Maroc - TIMBERBIZ.COM.AU - A La Une - 20/Feb 23:41

Opinion: John O’Donnell – Identifying key bushfire lessons

Identifying and actioning key bushfire disaster economic, efficiency and accountability lessons and insights from across Australia. John O’Donnell considers that Australia and its towns and cities is inadequately prepared for bushfires and this has been outlined in other documents. https://arr.news/2025/01/09/major-concerns-in-relation-to-bushfire-preparedness-across-se-australia-john-odonnell/ https://arr.news/2024/06/07/town-and-city-bushfire-disaster-review-case-studies-and-lessons-across-australia-john-odonnell/ There are bushfire economic, efficiency and accountability lessons and insights that need to be addressed to improve bushfire preparedness across Australia. Outcomes of intense forest bushfires (fist Flinders Ranges in 2014) and second central NSW. The first critical lesson and insight area relates to the effective capture of key bushfire economic reform issues that the author considers aren’t currently being addressed properly, including six lessons are insights as outlined in the full document. There are major opportunities for economic reform within fire management across Australia.  Failure to implement the identified and critical bushfire mitigation opportunities will result in continued large and intense bushfires across landscapes, devasting large areas, communities, ecosystems and flora and fauna. Common sense decisions and management at this time can reduce costs and impacts of future bushfire disasters. The second critical lesson and insight area relates to the effective capture of key bushfire efficiency issues that the author considers aren’t currently being addressed properly, including: including 9 lessons are insights as outlined in the full document. There is further disaster funding detail outlined in Menzies Research Centre (2020): “Despite this relentless commitment to inquiries, in 2014, a report released by the Productivity Commission into Natural Disaster Funding Arrangements found that government natural disaster funding arrangements had been inefficient, inequitable and unsustainable. ‘They are prone to cost shifting, ad hoc responses and short-term political opportunism.’ The Productivity Commission lamented that the funding mix was disproportionately recovery-based and did not promote mitigation. It observed that the political incentives for mitigation were weak, ‘since mitigation provides public benefits that accrue over a long-time horizon,’ and that over time this would create entitlement dependency and undermines individual responsibility for natural disaster risk management.’ At that time, it said, mitigation funding amounted to only three per cent of what is spent on post-disaster recovery and recommended that the Australian Government should gradually increase the amount of annual mitigation funding it provides to state and territory governments to $200 million.” and: A paper commissioned by the Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience & Safer Communities estimated that expenditure of $5.3 billion over the period to 2050 (in present value) would generate budget savings of $12.2 billion for all levels of government including $9.8 billion for the Commonwealth government for the Commonwealth Government. With targeted mitigation spending Commonwealth and State and Territory government expenditure on natural disaster could be reduced more than 50 per cent by 2050. and: Generally, one dollar spent on mitigation can save at least two dollars in recovery costs. The above information is a great summary highlighting the current inefficiency of what is happening in relation to Australian bushfire disaster management but also highlights the opportunities available for good governance. The third critical lesson and insight area relates to the effective capture of key bushfire accountability issues that the author considers aren’t currently being addressed properly, including: including 12 lessons are insights as outlined in the full document. Conclusions There are extensive lessons and insights provided above,  summarised below: Economic reform lessons and insights in relation to current approaches to bushfire funding, mitigation, suppression, land and fire management and community protection (6 lessons and insights); Bushfire efficiency lessons and insights in relation to current approaches to bushfire funding, mitigation, suppression, land and fire management and community protection (9 lessons and insights); and Government and fire agency accountability lessons and insights in relation to current approaches to bushfire funding, mitigation, suppression, land and fire management and community protection (12 lessons and insights). There are 27 economic, efficiency and accountability lessons and insights captured by the author in this review. Benefits of an expanded federal/ state and local bushfire mitigation program to address bushfire mitigation and the issues above over say the next 6 years across Australian landscapes would include: Reduced individual bushfire disasters and associated costs, budget impacts and community/ firefighter and ecosystem Reduced ongoing repeat disasters and associated costs, budget impacts and community/ firefighter and ecosystem Reduced community bushfire deaths and safer firefighting. Better returns on investment than other projects. Regional infrastructure projects to assist economies. Reduced insurance premiums. Reduced cases of people without unaffordable insurance. Improved preparedness for war and terrorism. Reduced huge greenhouse gas impacts of intense bushfires; Reduction in the consequent wetter year impacts post intense bushfires as outlined by Fasullo et al (2023). The opportunities are huge, it just takes government will, innovation, vision and protecting communities and firefighters and looking out for their interests. Surely good effective governments, oppositions and fire agencies would capture these lessons and insights and get all the long term benefits of this. Seriously, it’s well past time for this with the disasters we are seeing across Australia and overseas. John O’Donnell was a forester with the then NSW Forestry Commission for 11 years. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Forestry) Hons 1978 from Australian National University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Agronomy and Farming Systems from the University of Adelaide 1996 and 1997, majoring in environmental issues in agriculture. He was awarded a Commonwealth Forestry Scholarship in 1976 and 1977.