MEDIA RELEASE FROM CRAIG INGRAM MP - MEMBER FOR GIPPSLAND EAST Issued: Thursday, 18th January 2007

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Fires show false economy of current fire regimes: Ingram

The Independent Member for Gippsland East, Craig Ingram, says that one of the major casualties of the current fires and fire management is the State Budget.

“During the past two decades, governments have withdrawn resources and staff; made changes in public land management; and have placed increased barriers in planning prescribed burns,” Mr Ingram said.

“This has meant that in the past two decades achievements for fuel reduction and ecological burning are 50% less than what is required.

“The state has got its priorities so out of balance that in the past month we have seen more spent per day than what is allocated per year on prescribed burns.

“It’s estimated that these fires are costing the state more than $3 million per day.

 “One of the biggest disasters of our current fire management is that a large portion of the hundreds of millions of taxpayers money spent on this year’s fires could have been avoided if more had been spent on prescribed burns.

“And this is on top of the 2002/03 disaster when only $2 million spent per year on prescribed burns, yet $2 million per day was spent on that summer’s devastating fires.

“Historically governments will not put extra money into fire prevention, but then they will keep throwing money at a bushfire until it is out. In extreme fire years, like the current season, it’s like throwing $100 bills at the fire and expecting them not to burn.

“As one DSE fire expert said prior to the 03 fires: “If the government spent the money that it costs to import one Erickson sky crane in the autumn for fire prevention, we would meet the targets of fuel reduction and ecological burning in Victoria most years and would need the services of the sky cranes less in summer”

“Surely there are lessons need to be learned from the 2002/03 fires and the current fire situation across the state.

“The message for Treasury and the Government is that every dollar spent on fire prevention saves at least ten during the summer fire season.

“I will be taking this message to government in this term to get the cultural change necessary in public land management,” Mr Ingram concluded.