The Sydenham Inlet Road fire break was a hot topic in Parliament last week, but it isn’t the first time the fire break has been brought up.
Local MP, Tim Bull, attended Parliament last Wednesday, stressing the need for the fire break to be completed before summer.
Mr Bull also raised the issue of the Sydenham Inlet Road fire break and called for it to be completed before this summer as it was a community with one road in and out, and it needed protection prior to another fire season.
“It is not good enough that the government announces these projects, not deliver on them for years and then complete a paltry amount of fuel reduction burning that leaves these communities vulnerable,” he said.
The fire break was listed as the highest Strategic Fuel Break priority for Gippsland in the Forest Fire Management Victoria’s Strategic Fuel Break Program 2022-2025.
The issue was also brought up in February last year, with Mr Bull asking which entity was responsible for the fire break; the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Change (DEECA) or East Gippsland Shire Council.
He also asked if the East Gippsland Shire Council was responsible, would it be reimbursed for the maintenance costs.
Fast forward to July 28, 2023, and Minister for Environment, Ingrid Stitt, submitted a reply.
“The government recognises the importance of establishing the Sydenham Inlet Road strategic fuel break, it will be the subject of future considerations for the Strategic Fuel Break program.”
Concerns over domestic firewood supply and uncertainty over the wild dog program were also raised in Parliament by Mr Bull.
“Time limits restricted me also talking about the severe lack of fuel reduction burns that have left us vulnerable, the horrific shooting of our brumbies and concerns Labor will announce more National Parks, further restricting bush user activity, but they are topics I’ve raised before and will do so again,” Mr Bull said.
“The government has a real issue it has to confront around domestic firewood supply, but first must understand the problem it has created.
“When Labor closed the native timber industry, it clearly never had any idea on how this would impact domestic firewood as, when I raised this, the answer was the public firewood collection seasons were still going to be in place.
“There was no understanding at all that the timber industry was a major supplier to commercial suppliers who provide firewood to pensioners, elderly and those with disabilities who cannot collect their own.
“It was a classic case of city-based Labor not having any understanding of country life or understanding the wide-reaching ramifications of their thought bubble policy.
“The region has had enough in reserve to get through this winter, but it will become a problem in the future if the government does not allow for commercial quantities to be harvested from our state forests.
“Recent correspondence is that the government will make some timber available from fire break work, but if so, it is only a very short-term solution, and we need a longer term approach applied.”
In concluding his contribution, Mr Bull yet again called on the government to end the uncertainty over the wild dog program and announce its continuation without any alteration or weakening of control measures.
