Traditional and ecological fires and effects of bushfire laws in north Australian savannas

Camilla Hughes provided the first critical analysis of bushfire legislation in the Northern Territory, and some thoughtful discussion on the present paper. Sandy Boulter kindly provided a conference paper on fire law in WA, and Wayne Bergmann provided some ideas. Prof. David Bowman (CDU) and Dr Gabriel Crowley critically reviewed the paper and made some very valuable suggestions, and Penny van Oosterzee provided her ever-valuable critical comments. I am also indebted to Profs Greg Hill (USC), Nancy Williams (UQ) and Marcia Langton (Uni. Melb.) for their early reviews of this article. The paper was prepared while undertaking PhD studies at Charles Darwin University. Andrew Edwards kindly supplied the fire history maps. Interviews were held with several permanent bushfire officers in each state and the Territory. My thanks are extended to each for their frankness and information. I also thank the three anonymous reviewers who provided valuable and salutary comments on an earlier draft. The opinions expressed in the present paper are my own.

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In Qld, fire permits are issued by fire wardens who are appointed by the Rural Fire Service (RFS). Most wardens are volunteers. The Rural Fire Service website defines the functions of fire wardens to include:

– responsibility for safe rural fire management;

– control of the use of fire through the issue of Permits to Light Fire;

– dictating the conditions for permits;

– undertaking a community awareness role, including the need for hazard reduction; and

– exercising considerable powers authorised under the Act. (Source: http://www.ruralfire.qld.gov.au/fw_permits/fw_p.htm, accessed 2 March 2006).

Manuals and guides for fire wardens were published to assist in the achievement of the RFS’s goals through administration of the ‘Permit to Light Fire’ system, and to enhance best practice in the use of fire as a land management tool (Queensland 2000, p. 7-3; Queensland 2003). Although happiness is not defined, the manual advised that a permit should be issued only when:

the …Warden is entirely happy to issue one (Queensland 2000, emphasis added).

The manual and guides use the term ‘prescribed burns’ (Queensland 2000, p. 7-3; Queensland 2003), even though this is not mentioned in the legislation, and actively promote fire as a tool. Section 2.3.5 of the manual advises fire wardens when issuing permits to consider fire suppression resources, prevailing fire conditions, alternatives to lighting fire, property protection, and the use of fire to enhance natural production (Queensland 2000, p. 2-4).

Clearly, the intention of the RFS is to promote the use of fire as a management tool rather than simply fire prevention and suppression, even though the legislation does not address this.

Some examples of cooperative fire management practices that could serve as models for improvements to regional planning include the Gulf Savanna fire project, the Arnhem Land Fire Abatement Project, FIREPLAN, and the Kimberley Regional Fire Management Project (see the Tropical Savannas Cooperative Research Centre site http://savanna.cdu.edu.au/research/projects/fireplan.html/, accessed 30 May 2007). These projects were the result of cooperative efforts between many landholders, including the indigenous landholders, pastoralists, researchers and the bushfires authorities. Although they did not focus specifically on legislation, the lessons learnt from them provide guidance on how amendments to the legislation and policies could be most effective.