Bushfire Preparedness

The Hon. PETER PRIMROSE (20:58:54):

I move:

(1)That this House notes that:

(a)generally the New South Wales statutory bushfire danger period runs from 1 October to 31 March each year;

(b)the statutory bushfire danger period for six local government areas, Armidale Regional, Walcha, Uralla, Glen Innes Severn, Inverell and Tenterfield councils, starts earlier on 1 August; and

(c)fire conditions are expected to return to New South Wales after three years of wet weather.

(2)That this House encourages people to have their bushfire preparedness plan in place before the bushfire season in New South Wales starts in their local area.

I speak about the statutory New South Wales bushfire danger period that runs from 1 October to 31 March each financial year. Already we have seen on the South Coast a bushfire reminiscent of the Black Summer bushfires in 2019 and 2020, which caused such devastation. Three homes were destroyed, and a person was hospitalised after a bushfire ravaged more than 5,000 hectares near Bermagui. The following evening there was another bushfire, near Cessnock, which was contained. Firefighters managed to save a string of homes threatened by the blaze. In the past few days, we have not only heard the news relating to a series of other bushfires, some of which are not contained, raging throughout New South Wales, but also relating to the tragedy of two people, one a Rural Fire Service volunteer, having lost their lives as a consequence of the bushfires. All members will join me in wishing to pay our respects to the families of both of those people. Unfortunately, the situation involving bushfires in this State is always threatening a tragedy.

The statutory bushfire danger period formally signals the importance of having a bushfire preparedness plan in place for every household, regardless of the threat level currently posed by bushfires. It is even better if the plan is made before the statutory period begins. As the message goes, if you do not have one, now is the perfect time to put one in place. Shortly before I gave notice of this motion, back in August, I had spoken with councillors Susan McMichael and Debra O'Brien from Armidale Regional Council. They reminded me that their statutory bushfire danger period had already begun. They spoke about how worried they were by the fire conditions expected to return to New South Wales after three years of wet weather. They were even more concerned about their communities. A lot of the vital work had been done, but more needed to be done to ensure that households in their local government areas and other council areas whose bushfire seasons started early had their bushfire plans in place.

The Rural Fire Service and other agencies and organisations have undertaken significant preparatory work for the bushfire season. There has been much outreach work reminding communities about having bushfire preparedness plans. There have been training of volunteer firefighters and preparing the vital equipment used in these circumstances. I recognise and thank the 70,000 volunteers of the RFS for the work they do in their communities and throughout New South Wales. I recognise and thank also the Ministers involved in steering this effort and the many people in agencies and organisations that prepare and train for bushfire emergencies. These include Fire and Rescue NSW, the State Emergency Service, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, local councils, NSW Health and the many community organisations that provide immediate support in the aftermath.

There have been hazard reduction burns across the State, despite wet weather. The RFS has been working hard to meet hazard reduction burn targets before conditions become too dangerous to do any more. I mention one innovative hazard reduction method taking place: the use of grazing goats. These goats have cleared more than 162 hectares across 20 sites and are not constrained in the same way by weather and terrain. Like everyone in the Chamber and across our communities, I do not want to see the devastation of the Black Summer bushfires ever again. The most important lesson we learned from Black Summer is that we need to be as well prepared as we can be. I urge everyone across New South Wales to discuss and have in place a bushfire preparedness and survival plan. The information to prepare one is available on the RFS and the Fire and Rescue NSW websites.

The Hon. AILEEN MacDONALD (21:03:28):

I contribute to debate regarding the bushfire danger period being brought forward in six local government areas of the Northern Tablelands electorate, as the Hon. Peter Primrose has said, and speak on behalf of the Opposition in support of the motion. It is an area I am familiar with. It is really dry, and we could do with more than a drop of rain. I have begun to see the despair on people's faces as they check the Bureau of Meteorology—or the BOM, as we like to call it—for the weather forecast, and then the looks turn more serious because no rain is forecast.

