Wannabee water raiders re-positioning themselves for another attempt to dam and divert water from the Clarence River catchment?

Once more the usual suspects are eyeing of North-East NSW as a source of water for urban and industry expansion. 

It isn’t hard to imagine which river system is top of their wish list. Their obsession with rivers within the Clarence River catchment is well-known.

The Chronicle (Online), 1 December 2020:

The Toowoomba Regional Council will join the Western Downs, Southern Downs, Goondiwindi, Lockyer Valley and Tenterfield in the alliance, which will seek to access millions in state and federal government funding for new water security studies.

Cr Antonio said it was an important first step for the councils, and hoped more local governments would join.

“We’re looking at firstly water mapping and where we can get future water from,” he said.

“I’m excited about it – it should’ve been done years ago but we’ve done it. We’re going to do mapping first, and one of the first things we’ve got to do is get it from the State Government.”

WATER Northern Rivers Alliance launched a campaign for smart water options in the Northern Rivers, instead of the Dunoon Dam

Cr Antonio said the agreed vision of the group was about winning new water to provide for generational urban, rural and industrial outcomes.

“Water security is a national issue, and the new alliance would work together to tackle it at a regional level,” he said.

“Improved water security would be a significant driver of regional growth and potential economic activity, particularly from private sector investment.

“The broader region of the Darling Downs and northern New South Wales is suffering through lack of long-term water security options.

“We believe that further investment in water security by all levels of government at a regional level is vital to seize the wealth of opportunity before us.”

The Chronicle (Online), 24 November 2020:

TRC Mayor Paul Antonio said water security was a national issue, and federal support would be needed to tackle it on a regional level.

“The broader region of the Darling Downs and northern New South Wales is suffering through lack of long-term water security options,” Cr Antonio said.

“At the meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister, we asked for $5 million in funding assistance from the Federal Government to initiate planning of long-term water security through a broadbased regional feasibility study.

“Improved water security would be a significant driver of regional growth and potential economic activity, particularly from private sector investment..... 

On keeping faith with the environment, biodiversity and our natural landscapes

 

Wildlife Crusaders For Our Environment shared this letter on Facebook. It was written by Catherine Cusack, Member of the NSW Legislative Council since March 2013, to Friends of Kalang Headwaters:

Dear Friends of Kalang Headwaters,

Can I say I am incredibly flattered by the invitation and if I could be there without cancelling other commitments I would 100% be there.

Apart from the many good reasons to join you, the best part of my job is first hand seeing our incredible ancient landscape with people who understand it and can explain what I am looking at, what has happened and the actions we need to take.

The real heroes in our state are those who care, whose deep knowledge is the result of years of observation, concern, research and trying to share with their communities and people like me in politics who they believe have a duty to respect and act upon the facts.

I cannot find words to adequately describe my respect for all that work and advocacy for our environment. And I would add the word worry. People are really worried about past mistakes, how we can address them and where things are headed. Anxiety for our precious and fragile landscape and the species in trouble because it’s their home and we failed to respect that. All of it is local. All of it is respectful and all of it is informed by science - and I am just the blow in whose contribution is simply to listen and absorb the information. Information that has taken years of work to discern. The briefings I receive are beautifully prepared often people take time off work and fit in with my program. I cannot tell you how lucky I am in this job and how duty bound I feel to act on the information I am given. There is patience even when it’s forced because frankly past mistakes for whatever reason make me angry and so I can only imagine how local communities who live through the errors must feel.

I voted against my Government's Bill because it was just wrong and a big mistake - the suffering was all about being disloyal to my team who gave me no choice.

The messages of support I received were completely unexpected and overwhelming. I was stunned and of course very grateful because it was a big fall for me - and people who I don’t know reached out to put me back on my feet again.

I have thought so much about how surprised and pleased people were by my vote. I can only guess they have become used to disappointment in decisions and how “the system” just isn’t hearing what they are saying. These people I am referring to have poured their lives into helping our environment and while I am grateful, I am also sorry it was an unexpected surprise. I get it because I worked hard before the Bill was debated in Parliament and well know that sinking feeling - this is super important and nobody is listening to me.

