Max,

Thanks for a thoughtful piece emphasising the need to learn from history and get over current politics.

Here is a link to a piece by Jim Hoggett "The Uses and Value of National Parks: Does More Mean Worse?" focusing on NSW,was written just a few years ago, and also suggests the potential for multiple use... http://www.ipa.org.au/publications/617/the-uses-and-value-of-national-parks-does-more-mean-worse-

And could you give a breakdown regarding your figures for increase in area of Nationa Parks - are these National figures or for Victoria?

Ah the Australian Environment Foundation,, where one director is also on the board of the Lavoisier Group, another used to work for a farmers' lobby group and the ONLY web link provided to climate change information is to Bob Carter. Forgive me if I look elsewhere for a balanced analysis of bushfire management.

Just to think laterally, instead of making the community manage national parks in the interests of the handful of people who want to live right next door to them, it would make more sense to stop them building homes there in the first place. Just a thought.

With the Queen's Birthday Honours coming up in June, I'd urge Premier Brumby, on behalf of the government and the people of Victoria, to nominate the Country Fire Authority, as a body, for an Order of Australia award in recognition of the bravery of its members in fighting the Black Saturday firestorms.

Brian Haill
Frankston,Victoria

Who is going to pay for all this burning?
Not to mention the people who will pay due to increased air pollution. There was a reason Cook called this "the continent of smoke". Is that what we really want?
Not to mention OH&S will reduce the effectiveness and ability to do burnoffs. One dead firey or a burnoff that escapes and destroys property and its all over.

Also when pray tell during the last 12 years of drought would have been a good time of year for these massive burn offs? Winter is too cold, summer is out of the question which leaves spring and autumn, times of unpredictable and sometimes severe weather. Just what you dont want when your trying to control a deliberatly lit fire.

In response to Ken_L and mikk, perhaps it would be best instead of looking for reasons not to listen that you instead stop for ten seconds and look around. Now I don't know where you are and quite frankly I don't really care, Why? Because uncontrolled fire threaten everyone! It does not matter if you live on the edge of a national park or in the centre of the largest city once a fire grows large enough it will begin to influence the weather patterns of the local environment creating its own micro weather system. And once a raging fire has command over the weather all that can be done is to get out of its way, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, we can do to stop a fire like that. And how pray tell does a fire grow large enough to influence the weather, well it can only do that if it has enough fuel.

Proscribed burning is the only effective way to reduce the fuel loads in the deepest areas of national parks and public lands. The exact same areas where a fire can start and get a strong foothold before anyone even knows. As for money, i.e. who will pay for it, let me ask this who will pay for the aftermath of the Victorian fires? We will of course. Insurance companies will need to recoup their losses and how? By raising premiums! Government agencies have dipped into funds held by the treasury which will need to be replaced for the next disaster and how? There will be less spending on capital works, sorry no new hospital this week. So let me ask this, which is better millions today or billions tomorrow?

I know I have been sarcastic in this post, and I do appologise, but it is only because I cannot believe that anyone would want a little more money in their pocket or be blinded by a person’s history rather than wanting a little piece of mind that they and fellow Australians are safe.

Max, your good call, will fall on deaf ears as the greens and the labor party store great political and financial power in the unjust control of land use on private property owners and their ability to prepare and defend against bush fires and other pests.

These same greens and labor governments hypocritically neglect their responsibilities on government owned property now which prove to be at our greatest expense since 1942.

This just proves that labor and green politicians and their governments are not accountable for their decisions.

These bush fires are a deliberate political failure on the part of the greens and labor state and local councils policies all over Australia.