Question On Notice No. 2943 asked in the Legislative Council on 26 March 2015 by Hon Lynn Maclaren
Question Directed to the: Minister for Mental Health representing the Minister for Environment
Parliament: 39 Session: 1
Question
(1) Will the Minister please provide a table showing the type of prescribed burn for all Department of Parks and Wildlife regions for 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 as was included in Table 31 in the Department of Environment and Conservation 2012-2013 Yearbook?
(2) Why was this table not included in the Department of Parks and Wildlife 2013-2014 Yearbook?
Answered on 6 May 2015
The Minister for Environment has provided the following response.
(1)-(2) The Department of Parks and Wildlife yearbook serves to highlight the broad range of work across the Department. It is a companion to the Department's annual report and is not a statutory document. The decision to include or exclude material in the yearbook is made based on the document being streamlined, user friendly and informative, and as such the document continues to be refined each year.
The table indicating the type of prescribed burn for Parks and Wildlife regions was not included in the 2013-14 yearbook because it was difficult to interpret. The Department no longer collates this information in the manner in which it was presented in the former Department of Environment and Conservation yearbooks.
The fire management section of the 2013-14 yearbook contains a new table regarding Departmental prescribed burning in each local government area, which was deemed more relevant in the context of information provided in the yearbook.