After the vote they played Tom Perry’s song “I won’t back down”. I certainly experienced a rush of affection for them but needed to message that wasn’t the song I was listening to as I dragged my sorry self up to Parliament that morning. The song I was playing on a loop that I will always associate with that issue was The Eagles “Take it to the Limit”. Because for me that song was all about OMG I am failing but I have got to keep trying and when I fail again I need to try harder.

I tell this story because these feelings I recognise in every passionate person trying to assist our environment. I sure know that weariness and so when in spite of being so tired you keep going - well that’s what inspires me.

There is a Bobby Kennedy quote I first heard as a child. This is off topic but google Bobby Kennedy’s son Robert Kennedy Jnr environment podcasts and get ready to be inspired.

Anyway this is his father’s quote and I love it because gives me so much optimism about the power of community activism.

“ Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

There are ripples of hope crisscrossing our state and all of you know this to be true because you are the ripples of hope. And it is becoming a mighty torrent.

Last week the torrent was unleashed on a government Bill I voted against. It happened to be me - but I was just the end product of a massive shift in opinion driven by local activism. I wouldn’t be there or be able to do that if not for you. What you are doing is reversing political currents in politics it is making a difference and the power only grows because of perseverance in the face of disappointments and adversity.

Please never stop or feel disheartened. It is making such a difference.

In my speech I mentioned the sad fate of a local koala colony in Ballina Shire impacted by the construction of the Pacific Motorway. I tried so hard at a really early stage of the project and to cut a very long story short, I failed. It is an experience I say honestly, I am embittered by what happened; there were other options but no, it was the koalas who copped it. In some ways my decision to block the LLS Bill is rooted in that defeat. I am not interested anymore in “mitigation” or “offsets” we are so far beyond those ideas as viable strategies. Nothing will restore what happened there in the Blackhall Range and nothing can console the adoring community who knew each koala and cared for their habitat. I share that story of a lost battle because it contributed to the defeat of the Bill last week. Losing battles can sometimes win wars - I am bewildered as to why this is so hard but it is and we just push through it regardless.

I applaud the conservation proposal for the Kalang headwaters. I love that river and I am jealous of everyone who is present at the ceremony. Thank all of you for caring for the river it’s ecosystem and wildlife.

Please never stop believing politics can be better than it is. My personal motto is the longer it takes, the bigger the party when we get there! Let’s try together to get there.

Thanks for keeping the faith.

Individuals and communities in New South Wales are feeling the emotional and social stress of two horror years in a row

 

One can hear the stress, fatigue, sadness, helplessness and sometimes despair behind a great many of the tweets and posts on Australian social media - especially from those living in regional areas around the country.

One NSW Labor MP recently observed to me that so many people are now in a dark place.

So sadly, this article comes as no surprise…..

The Daily Telegraph, 1 December 2020:

It was thrust into the national spotlight when 33 people tragically lost their lives in last year’s deadly bushfires. But the NSW south coast holds another unenviable title — the suicide capital of NSW.

In a grim reminder of the mental health battle facing our state, the area from Bateman’s Bay to the Victorian border lost 68 people to suicide between 2015 and 2019.

This is compared to the 33 lives lost to the bushfires which ravaged the region from September 2019 through to January 2020.

Analysis of Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) data reveals the south coast has a suicide rate of 21.5 per 100,000 people — the highest rate in NSW and an increase on the previous year.

Taree, Inverell, Yass and the Clarence Valley are the next worst affected. “We are seeing in the coastal regions the cumulative effects of the bushfires, social dislocation and the consequent effects of further trauma through COVID-19,” Professor Ian Hickie of the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre said. “These are the areas where there are already economic impacts, disruption and now there are additional effects. We talk about this idea of stacked distress.” The figures also reveal a yawning gap between suicide rates in the bush and Sydney, where the overwhelming majority of mental health professionals live.

Gosford and Wyong on the Central Coast are the second and third-worst areas in Greater Sydney, behind the Sydney CBD which has a suicide rate of 14.6 deaths per 100,000 people.

Yet there are 27 other rural and regional locations with a higher suicide rate. Youth mental health expert Professor Patrick McGorry said the statistics “are so shocking — it’s like a war zone”.

“There’s more than 15,500 people who have died in that five-year period (nationwide). If the cause of death were something different — like drownings or car accidents — it would be in people’s faces and on the front page,” he said.

