Australia has been prone to bushfires for thousands of years. The pre-white man landscape was shaped by regular fires. Much of it still is. Some seeds of native plants actually require the heat of a bushfire to germinate.
So there is nothing new about the 2019 fires, except that they are notable in that so much has been burnt, and yet there have been few deaths, and so many homes that have been saved from the flames.
Below is a brief account of the 1939 fires. ('But Sir,' autobiography by Merv McRae)
'No-one would forget the Black Friday fires of 1939, which almost cooked the whole state. We had dug a cellar by then, and stayed down in that for most of the day. The temperature was so high that the lino was too hot for bare feet. In the kitchen the temperature reached one hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit, and it seemed a wonder more people didn’t die.
Then we heard of all the fires around the state, something which has happened since, and what’s more will always happen in this well-grassed country which gets so dry in the summer.
And these days we have additional ingredients - idiots who think it fun to light fires, and those who consider themselves environmentalists who make it very difficult to reduce fuel load so that the inevitable fires are less likely to rage out of control.
The media and the politicians and the activists keep saying that the 2019 fires are 'unprecedented.' It is a favourite word - 'unprecedented.'
They are not unprecedented. One can only believe that they are 'unprecedented' if one ignores history.
As well as in 1939, there have been terrible fires in 2009, 1983, 1851, and many more. Every year, there are fires. It is a part of Australia.
Various things are blamed for the 'unprecedented' nature of our current fires.
One foolish man says that it is God's punishment because we passed laws allowing abortion and the marriage of people of the same sex. (A strange idea, but free speech remember?)
Other people, rather a lot of them, are saying that it is all because of Climate Change, though they don't mean merely the gradually changing climate that has gone on for millennia, rather they mean - the notion that humans are powerful enough to influence global climate.
And some sensible people point out that the way we care for our country can actually make a difference. There should be fire trails wherever possible, access should not be closed off, and there should be regular control burns.
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| New England National Park |
For many years, countrymen have been complaining about decisions made by the authorities, authorities usually based in the cities, and made by those who have never lived in the countryside.
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| Brumbies in the snow |
National Parks excluded the cattle that grazed in the high mountains every summer, for instance, brumbies culled, sometimes even shot from the air (the luckier ones shot dead,) so the grass goes ungrazed except by kangaroos, dies off and makes more fuel for fires.
Fire trails have been closed, and some areas have been designated 'Wilderness' with no public access at all. National Parks discourage visitors with high fees, some ridiculously high, and often, deliberately terrible roads. Fewer and fewer control burns have been done.
In the last decades, it has not only been countrymen warning of the potential for serious bushfires, but acknowledged experts. (Some of the 'experts' know nearly as much as the average countryman.) In 2010, for instance, fire expert Roger Underwood, pointed out that government environment departments were being taken over by 'Greenies,' resulting in a lack of fuel reduction measures.
('Greenies' has become a dirty word these days, like 'Feminism' and 'Veganism.' This is because once sensible movements have been taken over by extremists, and their actions and words have earned our condemnation.)
From an article by Peter Gleeson, (Sunday Mail, December 15th, 2019)
'...Mr Underwood has dispensed with the niceties and taken the gloves off when it comes to the current escalating bushfire season.
He has blamed green groups and departmental bureaucracies hijacked by conservationists for the cataclysmic fires that are raging throughout the country.
He says blaming climate change is a hoax, and until Australians started to realise that greenies were making the country a tinderbox, catastrophic fires would continue to happen.
He even told Jane Marwick on Macquarie Radio that brainwashed government authorities would continue to blame climate change for the bushfires, meaning the risk of further loss of life and property will escalate.'
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| Chris Dynon |
Here is one countryman with the same viewpoint, expressed in a video. Chris Dynon. He speaks of restricted access, closed fire trails and the Greenies restricting burnoffs.
Dynon - "People are saying that (the fires) are so bad now because of Climate Change. Well, that's bullshit!"
