NSW: Nats' Stoner says NSW govt dodging blame over ACT fires
SYDNEY, Aug 5 AAP - The NSW government was trying to dodge blame for the Canberra bushfires,NSW National Party leader Andrew Stoner said today.
An inquiry by former Commonwealth ombudsman Ron McLeod found the fires, which weresparked by lightning strikes in the Namadgi National Park on January 8 and swept throughCanberra 10 days later, might have been stopped in the first 24 hours had they been foughtmore aggressively.
Mr Stoner said the report identified high fuel loads as a factor contributing to theseverity of the fires, that destroyed more than 500 homes and killed four people.
"NSW National Parks (and Wildlife's) record on hazard reduction has been appalling,"
Mr Stoner said.
"From almost 50,000 hectares of hazard reduction in national parks in 1993/94, thefigure had slipped to under 7,000 hectares in 1999/2000."
Residents in the Canberra suburb of Duffy, near NSW's Brindabella National Park, saidthey had seen no hazard reduction in neighbouring public lands for decades, he said.
NSW had a backlog of hazard reduction to be undertaken and was at major risk of seriouswildfires, Mr Stoner said.
He also said the NSW government refused to give evidence at a federal parliamentarybushfire inquiry.
"That inquiry heard evidence that excessive red tape in the (Rural) Fire Service ishampering hazard reduction work."
AAP jph/hn/cd/jlw
KEYWORD: BUSHFIRES ACT STONER
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