Wednesday, 1 November 2023

Bushfire mitigation

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (18:15): (565) It was an honour this morning to pay tribute to leading bushfire and forestry scientist Dr Kevin Tolhurst AM, who died recently, and to convey to his family our sympathy and gratitude for his life and work. But my contribution now is directed to the Minister for Emergency Services, and I want to delve more deeply into Dr Tolhurst’s life’s work. This morning I quoted David Packham OAM, Kevin’s friend and former CSIRO principal research scientist. Noting his dedication, professionalism and expertise, David concluded Kevin ‘used the powerful tools of science to achieve a healthy and safe forest environment’. The powerful tools of science too often give way to rampant ideology, wishful thinking and political inconvenience. We need to relearn that objective knowledge and practical management solutions are what actually matter.

I am not qualified to comment on the full range of Dr Tolhurst’s work, but some themes are readily understandable. Leaving aside his expertise in predicting wildfire behaviour and the ecological impacts of fire, I will concentrate on prescribed burning techniques and guidelines. Essentially, he pointed out the folly in prioritising expensive and difficult suppression of fire instead of fuel load management. We cannot control the weather, so reducing fuel load is the land manager’s best hope of mitigating bushfire. He powerfully argued against an influential Climate Council fact sheet which had concluded:

No amount of hazard reduction will protect human lives, animals and properties from catastrophic fires …

pointing out that analysing the extent of burnt areas, rather than the severity of the fire, is misleading. To quote Kevin:

The recovery of the plants, animals, nutrients and habitat after low-intensity fire is much quicker than after high-intensity wildfire …

He looked at the total system result, not selective evidence to justify preconceived standpoints. He wrote:

… we need to consider all of the variables. This includes increased ecosystem resilience, mitigation of wildfire number … impact on human health, economic value, social impact, Traditional Owner culture, and more.

These conclusions came from experience of the results of fire, of the demonstrably successful West Australian approach to fuel load reduction and understanding traditional Indigenous land management in Australia.

Mitigation matters. We cannot be absolutist and prevent all fire, nor all-powerful and put it all out. We have to work with it. Kevin’s last message told a community forum at Mallacoota –

The PRESIDENT: Mrs McArthur, you have run out of time. But I am not too sure; did you put your action?

Bev McARTHUR: No, I have not.

The PRESIDENT: You can put your action now.

Bev McARTHUR: Okay. Minister, the action I seek is a rebalancing in Victoria of bushfire planning and management back towards the fuel load reduction approach Kevin did so much to prove superior.