For almost a decade, Sydney-based insurer QBE has a market darling.
Bushfires
Birds of the week: firehawks of the Top End
Bob Gosford examines the odd relationship between fire and birds in the NT, where cockatoos flock to the still burning grasslands to plunder the seeds and insects that lie cooked on the ground.
PHOTO GALLERY Fire in the Great Sandy Desert
Photographer Steven Rhall lives up in the tiny NT town of Balgo. He writes of the first big fire of the season up his way, where fires can sometimes run for weeks — if not months — and burn-out huge tracts of land.
The perils of listening tours: always find a friendly face first
It’s easy enough for political tacticians to be clever sitting around in the office planning how to handle a public relations problem. You can always devise a solution. The hard part is to put it into practice.
Some questions for Emergency Services Commissioner Bruce Esplin
Tomorrow, Emergency Services Commissioner Bruce Esplin will face the Black Saturday Royal Commission — but is the Commission ready to ask him the tough questions? asks Tess Lawrence.
Rees retired for a reason but Nixon got nixed
Departed fire chief Russell Rees got a dignified farewell and positive media coverage, the exact opposite coverage that Christine Nixon — who had a far lesser role in operations — did. Why? asks Jane Cowan.
Crikey Says: It’s Black Saturday, for God’s sake, pay attention
Why does it take a debate over Christine Nixon’s gastro pub dinner to get us talking about Black Saturday again?
Finally the fires calm at the Commission
The Royal Commission into the Black Saturday bushfires has been a scene of fiery debate, but finally the experts are in agreement: Victoria should burn off 5-10% of its public forests annually, writes Jane Cowan.
revealed Vic government goes missing on bushfire maps
Maps used by the Victorian Country Fire Authority to help residents avoid the devastation of another Black Saturday are years out of date and contain a raft of embarrassing errors.
Bushfire season: What Victoria taught us about health
The need for health services after a bushfire is not just a short-term issue, writes Croakey. As we learnt from the Vic bushfires, health services need long term extra support to deal with such a disaster.
Schools left off bushfire Code Red register
Victorian schools in the potential path of a new wave of bushfires have been left off an emergency register designed to shut them down in the event of another Black Saturday.
Fighting fires: Australia vs. America
Australian-born journalist Christine Kenneally explains the aftermath of the Black Saturday bushfires to the The New Yorker, comparing the different tactics and challenges of Australian and American firefighters.
Fuel reduction would not — did not — stop Black Saturday
Climate change is upon us and the old ways of thinking about vegetation management also need to be reviewed, writes Lindsay Hesketh.
Once-in-a-century floods, drought and fire. Again.
Cherry-picking extreme weather events weakens your case, but both sides do it shamelessly in the climate debate, writes Frank Campbell.
The CFA myth and other fables the Commission failed to fire
Five myths — maybe six — have to be debunked to clear the way to genuine reform of Victoria’s bushfire policies, writes Frank Campbell.
Clearing roadsides may not be the answer for fire safety
The call for the burning and clearing of roadside vegetation from entry and exit roads to towns in bushfire areas may in fact be a counter productive approach that will put people at risk, writes Lionel Elmore.
‘Stay or go’ won’t go away
The Royal Commission into the Black Saturday fires has recommended keeping the ‘stay or go’ bushfire policy, but its emphasis has been changed — more personal responsibility on those who choose to stay, writes The Age.
Black Saturday fires: more questions than answers
The issues of fire management and the organisational response to the fires will overshadow how the fires started and what exactly burned, writes Lionel Elmore.
The bushfire blame game: greenies, loggers or arsonists?
Victorian conservation groups have hit back at claims greenies and National Parks are culpable for the severity of the Black Saturday bushfires, blaming logging companies.
Black Saturday revelations demand a complete rethink of fire science
It’s only a matter of time before yet another “unprecedented” firestorm strikes our sprawling bushurbia, writes Frank Campbell.
The fire next time: reforming Australian bushfire policy
In this summarised version of his second submission to the Royal Commission, Frank Campbell says Black Saturday was the logical outcome of erroneous assumptions and policies developed over a quarter of a century.
CFA’s fire advice as useful as a deckchair on the Titanic
An ember attack can be dealt with by a wet mop says the CFA, writes Frank Campbell.
DSE’s prescribed burning: time for some answers
As Black Saturday victims claim that they’ve been denied a voice in the Royal Commission into bushfires, the DSE’s prescribed burns continued across the state.
Foresters seize the moment to set Victoria ablaze. Again.
Lighting fires is now a Victorian growth industry driven by a bureaucratic conglomerate of what used to be separate managers for National Parks, State Forests and Crown Lands, writes Lionel Elmore.
Tips and rumours: Job losses at the Trading Post?
Trading Post job losses … Sunday Age’s conflict of interest … Recession boon for Centrelink
