by Jacob Rebek,
January 2020
SBS and ABC news are claiming that bushfires are definite proof that Climate Change is real.
This one-sided focus on Climate Change has overlooked the urgent work needed to prepare for the next bushfire season.
Bushfire risk can be reduced by Reducing Fuel Loads on Bush Floor and making Roads Safer:
- in the next 9 months
- at a fraction of the cost of Action on Climate Change.
The main objective for 2020/2021 bushfire season must be to reduce loss of human life to zero. This can be achieved by works implemented on all roads in bushfire areas, removing trees that could block the road in case of bushfire, so that all roads remain open and safe during bushfires.
There is a fundamental difference between:
- The proposal for Action on Climate Change which is based on a ‘doom and gloom’ view of the future and no proof it will achieve anything useful.
- The proposal for Action to Reduce Fuel Loads and make Roads Safe which is based on belief that every problem can be solved and that major progress can be achieved in next 9 months.
To prepare a plan for Action to Reduce Fuel Loads on the Bush Floor and make Roads Safe, landowners and engineers, managers and highly skilled machine operators working in private sector need to be engaged.
To prepare and implement the plan for Action to Reduce Fuel Loads on Bush Floor and make Roads Safe in shortest possible time, the authority and the responsibility must be delegated to local government level.
There will be differences between plans and implementation between local government areas, but over next few years, best practices will be widely adopted.
Tax is collected at Federal and State level and the bureaucrats want to have control over how the funds are spent. However, there is public support for local bushfire brigades and those who suffered losses from bushfires, so that it will be possible to bypass the bureaucrats and make grants for implementation of plans for Reducing Fuel Loads on Bush Floor and making Roads Safe at local government level.
In case of National and State Highways, the responsibility to implement works required to ensure that they remain open and safe during bushfires, including removal of trees that could block the road in case of bushfire, rests with Federal and State governments and they should show leadership by acting decisively.
National and State Highways and the roads maintained by local governments are like arteries that ensure circulation of blood, so that urgent work is required to ensure that there are no blockages or closures of roads in 2020/2021 bushfire season.
The Action to Reduce Fuel Loads on Bush Floor and make Roads Safe should start along all roads to create firebreaks and then progress into the forest and bushland.
Safe firebreaks dividing forests and bushland into compartments are essential to prevent spread of ‘mega-fires’ in the next bushfire season.
Local earthmoving contractors and all others that seek employment must be engaged in implementation of plans for Action to Reduce Fuel Loads on Bush Floor and make Roads Safe.
Rado Jacob Rebek graduated as geologist from the faculty of Mining and Metallurgy in the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia in 1967.
He worked in exploration teams that discovered Wafi-Golpu and Wamum copper-gold deposits in Papua New Guinea, Gold Ridge gold deposit in Solomon Islands, Century zinc deposit in Queensland, Tia Maria and Mina Justa copper deposits in Peru and new bauxite deposits in SE Australia.
He is still working as a field geologist, exploring for new ore deposits in Australia and Chile. He has been working in Australian forests and bushland since 1975 and has observed increases in density of shrubs that slow down progress of foot traverses and prevent entry of motorbikes or vehicles.
In Queensland the shrubs are called b… .. turpentine.
You fail to mention Jacob that it’s not just the 2020-21 season.
These should be permanent positions for the grader and machinery workers for ever in this country.
I have made my local NSW State Government member aware of your article and encouraged her to familiarise herself with the facts surrounding forest fires. In particular to appreciate that the eucalypt has an interest in destroying its competition and that strong government leadership and affirmative action, and not the commissioning of more expensive reports and navel gazing, is required on an on-going basis to prevent the devastation experienced in Australia, California and Canada at regular intervals.
As pointed out by Tom Burns, the work needed to reduce fuel loads on bush floor and make roads safer will be required every year, so that long term arrangements need to be put in place. Long term contracts for local earthmoving contractors are the best solution to make sure that work is done properly.
There is lively discussion of work needed to reduce fuel on bush floor, but no mention of the need to make roads safe. Urgent work is required to ensure that there are no blockages or closures of National and State Highways in 2020/2021 bushfire season. The concept of Road Safety should be broadened to include safety during bush fires. Trees that are so close to the road that they can cause blockage if affected by fire, must be removed.