Bushfires: Commission to take account of ancient indigenous wisdom

The merits of indigenous land management in reducing fuel loads will be investigated by the bushfire royal commission.

The merits of indigenous land management in reducing fuel loads will be investigated by the bushfire royal commission, as hazard-reduction practices come under the microscope.

The royal commission will look into ways in which traditional fire management used by indigenous people “could improve Australia’s resilience to natural disasters”.

The probe will also look at whether there can be national standards for hazard-reduction measures, including for rule-making, reporting and data-sharing.

It will also look at wildlife management and species conservation, zoning and development approval planning and building standards.

Hazard-reduction measures became a major source of contention during the bushfire catastrophe, with some Coalition MPs blaming green policies for fuelling the fire rather than climate change.

Melbourne University fire expert Jane Cawson said traditional fire management practices had been neglected.

“Particularly in southeastern Australia in terms of our understanding, and it’s definitely something we need to try and learn more about,” Dr Cawson told the ABC.

“It seems to me that there’s a lot that we could learn from indigenous practices and trying to incorporate that into our land management.”

Dr Cawson said it was important the royal commission looked at the co-ordination of bushfire management on local, state and federal levels.

“It’s important to have consistent terminology between the states and a consistent means of putting out those messages, particularly when people might be travelling interstate,” she said.

After a bushfire tore through the NSW south coast town of Cobargo, Terry Hill, the chief executive of the local Aboriginal Land Council, lashed out at lax land management measures.

“It is because of 230 years of environmental­ neglect,” Mr Hill said. “What has happened here, ­because of the red tape and everything else, one thing that Australia should have learnt from Aboriginal people is the fire management regime.”