Member for Scenic Rim Jon Krause will continue to fight for improved resources and respect for our rural firefighters as LNP Leader Deb Frecklington announced a 10-point-plan to overhaul Queensland’s bushfire strategy.
Mr Krause once again thanked the hundreds of people across the Scenic Rim Electorate who have worked so hard fighting fires in the past months, pledging to listen to frontline volunteers about what needs to be done differently.
“There’s no doubt we have some awesome firies and wonderful volunteers – and I’d include SES and all other volunteers like the Salvos in that too,” Mr Krause said.
“In all these fires, three key messages have come through: we need to respect local knowledge about fires; we need to reduce fuel loads on property, especially on state-owned land and in National Parks; and we need a better system to ensure hazard reduction burns everywhere are done when they should be – not stopped due to inept bureaucracy, because if they’re not carried out disaster can strike later on. The LNP’s plan will deliver on these points, and more too.”
LNP Leader Deb Frecklington said the LNP will take decisive action to get Queensland bushfire ready.
“In a bushfire-prone state like ours, the government must stop at nothing to ensure communities are kept safe. Queensland has faced its own bushfire catastrophes in recent years, but the Palaszczuk Labor Government has failed to learn lessons and strengthen policies.”
The LNP’s 10-point-plan is the culmination of recommendations by the Inspector General Emergency Management (IGEM), listening to the concerns of stakeholders, and implementing the advice of Queensland’s expert rural firefighters.
“The LNP will make sweeping improvements to Queensland’s bushfire strategy to make the state more prepared and more able to respond in emergencies,” she said.
“Queensland needs a modern strategy to mitigate and respond to bushfires and the LNP has the plan to deliver it if elected in October’s election.”
LNP 10-point-plan for bushfires:
1. One-stop-shop for streamlined approval process
- The LNP will establish a single point of contact for landholders and councils to submit all bushfire mitigation inquiries and permits to the Government, as recommended by the 2018 IGEM report. This was only accepted in-principle by the Labor Government.
2. Deemed approval after 15 business days under a “right to burn” model:
- Properly made applications will be automatically approved after 15 business days to give landholders and councils certainty.
- This will stop permits getting lost in bureaucratic process and restore accountability and bring certainty to landholders and allow government to scale up or down resources to respond to demands for permits.
3. New KPIs to achieve 98 per cent of hazard reduction activities:
- There are currently no KPIs holding government departments to account on hazard reduction burns, the creation of firebreaks and community education. Between 2016 and 2019, only 54% of hazard reduction burns planned have been completed. There’s also been a 30 per cent reduction in completed overall hazard reduction activities.
4. Indigenous rangers to undertake traditional burning
- The LNP will trial a traditional burning program run by indigenous rangers. The program won’t replace Rural Fire Brigades’ role in managing and co-ordinating hazard reduction burns. It will compliment pre-existing efforts by combining traditional and modern burning practices. Blending cultural and modern burning techniques has proven successful and should be expanded.
5. Establish a Natural Disaster Cabinet Committee to monitor preparations
- The group will be chaired by the Emergency Services Minister and QFES Commissioner. It will monitor the progress of state departments and landholders conducting hazard reduction activities.
6. Monitored grazing in state forests and some national parks to manage fuel loads:
- The 2018 IGEM report cited grazing as a measure used in conjunction with a suite of hazard reduction measures.
- Grazing will be monitored to protect the environment but also manage fuel loads.
7. Establish urban-based Rural Fire Volunteer brigades:
- Just like in Sydney and Melbourne where brigades exist that are manned by urban volunteers that can be called on during extreme bushfire events, a similar model should be investigated in Queensland to make use of the large number of SEQ based volunteers.
8. Restore local control to Rural Fire brigades
- This will restore recent management structure changes that pushed local fire brigades under the reporting authority of regional urban fire groups. The Rural Fire Brigade Association of Queensland has been very vocal in calling for brigades to be able to report back through the rural fire assistant commissioner rather than through the urban fire system.
9. Establish a Rural Fire Board
- The Rural Fire Board will be made up of elected rural fire brigade members from across Queensland as well as members appointed by the Government.
10. Review of aerial firefighting capability
- A review and stocktake of aviation fire assets in Queensland to ensure the state’s capacity will accommodate future increased fire risks.