, a complex science-based or research-based activity that carries an element of risk. However, by conducting these burns under milder weather conditions in spring and autumn, and undertaking detailed planning involving the consideration of weather, fuel types, topography and environmental factors, and of course the proximity of high-value assets, the threat of fire can be significantly reduced.

Officers within my department have conducted over 535 prescribed burns since 2004, treating more than 61,480 hectares of land across the state; 221 of these burns have been conducted in the high-risk Adelaide/Mount Lofty Ranges area, reducing the fire fuel loads across 3,190 hectares of park and reserve. When a bushfire does occur, my department also plays a significant role in supporting the Country Fire Service in response to bushfire events, both on and off public lands, by providing experienced and trained instant management personnel, firefighters and equipment. The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources is of course a brigade of the Country Fire Service, and both agencies work seamlessly together, along with others, to protect our communities from bushfires. In particular, I am told the department's involvement is proving to be valuable in reducing the burden upon CFS volunteers, helping them to return to their local communities and resume normal activities sooner than they otherwise would be able to.

This spring, 41 prescribed burns are planned, aiming to produce fire fuel loads across nearly 3,000 hectares of high risk public land. This includes nearly 400 hectares in the Adelaide Mount Lofty Ranges. Six burns have been completed so far as part of the spring 2013 prescribed burn program, including four in the high risk Mount Lofty Ranges, one of those being at Greenhill Recreation Park. I am further advised that burns have also been scheduled in the coming weeks for Kangaroo Island, the South-East and the Southern Flinders Ranges.

As I have said before, safety is a priority and burns will only take place when the appropriate conditions are present. We must all understand as a community and as a state that we will never be able to eliminate the threat of bushfire from our landscape. Instead, we need to learn to live as safely as we can with this natural phenomenon, implementing prevention and preparedness measures in the landscape and within communities to reduce the impact and potential for catastrophic bushfire. Prescribed burning forms an important part of this process, and I would like to take this opportunity to wish the officers within DEWNR, the CFS and our support agencies all the best with this important work into the spring and autumn season.

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