Lifeline: 13 11 14

[my yellow highlighting]

By January 2019 drought affected 99.8 per cent of New South Wales and most of the state was still experiencing drought in January 2020.

The devastating 2019-20 bushfire season commenced early in regional New South Wales. The Clarence Valley fires started at the beginning of June 2019.

The COVID-19 pandemic reached New South Wales on 15 January 2020 and first appeared in the NSW Northern Rivers region on or about 16 March 2020. 

In New South Wales in October 2020 unemployment stood at 6.5% and the number of people in the state who were unemployed for periods ranging from up to 4 weeks to 52 weeks and under 104 weeks rose by 148,300 individuals between October 2019 and October 2020.

By July 2020 the employment growth rate stood at 0.0% to -2.4% across the NSW Northern Rivers region.

Fire, drought, fear of infection, public health orders and economic recession significantly affected how coastal communities have lived their lives in the last two years.

According to the federal Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing:

The newly established New South Wales Suicide Monitoring System, launched by the NSW Government on 9 November 2020, reported 673 suspected suicides in NSW from 1 January to 30 September 2020. This is similar to the 672 suspected suicides reported for the same period in 2019 (NSW Ministry of Health 2020). Three-quarters of suspected suicides in 2020 were among males and more than half of all suspected suicides occurred among those aged between 25 and 55 (NSW Ministry of Health 2020).

Again, according to the same source, in New South Wales in 2018 there were a total 899 deaths registered as suicide and in 2019 at total of 937 deaths registered as suicide.

 

The number of registered deaths in 2019 exceeded the 22 year high of 1997 which saw 935 deaths registered as suicide.

The rate of NSW ambulance attendances for mental heath issues in 2019 was 114.3 persons per 100,000 population.

In 2018-2019 a total of 297 males and 388 females were hospitalised for self-harm on the NSW North Coast.

The rate of NSW Northern Rivers hospitalisations for self-harm by females in 2018-2019 ranged from Tweed Valley 181.5 persons per 100,000 population, Clarence Valley 128.3 persons, Richmond Valley-Hinterland 169.6 persons, and Richmond Valley-Coastal 104.2 persons. There are as yet no published figures for 2020.

The NSW Native Vegetation Regulatory interactive map was last updated on the 1 November 2020 and shows land on which native vegetation regulations may be weakened or removed by the Berejiklian Government before 26 November 2020

 

This is the Native Vegetation Regulatory (NVR) Map which was last updated on the 1 November 2020.

This is an interactive map which community researchers can access at:

https://www.lmbc.nsw.gov.au/Maps/index.html?viewer=NVRMap.

The mapping covers:

Category 1 – exempt land – native vegetation clearing is allowed without approval from Local Land Services. Category 2 – regulated land – authorisation may be required from Local Land Services for native vegetation clearing. This may include clearing under the Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code 2018. Landholders also have a range of allowable clearing activities available to them for use without approval from Local Land Services. 

Category 2 – vulnerable regulated land is designated as steep or highly erodible lands, protected riparian land or special category land. Use of the Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code 2018 and allowable clearing activities are restricted in these areas. 

Category 2 – sensitive regulated land is designated as environmentally sensitive. Clearing under the Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code 2018 is not permitted in these areas, although there is a limited list of allowable clearing activities available. Excluded land is managed outside the land management framework. Other clearing controls may exist in these areas. 

Category 2 – vulnerable regulated land is displayed on the NVR map as Orange. 

While Category 2 – sensitive regulated land is displayed  as Pink. 

In some circumstances, Category 2 – sensitive regulated land and Category 2 – vulnerable regulated land exist on the same land. If these two categories overlap, they are displayed as Brown on the map.

Excluded land is displayed as Grey. 

Category 2 – vulnerable regulated land can include: 

steep and highly erodible land: land with a slope >18 degrees and/or where soil characteristics, slope and rainfall erosion present a high erosion risk 

protected riparian land: land within 20 meters of the bed or bank of a named natural watercourse or waterbody. This land filters runoff into streams and provides habitat for many plant and animal species and, in many cases, are the only remaining natural corridors in the landscape. 

special category land: exists over some areas of NSW considered to be at particular environmental risk and includes land vulnerable to soil erosion, salinity, sedimentation and/or landslip. 

