LNP calls for evidence of bushfire mitigation strategies

Opposition fire and emergency services spokesman Lachlan Millar said the the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee's examination of the Queensland Audit Office's 2018-19 Follow-up of Bushfire Prevention and Preparedness report showed the state government wasn't concentrating on mitigating fire hazards as recommended.

The follow-up audit looked into the progress made by the government in implementing recommendations made in 2014 that were accepted at the time by the then-LNP government.

The original investigation found that QFES was very focused on responding to fires to the detriment of effective prevention and preparedness, and made specific recommendations about how this should be addressed.

"Both reports - the Auditor-General's and the committee's - indicate that these have still not been adopted in full," said Mr Millar.

Emergency services minister Craig Crawford last week told parliament the government had invested a record amount in fire stations, equipment and staff.

"Since 2015 this government has brought on board more than 330 new firefighters," he said. "We also boosted our fleet with 365 new appliances - 222 trucks for the Rural Fire Service and 143 trucks for our fire and rescue service at a cost of nearly $40 million."

Initiating a review of the emergency response to last year's fires via the Inspector-General Emergency Management was also listed by Mr Crawford as an indication of preparedness.

Mr Millar said the IGEM inquiry had only looked at the response to the fires once they occurred.

"The Palaszczuk government ignored the LNP's calls to review the preparations made prior to the catastrophic season. This should have been a prime concern."

He said while drought, wind and heatwaves couldn't be controlled, fuel loads could be managed and firebreaks and access trails maintained.

The first two recommendations by the Auditor-General in 2014 concerned the management of fuel loads, and QFES had agreed to coordinate land managers' efforts to assess and manage fuel loads to mitigate bushfire risk.

"While this has been marked as partially implemented, I am unable to find any evidence that this is so," Mr Millar said.

According to a QFES spokesman, they were committed to preventing the likelihood and reducing the consequences of bushfires in Queensland.

He said the 2014 QAO report and subsequent 2018 report were conducted with a focus on the 2009 bushfires that were in Victoria.

"Given these reports focused on fires in another state a decade ago QFES considers the 2018 Queensland Bushfires Review Report from the Office of the Inspector-General Emergency Management to be a more contemporary and relevant report in relation to QFES bushfire capabilities."

He said the responsibility for mitigation and hazard reduction was shared between government agencies, landholders and private organisations.

"QFES provides ongoing assistance to local government in supporting the development of local Bushfire Risk Mitigation Plans with approximately 40 plans completed.

"In addition to the development of localised plans, QFES actively assists landholders and occupiers through the annual risk reduction activity, Operation Coolburn."

According to the spokesman, 87 per cent of areas in Queensland with high or very high bushfire hazard exposures had mitigation activities completed this year, compared to 71 per cent in 2018.

Where burns couldn't be completed other activities were introduced to manage risk such as community education, increased response and construction of fire breaks.

At the start of the year, the Rural Fire Brigades Association of Queensland's general manager Justin Choveaux was critical of the state government's review into the 2018 bushfires, saying it concentrated on the response, which rural brigades had done brilliantly.

He slammed Crown land management then, and said this week that Queensland's fire service didn't own land and that there needed to be more of an understanding of responsibilities by all landholders to prepare for bushfires.

"We need to start a conversation that fire is a tool, and that it's something that you as a landholder are responsible for.

"By the time someone dials in and calls 'fire', it's often too late."

He would like to see more educational material made available to landholders, including newer landholders in peri-urban areas.

Mr Millar said QFES and the Queensland Police Service couldn't be faulted for their safe and timely evacuations of threatened communities.

"Our rural fire volunteers and QFES personnel put their lives on the line to fight fires.

"What should be of concern to the government, and to every Queenslander, is whether have we done the work beforehand to ensure we are as safe as possible and that our firefighters have a choice of strategies for containing wild fires with minimal damage and loss.

"So far, the Palaszczuk government is still not prepared to look at the issues openly, or to tell Queensland what they have done to prepare for the 2019-20 fire season."