There is despair because we remember the bushfire smoke filling our skies for months back in 2019. It had been incredibly dry. Guyra, where I live, was fast running out of water. At one stage we had only 100 days of water left. We felt powerless against Mother Nature. The whole local government area had been on water restrictions, and the council was trying to find water by drilling bores. Livestock producers were worried about their sheep and cattle. They were working incredibly hard to feed their stock and find water, just to keep their stock alive. The Rural Fire Service worked hard for what seemed a long time. At one stage, the firefighters did not have any water to put out the fires and would try to bulldoze dirt to stop the spread. It was gut-wrenching.

More than 1,633,000 hectares were burnt. Think about that for a moment. This was farmland and national park land. Sadly, there was loss of human life, untold damage and huge losses of flora and fauna. The Armidale airport became a hive of activity as fire brigades from Victoria, South Australia and elsewhere came to help us fight the blazes. It was so dry that in November 2019 hundreds of Irishmen drove from Sydney and delivered hundreds of thousands of litres of water to give us a drink. A convoy of more than 90 trucks carried bottled drinking water on 300 pallets. Other trucks had bulk loads, which proceeded to fill a storage dam near the Armidale airport. It gave local firefighters a huge boost to their dwindled resources. I was there on the day they arrived, and I can tell you that it was such a heartwarming event. Many people cried tears of happiness as the jolly Irishmen unloaded their trucks and brought happiness for the day.

I well understand why the season has been brought forward, as we see now the same conditions we lived through during those devastating bushfires in the region. We were fortunate, though, after a long season of drought of several years and then months of bushfires. The best thing that happened was the skies opening up and the rain coming down. It kept coming, filling our dams again and even putting out the bushfires. Times are not good, and we need to be prepared for the worst and to hope for the best. I thank the honourable member for his motion but hope that the rain falls soon.

Dr AMANDA COHN (21:06:57):

I thank the Hon. Peter Primrose for bring this motion and giving us the opportunity to discuss this important issue. Regional communities impacted by bushfires in 2019 and 2020 are still traumatised and reeling from those disasters. Even the whiff of a hazard reduction burn brings back difficult memories. Regional communities have been looking at the weather and at the fires in North America and in Europe with genuine fear and trauma. It is important that we support those communities as best we can. Of course, the climate is changing and the standard preparations we have done for generations will not be able to be relied on, going forward.

I absolutely support this motion. We all should be encouraging the communities we represent to prepare for emergencies for themselves and the people we care about. We also need to be preparing for the broader health impacts of these kinds of disasters. Each year, heatwaves cause more deaths in Australia than any other kind of disaster. We know that people cannot afford to run air conditioning and do not have adequately ventilated homes, so we need cool spaces in our communities for people to go to, and we need people to understand how they might be able to keep themselves cool without air conditioning.

We need to look at the impact of smoke pollution. Sydney was not directly impacted by the 2019 and 2020 fires but was blanketed with smoke for a significant period of time. I was working as a GP during that time, and only after weeks of that kind of smoke did we get guidance saying that people who are pregnant or have respiratory conditions should wear P2 respirators to protect themselves from PM2.5 air pollution. I think that our communities are not ready for that, coming into this bushfire season. This is not just about the measures that individuals and households need to take. Although I think we should encourage individuals and households to prepare, we need, at a system level and at a Government level, to be both improving the way we respond to bushfires and the way that we look after air quality.

Independent experts are calling for improved use of technology and light aircraft for early detection and prompt responses to fires before they spread. We cannot rely on the RFS to contain big fires in the kind of conditions that we are seeing in our changing climate. We need to be able to put them out before they spread. The Government needs to be doing more in that space. We also need adequate filtration and ventilation, particularly of all public buildings, so that people who cannot access safe air at home have a safe space to go and participate in the community on days where we are blanketed in smoke. I support the motion and thank the honourable member again for the opportunity to debate it tonight.

