Queensland landholders are blaming excessive red tape and “unmanaged” national parks for recent bushfire devastation.
Key points:
- The state government is accused of being bad neighbours over bushfire mitigation
- Landholders are concerned about litigation and fines over planned burns
- A Department of Environment and Science spokesperson say they have a “good neighbour” policy and work with landholders
Sid Godwin lost 10,000 hectares of prime grazing land when a fire raging through Carnarvon National Park breached his boundary in October and razed everything in its path.
“It’s your worst nightmare; we really had absolutely no chance at all,” he said.
“I just call it a tsunami of fire.”
The bushfire burned for several weeks before reaching Mr Godwin’s place.
The fire is now extinguished but it burned more than 160,000 hectares in the national park and devastated around a third of Mr Godwin’s land.
At the ‘mercy of the gods’
Mr Godwin said if he had been given permission to back-burn into the national park from his boundary, it would have limited the devastation.
Back-burning is a technique used to suppress bushfires by burning the fuel load ahead of a fire front.
He said he had requested permission from the Department of Environment and Science, which manages national parks, but was rejected and did not get support from Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) either.
“We were at the liberty or the mercy of the gods,” he said.
According to a QFES spokesperson, they worked with Mr Godwin on this decision.
“It has to be carefully considered to ensure [the back-burn] doesn’t pose further risk to lives and properties,” they said.
A Department of Environment and Science (DES) spokesperson said QFES was the lead agency of the Carnarvon fire, and their staff did engage with landholders.
Good or bad neighbours
Rural Fire Brigades Association Queensland manager Justin Choveaux said the state government had a reputation among landholders for being a “bad neighbour” and not managing their land adequately.
“The government is like any other landholder in the state of Queensland; you’re responsible for your fuel loads,” he said.
Mr Choveaux said the government needed to work better with landholders to reduce fuel loads.
The DES spokesperson said they have a “good neighbour policy” where they let neighbouring landholders know about planned burns and bushfires.
“[We] work all year round to establish and maintain positive relationships with neighbouring landholders to prepare for, and respond to, bushfire season,” they said.
Mr Godwin said in the past five years he had had minimal contact from the department.
Fire frustrations
In the lead-up to the fire season, Mr Godwin had established fire breaks as a form of fire mitigation but said he did not conduct planned burns on his own property for fear it would end up in the “unmanaged” national park.
“It would possibly be our fire that could have created the devastation that we’ve now experienced,” he said.
“That makes us liable and exposes us to prosecution and substantial fines.”
A DES spokesperson said there had been 28 planned burns in Carnarvon National Park in the past five years.
“Our planned burn program has assisted with reducing the severity and spread of bushfires in the national park,” they said.
More than 350 kilometres north-east of Springsure, grazier David Wright is feeling similarly frustrated.
In the summer of 2018, a quarter of his land went up in flames over six days. He and his wife helplessly watched koalas, kangaroos, and calves burn in the blaze.
“It was pretty traumatic at the time,” Mr Wright said.
After the Black Summer fires, he sought permission to put in a fire break on his state forest lease.
He said it was a drawn-out process and DES required him to get a cultural survey done.
In the end, it was too hard.
“I just ran out of steam,” he said.
“It’s so difficult to do practical things on the ground.”
The DES spokesperson said cultural surveys were a legal requirement under the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003.
They said they provided Mr Wright with the details for the appropriate cultural heritage body.
Mr Wright said he was also concerned about the consequences of doing planned burns to reduce fuel loads.
“You’re that fearful of a fire getting away and damaging somebody else. You just aren’t game to do it,” he said.
Rural Fire Service Queensland Superintendent James Haig said they issued a large number of permits for planned burns each year.
“They are free, and they’re easy to apply for,” he said.
With rain falling on parts of central Queensland, Mr Godwin hoped his land would bounce back.
“It’s rich black soil. One would hope it’s going to handle it.”
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