Plan to increase hazard-reduction burns by more than 50 per cent, blunting the power of summer bushfires
The State Government has doubled funding for bushfire prevention measures before summer. The controversial process of hazard-reduction burns will get the lion’s share of new cash.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Hazard-reduction burns will increase dramatically as part of a plan that will also double the investment in bushfire resilience, the State Government will announce today.
An additional $48.9m will be announced, taking the government’s commitment to almost $100m.
The lion’s share of the new money, $37m, will go to boosting hazard-reduction burns across the state – one of the most controversial issues in the wake of the summer’s horror season.
The Department of Environment and Water is carrying out an estimated 92 burns, covering about 8000 hectares, across the state this spring and next autumn. The new money will aim to increase that number by 50 per cent over the next few years.
Three lives were lost in SA during the last bushfire season.
Nearly 200 homes were destroyed and about 280,000ha of land burned in fires across the state, including at Duck Ponds at Port Lincoln, Adelaide Hills, Kangaroo Island, Miltalie and Keilira.
In its full response to the review into SA’s 2019-20 horror bushfire season, the State Government said new funding would increase capacity to conduct hazard-reduction burning on public land.
When former Federal Police commissioner Mike Keelty undertook his review into the season, hazard-reduction dominated the submissions put forward, to a ratio of one to five (22 per cent).
But Mr Keelty said this likely would not have affected last season’s devastation. “While many have asserted that greater hazard reduction would have mitigated the 2019-20 South Australian bushfires, expert opinion suggests that the weather conditions were so extreme that no level of hazard reduction would have prevented the fires,” he said.
But Mr Keelty did point out “hazard-reduction by all – public and private land holders alike – has to be understood and requires an investment of time and money”.
Environment Minister David Speirs said prescribed burns played a critical role in helping reduce the risk of bushfires and providing safer access for firefighters.
“The extra $37m will allow us to undertake more hazard-reduction across the state, with the aim to increase our prescribed burns program by 50 per cent in the coming years,” he said. “We will also provide further help to the committee to understand the landscape risks and the options available to mitigate those risks.”
Emergency Services Minister Vincent Tarzia said an additional $11.95m would go to the emergency-services sector.
“Our emergency services staff and volunteers deserve the utmost respect for their extraordinary efforts,” he said.