Environmentally sensitive land defined as 'special category land' could include the following: 

• Aboriginal site protection 
• coastal dune protection 
• erosion hazards 
• flora and fauna protection 
• geological/geomorphological site protection 
• habitat protection, 
• scenic values 
• mass movement areas, and 
• saline areas. 

Category 2 sensitive regulated land includes a wide range of land including: 

• Old growth forest 
• Rainforest 
• Critically endangered ecological communities 
• Critically endangered plants 
• Core koala habitat 
• High conservation value grasslands or other groundcover 
• Areas of outstanding biodiversity value 
• Ramsar wetlands within the meaning of the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 
• Land described as Coastal Wetlands in the Coastal Zone referred to in the Coastal Management Act
• Land described as Littoral Rainforest in the Coastal Zone referred to in the Coastal Management Act 
• Land is subject to an approved conservation measure that was the basis for other land being biodiversity certified. 

As well as land that is under various official conservation agreements or set aside for other conservation, offset or remedial undertakings.

BACKGROUND

See: North Coast Voices, NSW Forests War: State of Play November 2020.

"You and your boof-headed party, Mr. Gulaptis, and the appalling anti-environment government which you are part of, will be responsible for the extinction of koalas in our region...."

 

Chris Gulaptis MP, the NSW Nationals & Koalas

Our local State MP Chris Gulaptis, the Nationals’ Member for Clarence, has claimed that he loves Koalas like every other Australian. The Grafton Nannas believe he has a very strange way of showing this recently-revealed affection.

Since 2011, when the Nationals came into government in NSW, they have been pressuring their Coalition partners to weaken biodiversity protection. This has resulted in significant weakening of both native vegetation legislation and State Forest logging regulations. Both of these changes have had serious impacts on biodiversity - including on koalas.

Koalas have suffered from a range of impacts in recent years including climate induced drought and bushfires as well as dog attack, car strike and disease. But a major cause of their decline has been habitat loss. The NSW Nationals have had a big role in recent years in ensuring that habitat loss is accelerating.

In September we had the unedifying “dummy spit” drama where the Nationals threatened to withdraw from the Government because they objected to the Governments’ Koala SEPP (State Environmental Planning Policy) which had come into operation in March after being negotiated in late 2019. This SEPP was a slight improvement on the years-old model which had failed completely as a koala protective measure.

Chris Gulaptis was one of the prime movers in this melodrama.

Shortly after Premier Gladys Berejiklian called their bluff, the Nationals, many of whom did not want to lose their ministerial perks, backed down.

There was considerable speculation about why the Nationals had suddenly found the SEPP so intolerable after it they had had input to its development and it had already been on the books for around six months.

It seemed to boil down to lobbying by certain property developers, Nationals’ supporters who were worried they might have difficulty is pursuing their plans for rural subdivisions or residential development on urban outskirts because they would need to put in development applications to councils. This would then trigger the SEPP. So it appeared Nationals politicians like the prime mover Chris Gulaptis believed these interests should outweigh the protection of koalas which are on track to extinction in NSW by 2050 unless really effective measures are put in place to protect them and their habitat.

Following the Nationals’ backdown, there were behind the scenes negotiations between the Coalition partners that led to significant changes to the Koala SEPP. Unsurprisingly the Liberals caved in and the SEPP was watered down. For example the definition of core koala habitat became more restricted and developing a Koala Plan of Management was made more difficult for councils.

That was bad enough, but the extent of the Liberals’ spinelessness became more apparent with the appearance of the Local Land Services (LLS) Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020. It further limits any opportunity to protect koala habitat.

This Bill has since been passed in the Legislative Assembly.

The Grafton Nannas held a knit-in protest outside Chris Gulaptis’ Grafton office on Thursday.

In a letter to Mr Gulaptis which was delivered to the office, we expressed our disgust with him and his party.

Below is the text of this letter:

LLS Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020

“When we wrote to you in September about your party’s koala protection dummy spit, we expressed our disgust at your determination to undermine koala protection at a time when it was urgently needed. At that time the Nannas thought it would have been impossible to be more disgusted with you and your party.

