The Tasmanian majority Liberal Government is committed to keeping Tasmanians safer from the threat of bushfires.
Premier Peter Gutwein confirmed today two new dedicated ‘burn crews’ would be established within the Tasmania Fire Service to enable more burns to be conducted when conditions are favourable.
“The crews will each be made up of six members with one crew located in the North, and the other in the South of the state, and will ensure our resources are nimble to respond quickly to available weather windows,” he said.
“Furthermore, we are also cutting red tape to make it easier for landowners to undertake fuel reduction burns on their land and not have to wait for months for approvals to take preventative action.
“That’s why we will bring legalisation to Parliament this year which will introduce a new streamlined process to make it quicker and simpler for landowners to reduce bushfire risk.”
Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management, Mark Shelton said most importantly it will make it easier for landowners to spend more time managing their land when weather conditions are favourable, and less time on paperwork.
“The legislation will also provide the Tasmanian Fire Service clearer powers to ensure landholders are taking responsibility for undertaking fuel reduction activities where there is an unacceptable bushfire risk” he said.
“Complementing this, will be the development and roll out of a new landholder support program which will better educate, engage and support land owners to manage their bushfire risk.
We will also provide more resources to the Parks and Wildlife Service to ensure we have winch-insertion capability for remote area fire teams within Tasmania.
Minister for Environment and Parks Roger Jaensch said this will ensure we can insert specialist fire fighters and respond quickly when needed.
“This is in addition to three new specialist Aboriginal ranger positions within Parks and the creation of a $100 000 pilot grant program to work with the Aboriginal community to draw on their expertise in fuel reduction and the maintenance of landscapes through cultural burning,” Minister Jaensch said.
These initiatives build on the Tasmanian Liberal Government’s nation leading fuel reduction strategy, which has helped to reduce the state-wide bushfire risk to 83.3 per cent, the lowest it has been in 15 years. But we know there is always more to be done to help keep Tasmanians safer which is why we are acting.