Fraser Island: Paradise lost in a blaze of stupidity
Serious questions must be asked of an incompetent State Government whose bungled handling of a fire emergency has created a crisis with lasting consequences, writes Kylie Lang. VOTE IN THE POLL
Kylie Lang
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How comforting it is for Queenslanders, and particularly the residents of Fraser Island, to know the State Government will conduct a review of the bushfire crisis that has destroyed almost half of the World Heritage-listed site.
How reassuring to know that, come March 2021, the bleeding obvious will, with due diligence, be confirmed. And that is: This rare and beautiful island is an unforgivable casualty of poor management and political incompetence.
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service never stood a chance of containing what began on October 14 – and the right people for the job were brought in far too late.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has said the review will “take into account previous Queensland bushfire reviews and relevant matters from the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements”.
Terrific! The fact we’ve had reviews but clearly learnt nothing from them is damning in itself. But more on that later.
Questions that must be answered include: Why did it take until November 27 for Queensland Fire and Emergency Services to take over managing the disaster?
Why was the $15 million state-leased water bombing plane, which Ms Palaszczuk boasted could be deployed at a moment’s notice, not used until November 17?
In what ridiculous oversight could that same plane’s lease have been allowed to expire so the craft could not be deployed in the critical five days from November 24 while the government scrambled for emergency extensions?
Why did 11 warnings to the environment minister about the island’s dire management between 2018 and 2019 go seemingly unheeded?
Could it be that Fraser Island was dumped in the too-hard basket?
Business operators tell me state authorities and the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation, formed in 2014 when the Federal Court recognised the Butchulla people’s non-exclusive native title rights and interests over Fraser Island (K’gari), are not “singing from the same hymn sheet”.
So here we are, more than eight weeks into a blaze that is far from over and already has razed 83,000ha and killed untold wildlife.
Residents have been evacuated and businesses, already crippled under COVID-19, are barely breathing.
The world’s largest sand island, with its remarkable coloured cliffs and perched dune lakes, is stricken.
Had rain not fallen this week and professional firefighters tasked in late November, the whole island could have been lost, as The Courier-Mail reports today.
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service left the situation in “a shambles” and had a chance to put the fire out in October but failed, according to a senior firefighting source.
While we don’t need another taxpayer-funded review to see the truth, the Government’s response, come March, must go beyond recommendations to action.
And this, not only for Fraser Island where 13,000ha of annual backburning by the QPWS has proven painfully inadequate, but for every part of Queensland that matters – which is every part of Queensland.
The aforementioned royal commission, handed down in October, reveals Australia has had more than 240 inquiries into fires and other disasters.
Meanwhile, all indications, including from the Bureau of Meteorology, are that such calamities will only become more frequent.
To be caught by surprise or wholly underprepared is inexcusable.
The royal commission offered key insights, one of which was that Australian, state and territory governments should establish an authoritative advisory body to consolidate advice on strategic policy and relevant operational considerations.
In other words, work together to mitigate, and improve the response to, catastrophes.
We’ve seen how well that turned out during COVID-19, when a pig-headed Labor government shunned federal Coalition advice around border and classroom closures.
Expecting efficient disaster management if the Queensland Government calls the shots on its own is as foolish as a $15 million water bombing plane gathering dust while Fraser Island burns.
Kylie Lang is associate editor of The Courier-Mail
LOVE
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■ Dancing again, not only in my living room but from Monday in pubs and clubs too.
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LOATHE
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■ Grinches stealing other people’s Christmas lights and dimming neighbourhood cheer.
■ Brisbane City Council parking meters refusing to take notes or small coins. Money’s money.
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