And Clem Wheatley is another very knowledgeable man. These are his words below.
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| Clem Wheatley |
I have witnessed the transition from when we could manage and reduce fuel loads as we determined necessary, through the gradual imposition of restrictions over the years, up to today where management and reduction of fuel loads is almost impossible, as a result of legislative restrictions and onerous approval processes.
I have likewise witnessed the difference in the intensity and destructive nature of wild fire, when management and reduction of fuel loads were not hindered with excessive bureaucratic processes and restrictive laws, where vegetation was managed, fires were easier to control and less damaging, even in weather that was as hot if not hotter, than during the recent Queensland fires.
This out of touch with reality, farmer hating, greeny appeasing government and their policies have caused these fires to be more severe, damaging and harder to control than they should of been, excessive fuel loads, insufficient fire breaks due to overbearing and onerous laws and mismanagement of public land, all as a result of government interference and inaction.
While the draconian QLD Labor Native Vegetation laws provide for hazard reduction by fire, they prohibit such reduction by other means, having to navigate through the bureaucratic processes involved in obtaining approval to remove vegetation by other means, is almost impossible, as any farmer knows, it is not always possible to burn, wet and or green vegetation, extreme heat or cold, excessive wind, are all mitigating factors.
Where it is not possible to burn, there were always other methods of reducing fuel loads, mechanical means being one such method, the vegetation that causes the most heat and intensity, and which is the hardest to extinguish, is what is called ladder fuel, being that vegetation other than pasture grasses, from the ground to the underside of the canopy of the larger trees, woody weeds and scrub, if this fuel is able to be controlled, the pasture is easier to control if ignited, and the larger trees are not adversely effected.
Burning does not always remove ladder fuel, what is left after a hazard reduction burn is sometimes more flammable due to the fact it is left in a dead and or much dryer state, so that when a fire during the hotter periods is present, it has ready made dry fuel, removing this by mechanical means, prevents it being a fuel in the future and allows pasture grasses to flourish more readily, sometimes it is necessary to employ both methods, in order to render an area free of high intensity fuel.
Until these ridiculous laws are amended, so they do not inhibit land holders from managing and reducing fuel loads, to the degree where doing so, is so onerous and prohibitive, until this and future governments ensure public land is properly managed so as it's condition does not pose a threat to neighbouring properties and communities, nothing will have changed for the better.'
Clem Wheatley
Queensland State Chairman
Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party.
So many are working so hard, right now, to control bushfires. Like some of our towns and farms that are running out of water, it is more to do with mismanagement than the vagaries of climate.
Clem Wheatley This is what needs to happen.
QUEENSLAND SHOOTERS FISHERS AND FARMERS PARTY
BUSHFIRE MANAGEMENT AND MITIGATION POLICY
This policy is designed to enhance the management and mitigation of bush fires and reduce the negative impact of these fires on the community and the environment.
For many years now there has been a noticeable increase in restrictions by all levels of government, which prevent and hinder private landholders in the removal of vegetation, for the purpose of reducing fuel loads, restrictions that prevent them from adequately protecting their assets.
Authorities in control of many areas of public land have let fuel loads increase to levels that pose a significant threat to public health and safety and the environment, with significant threat to adjoining properties, urban areas and major infrastructure and services.
There are some private properties, where vegetation on those properties, poses a significant threat to public health and safety and adjoining properties, urban areas and major infrastructure and services.
There is significant evidence that shows there are issues with the management style of the Queensland Rural Fire Service, in relation to, the conduct relating to the suppression of rural fires, training and resources, the key to this is the fact that the QLD RFS comes under the management of the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, who are chiefly urban fire fighters.
POLICY POINTS
1. The QLD SFFP considers that legislation needs to be introduced to allow the controllers of private land, to construct firebreaks, to at least twice the height of trees nearest, or a minimum of 30 metres separating the extremities of the Vegetation canopy.
