Bushfire failings

By Cindy McLeish The findings of the Victorian Parliament's Summer Bushfire Inquiry should concern every community across the Yarra Valley. We have seen too many devastating fires in this part of Victoria not to take seriously the warning from what happened just over the hill last summer. The 2026 fires burnt more than 436,000 hectares, destroyed more than 1,590 structures and killed more than 45,000 livestock. Tragically, a life was also lost. Once again, CFA volunteers, emergency services, farmers and local communities did an extraordinary job. But we cannot keep relying on volunteers and communities to make up for failures in preparation. The Government's report was released a little over two weeks ago. The Liberal and Nationals included their minority report in that document to ensure the full findings saw the light of day. It revealed Victoria went into the fire season underprepared despite repeated warnings about fuel management, emergency service capability, local fire planning and increasing bushfire risk. The inquiry heard about ageing CFA trucks, declining volunteer numbers, failed communications, vehicles unavailable when they were needed, inadequate vegetation management and increasing fuel loads. Those findings have particular significance for the Yarra Valley, Kinglake and the communities I represent. We live surrounded by heavily forested country. Many of our towns have limited roads in and out. We know how quickly conditions can change and, most importantly, we know the terrible consequences when preparedness falls short. That is why prevention has to be taken seriously. The inquiry heard evidence about the decline in planned burning and the need for better active management of public forest land. Forestry Australia told the inquiry that planned fire at a landscape scale is an important part of reducing bushfire impacts, while also helping protect infrastructure and maintain healthy forests. It is also about making sure our CFA volunteers have the equipment and support they need, that communications work when the power goes down, roads and critical infrastructure are maintained and local knowledge is listened to. That includes our local contractors. I have previously raised concerns about capable local contractors and machinery sitting idle while others and their equipment are brought in from elsewhere. These are people who know our roads, our terrain and our communities. That local capacity should be part of both emergency response and recovery, not an afterthought. But the biggest lesson from this inquiry is that we cannot keep waiting until after a disaster to act. The Yarra Valley has lived through Black Saturday and countless smaller fires. People here understand bushfire risk because they live with it every summer. We live that hyper-vigilant state on extreme fire days, we know a simple wind shift can be catastrophic. They expect governments to understand it too. We need proper fuel management, properly equipped CFA brigades, reliable communications, maintained infrastructure and local people involved in planning and response. The next major fire should not expose the same failures all over again.