The Hon. STEPHEN LAWRENCE (21:09:57):

I speak in support of the motion, moved by my colleague the Hon. Peter Primrose, which encourages people to have their bushfire preparedness plans in place for the bushfire season. The community is a vital partner in bushfire safety and landholders on bushfire‑prone land have a responsibility to reduce their fire risk and prepare their properties. I note that the community can now also keep up to date with real-time live fire and flood incidents, including hazard reductions, on the new Hazards Near Me app and look out for the updated communications given by the new Australian Fire Danger Rating System. I particularly want to recognise that the bushfire season has been underway since spring with the Bureau of Meteorology already issuing a El Niño alert, meaning that there will be warm, dry conditions for a long time ahead, which will increase the severity of the fire season.

Bush Fire Season Outlook 2023-24

There are further compounding problems in the Dubbo and Bathurst areas, of which I am duty MLC. The alert is that grass fuel loads in regions across those electorates have the highest—red—grass fuel load rating in the RFS . The report states, "Fuel state or how dry fuels are leading into a fire season is a particularly important indicator of the level of early fire season activity and the difficulty of suppressing fires. Drier fuels ignite more easily, and in times of prolonged drought, very dry soil and low fuel moisture levels make suppressing fire significantly more difficult."

I also thank and acknowledge the incredible work that Fire and Rescue NSW crews from Gulgong, Mudgee, Kelso, Orange, Bathurst and Dubbo have already done this season to protect numerous properties in the Springwood Park Road area and extinguish a blaze spreading through the Cope State Forest, which made a turn towards Ulan township. The crews worked in two separate strike teams, alongside numerous volunteer crews from the RFS and aircraft against high wind, unfavourable conditions and the spreading fire to protect houses, infrastructure and bring the blaze under control. I note that fire operations are continuing and I thank them for all they do.

Ms SUE HIGGINSON (21:12:34):

I support the comments made by my colleague Dr Amanda Cohn. I further contribute to the debate regarding the preparedness of New South Wales and this Government in the face of bushfires and other climate-driven disasters. Personal responsibility for our safety and the safety of those who depend on us is undeniably crucial in disaster preparedness and climate action. However, it must not be the sole line of defence against those threats. The Government holds a paramount responsibility to ensure that its actions are geared towards safeguarding the environment and communities of New South Wales.

The Greens will support the motion. It presents an opportunity to impress upon the Government the existential peril that arises from failing to act swiftly and resolutely on climate change. The jeopardy posed to New South Wales communities and our entire ecosystem by lacklustre climate targets, poor land management, including through the continued logging of our public native forest estate, and the support of fossil fuel projects cannot be understated. It must be recognised as perilous and irresponsible.

The motion rightly acknowledges that after three years of unusually intense wet weather New South Wales will experience more extreme fires. It is worth noting that as of this afternoon there are 65 fires across New South Wales. Life has already been lost and no doubt the wildlife toll is already large. Today my grandkids in the north of the State have returned home from school from a day cloaked in thick bushfire smoke. It is imperative that we act decisively to mitigate the impending threat and to fortify our State against the growing challenges posed by climate breakdown.

Beyond personal responsibility, we must recognise that collective action is the cornerstone of resilience. That requires a coordinated effort from all levels of government, in partnership with communities and experts, to develop and implement comprehensive disaster preparedness strategies. Furthermore, we must allocate sufficient resources to equip our emergency services with the tools and training they need to respond effectively to crises. We must confront the undeniable truth: climate change exacerbates the frequency and intensity of natural disasters.

It is not enough to address the symptoms; we must tackle the root cause head on. Ambitious climate targets, coupled with investments in renewable energy and sustainable and regenerative land management practices, are not only prudent but also essential for the long-term survival and well-being of our State. As we move forward, let us be guided by the understanding that the choices we make here today will reverberate through generations to come. Let us stand united in our commitment to safeguarding the people and the environment of New South Wales, and in our unwavering determination to confront the biggest challenges of our time.