“The changes to the Koala SEPP that followed the rapprochement of your party with the Liberals showed the Nannas just how weak was the Government commitment to ensuring koalas were protected and rescued from their slide towards extinction.

“And then, just to show how unimportant biodiversity protection and the fate of koalas was, the Liberals pandered further to the Nationals with the LLS Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill which has now passed in the Legislative Assembly.

“You and your boof-headed party, Mr Gulaptis, and the appalling anti-environment government which you are a part of, will be responsible for the extinction of koalas in our region, if not in all NSW.”

-------------------------------------------------------

Leonie Blain

Grafton Knitting Nannas Against Gas and Greed

Round Two of the accelerated Fixing Local Roads program is now open and hopefully all Northern Rivers local councils from Clarence to the Tweed will be successful in their applications

 

From the Office of Labor MP for Lismore, media release, 3 November 2020:

Lismore MP Janelle Saffin is urging the four local councils in her Electorate of Lismore to put forward shovel-ready projects for Round 2 of the accelerated Fixing Local Roads program which opened yesterday (2 November 2020).

Ms Saffin she hoped Lismore City, Kyogle, Tenterfield and Tweed shires would secure their fair share of an additional $136.4 million in funding which would be injected into regional New South Wales to generate more jobs and stimulate local economies.

“Local councils currently do the heavy lifting because they are responsible for maintaining over 85 per cent of the total 180,000-kilometre-long road network in New South Wales, including local roads (about 80 per cent of that network) and regional roads,” Ms Saffin said.

“There is no doubt that we need better and safer roads right across the Electorate of Lismore and our local communities also need extra help to recover from the economic impacts of drought, bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Fixing Local Roads is a grant-based program, where local councils can apply for funding to repair, patch, maintain and seal priority local council roads.

“Applications can be made for a 100 per cent contribution from the NSW Government for specific works but councils are encouraged to co-contribute with funds or in-kind contributions.

“Applications for Round 2 of the Australian Government-NSW Government program remain open until Friday, 4 December 2020.

“Shovel-ready projects will need to start this financial year and be delivered within two years, according the program’s updated guidelines.”

The Australian Government committed $191 million in June this year to build on the NSW Government’s $500-million program over five years.

Guidelines and a factsheet for Round 2 of the Fixing Local Roads Program can be found here www.rms.nsw.gov.au/fixinglocalroads

List of 93 eligible regional councils can be found at https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/business-industry/partners-and-suppliers/lgr/grant-programs/fixing-local-roads-eligibility-list.pdf.

Funding eligibility guidelines are at https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/business-industry/partners-and-suppliers/lgr/grant-programs/fixing-local-roads-program-guidelines.pdf.

Will this be one of the last attempts available to communities seeking to legally curb rapacious loggers from destroying New South Wales koala habitat?

 

Clarence Valley Independent, 21 October 2020:

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has commenced five prosecutions in the Land and Environment Court against Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCN) for allegedly breaching licence requirements in 2018.

Allegedly committed by FCN’s contractors, the offences – the felling of trees in exclusion zones and protected areas, some of which are specifically set up to protect koala habitat – took place in Wild Cattle Creek State Forest (west southwest of Glenreagh).

The FCN states in a media release that it had set aside “three times” the required kola habitat “under the rule set” and that the “EPA’s allegations relate to nine trees”, despite “protecting an additional 6,000 trees”.

The prosecutions follow the EPA issuing a stop work order on Saturday July 18, to cease tree harvesting, in compartments 32, 33 and 34 of the forest, where “serious breaches of forestry operations rules” were alleged to have been committed.

The EPA alleges that the current alleged breaches occurred in compartments 539 and 540 of the forest, in breach of Forestry Corporation’s licence.

The EPA’s acting chief executive officer, Jacqueleine Moore, said it was unacceptable to put vulnerable species, such as the koala, in danger by breaking the rules.

“We have strict procedures in place to protect wildlife, and if they are disregarded it can put these animals under threat,” Ms Moore said.

The EPA alleges that: Forestry Corporation’s contractors felled trees and operated snig tracks (tracks created by harvesting machinery) within a koala high use area exclusion zone located within Compartment 539 of the forest; and, contractors felled trees in protected rainforest areas and an exclusion zone around warm temperate rainforest.

