Proposal to boost firefighting force as El Nino ups bushfire risk
Authorities are continuing to prepare for a season holding significant threat of bushfires, as the federal government considers boosting firefighting forces.
The Albanese government is considering national community service to boost recruitment to fight fires as part of a home affairs review of Australia’s personnel and equipment capacity to respond to natural disasters.
However, Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said while calling on the defence forces would become a “last resort rather than first port of call”, the government “wouldn’t want to commit to obliging people” to volunteer.
A semi-professional model that pays personnel for services through a fire season to build firefighting capability is also on the table.
The news follows Victoria’s CFA last week launching a recruitment drive as the number of volunteers continues to fall.
The Australasian Fire Authorities Council recently urged Australians to prepare for the most significant threat of bushfire since the ‘black summer’ of 2019-20 due to predicted heatwaves, decreased rainfall and high fuel loads.
Mr Watt also told The ABC the nation is “much better prepared” for the coming fire season than heading into 2019-20, despite Regional Development Minister and Eden-Monaro MP Kristy McBain saying land management had “not progressed substantially”.
Meanwhile, a catastrophic fire warning was raised last week on the New South Wales south coast.
The NSW Rural Fire Service have confirmed that since July 1 40,000 hectares, or 13 per cent of its planned target of 300,000ha of hazard reduction burns for 2023-24, had been completed.
Meanwhile, Victoria has used a “risk-based” approach to fuel management, rather than a hectare-based target, since 2016.
Victoria Forest Fire Management Victoria Chief Fire Officer Chris Hardman said this allowed for a focus on areas “with the greatest impact to minimise bushfire risk” for communities and the environment.
Since July 1, 40 planned burns, along with slashing and mulching, have been conducted across Victoria, including near Toolangi, Casterton, Giffard, Buchan, Orbost, Portland, Shelly and the Grampians National Park.
In the coming weeks more are scheduled for East Gippsland and across Loddon Mallee, identified as key risk areas by in the AFAC report.
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