Advice on legislation or legal policy issues contained in this paper is provided for use in parliamentary debate and for related parliamentary purposes. This paper is not professional legal opinion.
Briefing Paper No. 05/2002 by Stewart Smith
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This paper reviews the history of fire and bushfire in Australia, including the
debate on bushfire hazard reduction burning. It outlines the provisions of the
Rural Fire Service Act 1997, and provides a comprehensive summary of the
fires which occurred in NSW during the 2001-2002 fire season. It is self
evident that bushfires occur during periods of hot weather. 'Bushfire weather'
in NSW tends to occur when a deep low pressure system is located south of
Tasmania, which results in hot, dry, desert westerly winds blowing over the
State.
The ecological impact of Aboriginal burning of forests, and ramifications for
contemporary fire management, are still keenly debated in the scientific
literature. Some of these arguments are canvassed. The experience of bushfire
in south-eastern Australia since the late 1800s is traced, and dramatically
shows that communities cannot be complacent in the face of the bushfire threat.
Appendix One contains a chronological list of bushfires in NSW since the
1950s.
Severe bushfires occurred across eastern NSW in 1994, and in their aftermath
several inquiries, led to the reform of the legal and institutional response to
the bushfire threat. The Rural Fires Act was passed in 1997, and the
Rural Fire Service was created. The Service is comprised of a small number of
salaried staff, as well as a volunteer force of over 68,000 people. Under the
auspices of the Rural Fires Act, the main function of the Service is: to
provide services for the prevention, mitigation, and suppression of fires in
rural fire districts; and the protection of people and property from those
fires. The Act states that in carrying out these services the Service must take
into account the principles of ecologically sustainable development. The Act
also focuses on the development of bushfire risk management plans, which is a
significant paradigm shift from the single issue of fuel management.
A recurring debate throughout both the scientific and general community is the
effectiveness, required amount and location of hazard reduction burns to reduce
the intensity of bushfires. The aim of these prescribed burns is not to prevent
fires from occurring, but to reduce the intensity, rate of spread and crowning
of those that do occur.
The NSW Bushfire Co-ordinating Committee supports fuel reduction by prescribed
burning, and promotes a policy of mosaic fuel reduction burns, except where the
main purpose is to provide a buffer zone between the bushland and high value
assets. Land managers such as government agencies, local government and private
landowners have the legislative responsibility for undertaking hazard reduction
activities. Criticisms have arisen that the environmental requirements of the
Rural Fires Act have made hazard reduction burning more difficult, and
hence there has been less of it. These arguments are canvassed.
Tragically, over the last few decades scores of people have died from bushfires
in eastern Australia. Building standards as well as urban planning can make a
big contribution to bushfire safety. NSW experienced another severe bushfire
season over 2001 - 2002, and a daily summary of these fires is presented.