- Some of WA's leading voices on bushfire mitigation gathered in Mandurah
- First time many attendees had been in the same room to talk about the issues
- Multi-partisan approach with members of Parliament across political spectrum
- Issues ranged from rural fire service delivery and science of bushfire mitigation to prescribed burning targets and raising community awareness of bushfire risks
Emergency Services Minister Fran Logan has expressed his gratitude to the attendees of yesterday's Bushfire Mitigation Summit for their contribution to the complex task of mitigating Western Australia's bushfire risk.
The Bushfire Mitigation Summit, a McGowan Government election commitment, heard from representatives from volunteer associations, government agencies, landowners, local government, pastoralists, commercial enterprises and advocacy groups.
A wide range of ideas and issues were discussed, but the common theme was a desire to work together to reach the best possible outcomes to protect communities from bushfires.
A rural fire service was also covered and several options about how it could be structured, including as a sub-department within the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, were raised.
Practical considerations such as training for volunteers, on-the-ground communication and teaching people how to reduce fuel loads on private property were also discussed.
A summary of the summit is now being prepared by the Office of Emergency Management and will be made available.
The McGowan Labor Government will be guided by the findings in developing policy to address the increasingly complicated task of managing bushfire risk across Western Australia.
Comments attributed to Emergency Services Minister Fran Logan:
"I would like to thank once more those people who took the time to share their valuable insights and knowledge with the McGowan Labor Government.
"Getting those people in the same room, many for the first time, to be able to sit down and really go through the issues was invaluable.
"The summit also demonstrated how complex the task is with many of the issues falling under a range of government portfolios including local government, environment, regional development, planning, lands and police.
"I also asked the attendees to consider how a rural fire service could operate, and be funded, and there were a variety of options put forward, which the whole of government will now consider along with the other issues and ideas raised."
Minister's office - 6552 6300