The Hon. Dr SARAH KAINE (21:15:33):

I support the motion and thank the the Hon. Peter Primrose for bringing it to the House. Our regional communities continue to be hit hard with the extremely damaging effects of weather events, including bushfires. With the declaration of the recent El Nino weather pattern, the 2023-24 summer is predicted to be one of the hottest, driest summers on record. The Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20 ravaged regional communities, including a number of areas within my duty electorate of Kiama.

I particularly recognise the devasting effect of the Black Summer bushfires on the residents of Kangaroo Valley, who fell victim to the Currowan fire that, on a change of wind direction, travelled almost 100 kilometres north to reach the small town. It would later come out that the Currowan fire ultimately burned for 74 days and destroyed 320,385 hectares of land. The fire saw approximately 10 per cent—at least 48—of the homes in Kangaroo Valley seriously damaged. At least five of those properties were declared a total loss. A number of holiday cabins, critical infrastructure, sheds and equipment were also declared total losses. The Kangaroo Valley Bush Retreat, a local wedding venue, experienced extreme damage, which forced it to cancel and refund 120 weddings booked for the 18 months following the fire. That had flow-on effects to local businesses because the venue used local suppliers for its produce and wedding parties would often source local photographers and other businesses.

Countless livestock and wild animals were also lost during those events. I visited the area following the fires for a bushwalk—it was not really a bushwalk by then—and I saw the effect on the landscape firsthand. It was devasting and the stunning bushland looked like a hellscape. While experts do not expect this season to be as dangerous as the 2019-20 season, the growth of vegetation over three consecutive years of high rainfall has created a high fuel load, making grass fires a bigger risk than usual. I commend the Government and the fire agencies for their work to prepare for the bushfire season. I encourage local community members to download the Hazards Near Me app and stay engaged with their local rural fire service to ensure they are kept informed of what is happening in their local area. I thank the member for bring it to the House. I support the motion.

The Hon. PETER PRIMROSE (21:18:13):

In reply: I thank all honourable members who participated in the debate, who gave their personal experiences of the local area and who indicated clearly that bushfire preparedness is an issue that all of us who are concerned about climate change need to be aware of. The motion also mentions the importance of some degree of personal preparedness. It also acknowledges that there is an awful lot else that governments and non-government agencies need to do. No-one in this place wants to see the devastation of the Black Summer repeated.

When I was preparing the motion it seemed to me that many aspects of my life have somehow been involved in and affected by bushfires, at every age. Having grown up in Campbelltown, I remember as a child having a circle of bushfires around us from Wedderburn et cetera almost every summer. I remember doorknocking when I was in Menai as a duty MLC, and it was bizarre. I would be doorknocking in new cul-de-sacs with new houses and at the end of literally every cul‑de-sac, near where the fires had come, the house had been burnt down. The other houses were fine, but the house at the end had just gone. That was a strange and calamitous experience for everyone, but it really rammed home how selective and how dangerous it had been. One wondered why that housing had been allowed to go in at those locations.

More recently in the Hawkesbury, which is one of my current duty electorates, I have visited not only individuals who were affected by the fires but also small businesses. As a former Minister for Small Business, I would always try to talk to small business people. Most small businesses involve individuals; they are not large corporations. A year after the fires, those small businesses were literally on the verge of bankruptcy. They were still unable to make ends meet. Sometimes it was simply that the devastation of the fires had affected access to their businesses on the roadways and affected the number of people passing. Those things needed to be understood. I thank all honourable members and urge all of the thousands of people who read this debate to find out whether their house will require them to leave early or stay in the event of a bushfire, to know their local TV and radio channels to keep informed, and to make sure they are bushfire ready.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT (The Hon. Rod Roberts):

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Motion agreed to.

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