VFF makes bushfire submission

The VFF has made the recommendations in a submission to the Federal Government's Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements and the Victorian Government's Inquiry into the 2019-20 Victorian Bushfire Season.

VFF President David Jochinke said the 2019-2020 bushfire season had a wide ranging and devastating effect on the agricultural sector with an estimated economic impact of $325 million.

"SGS Economics and Planning estimated that East Gippsland alone suffered a 22.6 per cent drop in GDP which is three times higher than the national figure," Mr Jochinke said.

The VFF submission says the assumption that the family home is the number one firefighting priority should be challenged when it comes to farm properties.

"In a city or peri-urban context, emergency services are understandably focussed on the family home as being a significant property asset; that is not always the case on a farm where there is livestock and other infrastructure that may be more valuable than the family home and often is irreplaceable," Mr Jochinke said.

To make those priorities clear, the VFF wants to begin with thorough asset mapping.

"At the end of the fire season, commence mapping of in and above ground farm infrastructure, dairy sheds, intensive livestock sheds, stock containment yards and machinery sheds," the report reads.

"This will assist incident controllers plan how best to reduce impact of fires on economic production and where a bushfire has occurred, accurate data on all agricultural losses should be collected and modelled."

That mapping would extend beyond the farm gate to include the key agricultural infrastructure, like power supplies for dairies, that need to be preserved.

The VFF has also called on government to assume greater responsibility for Crown land's role in fire prevention and recovery.

"We are seeing inconsistent regulations around management of fuel risk, especially where a farm property intersects with public land," Mr Jochinke said.

"Equally concerning, there is an increasing financial burden on farmers with responsibility for fire mitigation being transferred to them including creating expensive fire breaks on private rather than public land."

That would include permanently maintained mineral earth breaks crown land of 10 hectares or more that adjoins farmland.

It would also like to see Victoria Planning Provisions amended, "... to ensure fuel breaks and safe management of vegetation along roadsides and fence lines".

That would see the state government "prioritise" roadside fuel reduction and "engage local landholders to identify roadside areas requiring fuel reduction."

The VFF also called for government to behave like any other neighbour and pay its share to replace boundary fencing, particularly after bushfires.

"Ultimately, there must be a collaborative and constructive approach with Government at all levels including sensible and, where possible, nationally consistent regulation that protects farmers, their property, agricultural land, state and national parks."

Also included in the submission is greater coordination of agricultural evacuation sites, more rapid access for vets, better telecommunication and land access agreements in the event of a fire for containment lines.

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