Offences relating to koala exclusion zones carry a maximum penalty of $440,000 each; the other “three offences carry a maximum penalty of $110,000 each”.

“In this instance, after a long investigation process that involved interviews and a consultation process with Forestry Corporation, the EPA has decided that these actions warrant prosecution,” Ms Moore said.

“We’re sending a strong message that laws created to protect the environment, and in particular vulnerable species like the koala, must be adhered to.”…..

It should be noted that NSW state forests are exempt from the provisions of State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala HabitatProtection) 2019 (amended 3 September & 16 October 2020), as is private land being commercially logged under a private native forestry plan.

Exemptions go further and it appears all land now listed as "any area of the State" in Part 5A below (apart from certain land in Ballina, Coffs Harbour City, Lismore, Kempsey & Port Stephens local government areas) is no longer covered by the Koala Habitat Protection SEPP under amendments to NSW Land Services Act 2013 being rammed through state parliament by the NSW National Party. 

It seems that this may possibly only leave urban land already covered by a local government registered development control plan and the national park estate with a certain degree of protection

PART 5A - LAND MANAGEMENT (NATIVE VEGETATION)

This Part applies to any area of the State, other than the following--

(a) urban areas of the State to which State Environmental Planning Policy (Vegetation in Non-Rural Areas) 2017 applies,

(b) national park estate and other conservation areas, namely--

(i) a wilderness area declared under the Wilderness Act 1987 , or

(ii) land reserved under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 or acquired by the Minister administering that Act under Part 11 of that Act, or

(iii) land dedicated or set apart as a flora reserve under the Forestry Act 2012 (or any Act repealed by that Act), or

(iv) land to which an interim heritage order or listing on the State Heritage Register under the Heritage Act 1977 applies, or

(v) a declared area of outstanding biodiversity value under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 , or

(vi) an area declared to be critical habitat under Division 3 of Part 7A of the Fisheries Management Act 1994 , or

(vii) a declared World Heritage property within the meaning of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 of the Commonwealth, or

(viii) land dedicated or reserved under the Crown Lands Act 1989 for similar public purposes for which land is reserved, declared or listed under the other Acts referred to in this paragraph, or

(ix) land to which an interim protection order under Part 11 (Regulatory compliance mechanisms) of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 applies, or

(x) Lord Howe Island,

(c) State forestry land, namely--

(i) land that is a State forest or timber reserve under the Forestry Act 2012 , or

(ii) land acquired under Division 4 of Part 3 of the Forestry Act 2012 for the purposes of a State forest (not being any such land acquired for the purposes of a timber plantation).

The regulations may amend this section for the purposes of adding or removing areas of the State to which this Part applies (or of revising references to areas of the State). [my yellow highlighting]

Berejiklian Government bows to National Party slash & burn mentality in its media release but the Final Report of the NSW Bushfire Inquiry tells another story

In which the NSW Nationals through Deputy-Premier & MLA for Monaro John Barilaro insert into a government media release their dislike of national parks and unexploited Crown land. 

NSW GOVERNMENT, media release, 25 August 2020:

The NSW Government has released the independent NSW Bushfire Inquiry, which examined the causes, preparation and response to the devastating 2019-20 bushfires.

All 76 recommendations will be accepted in principle, with further work to be done on specific timelines to give communities assurance that changes will be made to keep them safe.

Any issues not covered in the report that are still relevant to the protection of property and life will also be further examined.

Resilience NSW, led by Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, has been tasked with coordinating and overseeing the implementation of the Inquiry’s recommendations as the government finalises its approach.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian thanked former NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Owens and Professor Mary O’Kane AC for their hard work on this report.

“The NSW Government has worked in lock-step with the RFS and Resilience NSW to ensure the state is as prepared as it can be to face the next fire season, but the learnings from this Inquiry will help us further improve our preparedness and response,” said Ms Berejiklian.

“The NSW Government has already delivered more than $45 million in additional funding, announced in May 2020, to fast-track hazard reduction and deliver upgrades to our firefighting capability.

“This was a terrible bushfire season and we will look at all the steps we can take, especially in relation to helping people protect their property.”

The findings of the report show that there is an opportunity to strengthen governance and responsibility, which we are in the process of addressing.

