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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has moved to shut down calls for a massive increase in fuel reduction burns, as the state's fire chief says the debate has involved "hysteria" and an "emotional load of rubbish".
Key points:
- Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce and others have called for more planned burns in the wake of the bushfires
- But the Country Fire Authority's chief officer says the "hysteria" over planned burns is "an emotional load of rubbish"
- The Premier says the window during which planned burns can be safely attempted is becoming smaller each year
The recent bushfire crises across south-eastern Australia have prompted calls on social media and from former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce for more land to burnt off during the cooler months to reduce bushfire fuel in summer.
Mr Joyce has attacked Greens politicians for what he says is a failure to support hazard reduction burning during winter, despite such burns being part of Greens policy.
During a recent press conference, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the issue of fuel reduction burns was "commonly" raised with him as he visited bushfire-ravaged communities.
He also drew a link between preventative burns and people "who say they are seeking those actions on climate change", saying they could be the same people who "don't share the same urgency of dealing with hazard reduction".
Asked about the issue this afternoon, Mr Andrews said prescribed burns were part of an integrated strategy focused on protecting life but there were fewer days each year when they could be safely lit.
"Surely no-one is advocating that we put fire into the landscape in an unsafe way. That just wouldn't be sensible, that would be dangerous," he said.
He said controlled burns were "not a silver bullet".
"I think there's some good examples of where land that had been backburned quite hard — quite heavy fuel reduction burning only three or four years ago — burnt pretty hot last weekend."
The Country Fire Authority's chief officer Steve Warrington said there was a "fair amount of emotion" around the issue.
"We've had fire down the landscape here that has had burns go right through it [during colder months] and it hasn't slowed it at all," he said.
"The emotive argument is not supported that fuel reduction burning will fix all our problems.
"Some of the hysteria that this will be the solution to all our problems is really just quite an emotional load of rubbish, to be honest."
Mr Andrews highlighted the bungled 2015 planned burn near Lancefield in central Victoria — which destroyed four homes and burnt through more than 3,000 hectares of land — as a reason to exercise caution around burns.
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