The fire covered nearly 85,000ha – just over half the island – and 30 different water bombing aircraft dropped more than 13 million litres of water on the fire.
Queensland has experienced 80 natural disasters since 2011. IMAGE: Phillip Flores
As Australia and global communities increasingly endure multiple disasters, often simultaneously, disaster management for resilience should be a core concern for leaders, according to experts on a key panel held by Griffith University.
Queensland Reconstruction Authority’s (QRA) Brendan Moon, Australian Red Cross Queensland’s Collin Sivalingum, Suncorp Insurance’s Joshua Cooney, Local Government Association of Queensland’s Mike Lollback and Queensland Inspector-General of Emergency Management Alistair Dawson gathered recently to share insights and expertise in a bid to highlight the importance of disaster resilience.
“For thousands of years in recent history, we’ve dealt with adversity in the form of disasters – in a recent built environment context with buildings being subject to extreme weather events and human beings being exposed to pandemics and other such disasters,” Associate P
Photos âItâs important that we hear the about the experiences and reflections of Rainbow Beach residents and businesses affected by the fires,â Mr Dawson said. âWe want to hear about what you thought worked well and any opportunities for improvement to ensure we have the best possible disaster management arrangements in place.â
Mr Dawson said the Rainbow Beach forum will focus on the reviewâs terms of reference and will also consider the cultural and environmental significance of the island. âWeâll also be looking to consolidate observations, insights, findings and recommendations from previous bushfire reviews and the recent Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements.â
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Subscriber only As the time to share concerns regarding the management of the Fraser Island wildfires ended, a major organisation confirmed it had prepared its own suggestions for the inquiry being undertaken by Inspector-General Emergency Management, Alistair Dawson. Institute of Foresters of Australia and Australian Forest Growers president Bob Gordon said the submission made by the organisation urged the review panel to weigh up the effectiveness and cost of relying on waterbombing aircraft as a reactive measure against the need for conventional wildfire responses and enhanced year-round prevention activities across Queensland. We often see aircraft bombing established fires, and people think that they put the fires out, he said.
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The venues for the community and business forums to be held as part of the inquiry into the Fraser Island fires have been revealed.
Inspector-General Emergency Management, Alistair Dawson said the community forums would be held in January to inform IGEM’s review into the preparedness and response to the bushfire that tore through almost half of the island over about seven weeks.
“We are seeking feedback from community members, business and tourist operators and interest parties about what they thought worked well and any opportunities for improvement to ensure we have the best possible disaster management arrangements in place,” Mr Dawson said.