2. The QLD SFFP considers that, where adjacent vegetation is dense and or in areas greater than 50 hectares, or are adjacent to dwellings or other significant infrastructure, the limits in point 1, can be doubled.
3. The QLD SFFP considers that, controllers of public lands be required to ensure that a fire break be maintained free of obstructions that prevent access and egress by motor vehicles and vegetation greater in height than 200mm, to a minimum width of 30 metres, or twice the height of the nearest trees, around the boundaries of the land, and where this land adjoins roads.
4. The QLD SFFP considers that, where the areas listed in point 3, are adjacent to and within 500 metres of dwellings, farm buildings, residential, industrial areas or any significant utilities, these fire breaks be a minimum of 500 metres.
5. The QLD SFFP considers that, legislation needs to be introduced to allow the controllers of private land, to remove and or reduce vegetation for the purpose of reducing fuel loads, where any vegetation poses a threat to infrastructure, assets, crops or pasture, or neighbouring properties, as a result if fire.
6. The QLD SFFP considers that, controllers of public lands be required to ensure vegetation fuel loads are maintained, so as reasonably not to pose a threat from fire to anything on adjoining properties.
7. The QLD SFFP considers that, the Rural Fire Service, be provided with the authority to require controllers of land to construct firebreaks, and or reduce vegetation, where necessary to reduce a credible threat to infrastructure, assets, crops and pasture on, or access and egress to adjoining land.
8. The QLD SFFP considers that, the Queensland Rural Fire Service be a self managing stand alone department, and that Senior management be required to possess practical rural fire fighting experience and qualifications.
9. The QLD SFFP considers that, decisions regarding control measures at a rural fire, be primarily, the jurisdiction of the senior officer at that particular fire.
10. The QLD SFFP considers that, training of Queensland rural fire personnel, be in line with the requirements of the NSW Rural Fire Service training curriculum.
11. The QLD SFFP considers that, weather permitting, particular preference be given to the indirect, (back burning) method of attack on vegetation fires in areas larger than 400 metres square, where appropriate as determined by the senior officer at that particular fire.
12. The QLD SFFP considers that, any laws made pursuant to this policy, be taken as the paramount authority over other state laws and codes. Note, state law automatically overrides Local government laws, policy and codes.
Clem Wheatley
Queensland State Chairman
Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party.
And that all sounds very sensible. I think that the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party might easily rise to prominence. Country people have been poorly represented since the Country Party changed its name to the Nationals, and then largely forgot to represent country people.
Aboriginal Land Management:
There has been a book released just recently, that purports to tell us how the Aboriginals, pre-1788, managed the land to mitigate bushfire risk. I suspect a lot of it is purest imagination - and that deliberate planned management was not exactly what it was, but it is true that they frequently lit fires. I remember reading a book that contained an account of a white man travelling with Aboriginals in the early years. He was struck by the way they carried burning sticks for warmth, (no clothes, remember) and frequently lit the vegetation as they passed, leaving fires to burn. It has also been said that they used fire to clear vegetation for ease of hunting.
But we don't know, and recent books about Aboriginals tend to more wishful thinking with a large dose of fiction.
But it doesn't really matter whether the regular lighting of fires was a carefully planned strategy with a particular result in mind, or a casual attitude mixed with the fun of watching fires, but when white settlers first arrived, the bush was often describes as park-like.
Conclusion:
Big changes are needed. Farmers should be freed to look after their land without harassment from bureaucrats, and there should be sensible measures to mitigate the effects of wildfires.
Volunteer firemen do such a sterling job. They need more reward. And there needs to be some compensation for those business owners whose staff have gone off to fight fires instead of doing their normal jobs.
We have a rising population, more settlements, more people living in vulnerable conditions in the middle of bushland. Sometimes old traditions no longer work. The fires have been severe and numerous now for the last two months. It is too much to ask of our volunteers.
And that is something else to look at.
Thank you to Chris Dynon and to Clem Wheatley for giving permission to use their words.
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