Bushfire smoke indirectly claimed 445 lives, cost health system $2b, Royal Commission hears
The true toll of smoke which choked Australia during the Black Summer of bushfires, has been laid bare while NSW Senior Minister Andrew Constance has again lashed the Red Cross for its handling of donations.
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Senior Minister Andrew Constance has again lashed out at the Red Cross for its delay in distributing money donated for bushfire relief.
The Bega MP, whose electorate was ravaged by fires in January, said “it angers me when I see the amount of money that (the) Red Cross is sitting on”.
Mr Constance has previously criticised the charity for not handing out donated money fast enough.
In a statement to 2GB earlier this month, Red Cross said the charity has given more than $75 million to more than 4,000 people so far, “with millions more being spent each week”.
Mr Constance said on Tuesday that RFS volunteers and fire-impacted communities need ongoing support.
The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that $51 million donated via comedian Celeste Barber’s bushfire appeal could only be spent on the NSW fire service, because of laws governing the RFS trust.
That ruling was “not an ideal outcome, because of trust law,” Mr Constance said.
“But ultimately to see that money going into people’s welfare through the trust of the RFS I think is a really good and important step.”
The money can also be used to support injured firefighters and the families of fallen volunteers.
“We need those RFS volunteers who lost their homes, (and) in cases where they’ve lost their lives, to be supported. And that’s the good outcome in terms of this court process,” Mr Constance said.
The Royal Commission into the bushfire season heard on Tuesday that the thick blankets of smoke which choked Australian cities for months over summer, indirectly claimed almost 450 lives and caused billions of dollars of health costs.
A panel of medical experts fronted the commission on its second day in Canberra explaining the impact of the Black Summer on the mental and physical health of Australians.
While images of roaring fire fronts dominated nightly news through the fatal season, millions of people in Australia’s cities and towns were being exposed to a different threat – thick clouds of smoke which hung around for weeks, sometimes months.
The commission heard evidence from Menzies Institute researcher Associate Professor Fay Johnston who believes about 80 per cent of Australians were exposed to smoke in the Black Summer.
She helped author a paper that estimated the number of smoke related excess deaths, hospitalisations for cardiovascular and respiratory problems, and emergency department presentations with asthma in NSW, Queensland, the ACT and Victoria between October and February.
The research has found 445 people died, indirectly, as a result of the smoke. More than 3000 people were hospitalised for heart and lung problems and 1700 went to emergency for asthma, the modelling found.
The associate professor, at the commission, presented a graph that revealed the cost of smoke-related health issues, state by state, over the last 20 seasons.
“It was partly to show the enormous departure from what we’ve experienced over the last 20 years,” she said.
The graph showed the Black Summer’s smoke cost Australia $2b, dwarfing all previous seasons by a massive factor.
NSW bore the largest cost of the states in the last season.
No previous season, nationally, even comes close to the cost wore by NSW in the last season.
The commission will hear about the ongoing cost of the rebuild, which has still not yet begun for many families, and the role of charities through Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday will see the commission focus on the impact of the fires on the natural environment.
Originally published as Bushfire smoke indirectly claimed 445 lives, cost health system $2b, Royal Commission hears