There is a real risk a national inquiry could get bogged down in politics, or not lead to real change. But we need more federal action on bushfires. Our old approaches are broken.
Australia’s rural firefighting organisations hold a special place in the nation’s heart. Part of what makes them so interesting is how they are organised and funded.
To be clear, I’m not advocating compulsory population control, here or anywhere. But we do need to consider a future with billions more people, many of them aspiring to live as Australians do now.
One problem with the Australian Curriculum bushfire content statements is that they are relatively abstract and detached from children’s lived experiences.
The destruction of recent fires is challenging our belief that with enough time, love and money, every threatened species can be saved. But there is plenty we can, and must, now do.
Rachael Jacobs, Western Sydney University dan Carol Mutch, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Some students are grieving the loss of their homes or loved ones. Even those not directly affected by fires may be distressed by stories they’ve heard or images they’ve seen. How can schools help?
Approximately 70 nationally threatened species have had at least 50% of their range burnt, while nearly 160 threatened species have had more than 20% burnt.
Artists and entertainers have raised millions of dollars for the current bushfire crisis – so why are they still at the receiving end of so much criticism and so little funding and support?
Once you include insects, snails, worms and other small creatures, it’s clear the fires could cause one of the biggest extinction events of the modern era.
If the aim is to minimise the number of buildings damaged or destroyed in extreme fire events, Australia’s building regulations are clearly inadequate. But that’s not their aim.
Fire debris flowing into Murray-Darling Basin will exacerbate the risk of fish and other aquatic life dying en masse in a repeat of the shocking fish kills of last summer.