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.
Bushfires
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
What Royal Commission? DSE keeps on lighting fires
Fuel reduction burning remains something of a contentious issue in Victoria, but that hasn’t deterred the state’s Department of Sustainability and Environment, writes Lionel Elmore.
Nillumbik Council grapples with the afternath of fire
At a council meeting in semi-rural Victoria last week, the clearing of native vegetation struggled to make the agenda.
Bushfire memorial service had hollow ring
A national day of mourning works at multiple levels, writes Dr Melinda Hinkson.
How will the fires affect Victoria’s water supply?
Will the impact of fires on the water supply catchments and this policy, especially its origins, be considered by the Royal Commission? asks Lionel Elmore.
That’s not a debate, that’s Australian politics and commentary
Politicians, journalists, commentators — they’re all pushing a narrative, and they’re pushing them like drug dealers because they’re selling to addicts, writes Bernard Keane.
In support of controlled burns at Wilson’s Prom
The question is not if there will be another fire at the Prom, but when, writes Don Jewell.
Privatised power won’t pay for its part in the fires
Who will be punished if the pending law suits find private power companies liable for Victoria’s bushfires? You will, writes Jeff Sparrow.
Fires spark a new front in the culture wars
The fierce debate over the role of fuel-reduction burning in preventing bushfires has exposed a deep divide in Australia over attitudes to the natural environment, writes Clive Hamilton.
Don’t blame the greenies, blame the lack of bunkers
The flames of culture wars are burning fiercely over Black Saturday, writes Ben Sandilands.