The report also acknowledges the significant contribution of both climate change and the vast expanse of the state’s bushland towards these devastating fires.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro said all 76 recommendations in the Inquiry are based on the harsh lessons learnt from the catastrophic bushfires of last summer.

“Last bushfire season was unlike anything we have ever dealt with before and we need a government response to match,” Mr Barilaro said.

“Things like strategic hazard reduction and better land management no matter the tenure are essential when it comes to keeping our communities safe.”

Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott said NSW is more prepared than ever before for the 2020-21 fire season.

“We have already begun implementing the Inquiry’s recommendation to replace and retrofit the fleet, with 120 new trucks and 70 refurbished trucks to be rolled out before the end of the financial year,” Mr Elliott said.

“I would like to thank all our emergency personnel and volunteers who made us all proud over this relentless bushfire season.”

Read the Final Report of the NSW Bushfire Inquiry

Find out about the NSW Bushfire Inquiry and public submissions

[my yellow highlighting]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In which the conclusion was reached that when it came to bushfires, precautionary hazard reduction had limited value and, assumed land management practices in national parks and state forests or on private land did not significantly influence whether a fire started or a fire's outcome.

FinalReport of the NSW Bushfire Inquiry, 31 July 2020, excerpts, pp. 49, 52-53, 56:

2.2.2.1 Fuels on different types of land

Another common theme in the feedback to the Inquiry has been that fuel is managed better (or worse) on different types of land, with national parks in particular being criticised for ‘locking up’ land and allowing fuel to accumulate putting other landowners at risk, and that activity such as grazing should have been allowed in the parks to manage fuel loads.

The Research Hub examined this question using the Bees Nest fire in northern NSW as a case study to see whether aspects of fuel structure in forests – in terms of its cover and vertical connectivity – differed between different tenures: conservation estate (national park and State conservation area), State forest and privately owned land. These aspects of fuel cover and vertical connectivity are the factors considered likely to influence the likelihood of high intensity crown fires occurring.

The analysis used airborne LiDAR imagery to look at vegetation cover of the understorey (0.5-5 m height), lower canopy (5-15 m height) and upper canopy (greater than 15 m height).

In summary, this analysis showed that fuel cover and vertical connectivity between fuel levels were similar across different land tenures, and that there was no clear influence from inferred different management practices (for example, logging in State forests or grazing on private land) on the fuel properties of the forests on different land tenures. Therefore, in this case study area in northern NSW, the resultant bush fire hazard may have been similar across land tenure and the forest flammability (represented by measures of fuel structure) did not appear to have been a significantly influenced by different land management regimes.

The Inquiry notes that this work is only one case study and, as noted in the Research Hub’s report, relies on certain assumptions about management practices on the different tenures, and does not exclude the possibility that variations in logging and livestock grazing practices (e.g. different harvesting treatments, stocking rates etc.) could result in different results, or that different forest types might respond differently. However, as an initial case study, this points to some important issues that should be examined further in a more detailed investigation of the information generated from the 2019-20 fires across NSW.

2.2.2.2. Would more hazard reduction have helped?

…..In general, recent bush fires (unplanned fires) appeared to have a greater influence on preventing fire spread than recent prescribed burns, and while some recent prescribed fires had an influence on reducing fire severity, many had no obvious influence on fire severity. These effects are shown for the three case study areas in Figures 2-11, 2-12 and 2-13.

Overall, this work concluded that prescribed burns can reduce the severity of subsequent bush fires. However, “this effect is less than that of wildfires, it is short lived, and it is less effective under severe fire weather conditions”, findings that are consistent with much of the available literature…..

Another important question is whether fuel load or age had an impact on the number of successful ignitions. Certainly, dryness had an impact on the efficiency of ignitions by lightning (i.e. many lightning strikes resulted in ignitions because the fuel was so dry).

While this question cannot be answered with certainty for the 2019-20 season, research by Penman, Bradstock and Price (2013)123 on the Sydney basin found that, on days of Severe or Extreme fire risk, with a Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI)124 value greater than 50, the likelihood of ignition in younger fuels (recently burnt areas) is still high. This work found that fuel reduction is likely to influence lightning ignitions on days with low values of the FFDI – however, it notes that days with low FFDI values are not the conditions when large, serious bush fires tend to occur.
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