Question On Notice No. 2529 asked in the Legislative Council on 17 February 2015 by Hon Lynn Maclaren
Question Directed to the: Minister for Mental Health representing the Minister for Environment
Parliament: 39 Session: 1
Tabled Paper No: 2643-
View tabled paper
Question
(1) Given that escapes from prescribed burns conducted by the Department of Parks and Wildlife and its predecessor, the Department of Environment and Conservation, have caused a number of bushfires, what was:
(a) the area intended to be burnt in each prescribed burn for the years 2011-12 to 2013-14; and
(b) the additional area burnt by each escape from the prescribed burn for the years 2011-12 to 2013-14?
(2) What is the cost to date of compensation paid as a result of the escape from the Department of Environment and Conservation’s prescribed burn BS520, first ignited on 6 September 2011 about 13 kilometres north west of Margaret River?
(3) With reference to the website of the Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW), can the Minister explain why it continues to promote the discredited claim that an area’s fire history can be constructed using the coloured rings on the stems of the Western Australian grass tree or balga, xanthorrhoea preissii, when there is peer reviewed and published research which concludes that the grasstree banding method cannot be considered useful for constructing fire histories and should have no role in determining modern fire-management practices?
(4) Will the Minister have the section of the DPaW website referred to in (3) amended?
(5) If no to (5), why not?
Answered on 17 March 2015
The Minister for Environment has provided the following response.
(1) [See Tabled Paper No. #].
(2) $46.86m
(3) It is recognised that there has been debate in the scientific literature about the reliability of the grass tree technique for reconstructing fire history in sand plain heath (kwongan) vegetation. Criticisms made of the grass tree technique have been addressed through an article also published in the peer reviewed scientific literature (Ward DJ (2009) Bushfire history from grasstrees at Eneabba, Western Australia. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 92: 261-268). This type of exchange should be recognised as a normal and important part of the scientific process. The information on the Department of Parks and Wildlife's website is based on published research in forests. Recognising that the technique is controversial, the Department has chosen not to be specific about the likely fire history based on the grass tree technique but rather refers to traditional Aboriginal burning as being 'quite frequent'. The wording in the website will be amended to reflect that using the technique to reliably and accurately reconstruct fire history is controversial.
(4) Yes
(5) Not applicable