WAR OF WORDS

“This government is ideologically opposed to reducing fuel loads in forests. They’re always pandering to the Greens and other Left-leaning groups who want to lock up the forests and throw away the keys.

“What happens when you do that is they catch fire and they burn furiously and everybody else gets affected.”

Police and Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said the Government was committed to taking every measure possible to reduce bushfire risks and save lives.

“The hectare-based target of 5 per cent of public land was never achieved,” she said. “The small window of suitable weather in Victoria means it likely never could be, despite the very best efforts of our forest firefighters.

“The risk-reduction target focuses our fuel management efforts on the areas that have the greatest impact on community safety.

“This does not necessarily mean we are burning less or burning more, it means we are burning smarter.”

Ms Neville said Victoria was ready for this fire season.

“There is no doubt that Victoria is facing high fire risk this season, but we are prepared to meet the challenges of this fire season,” she said. “Last Thursday, we experienced our first Code Red event in a decade and our emergency services and communities responded flawlessly to the extreme conditions, keeping any fires under control — as they will continue to do this fire season.”

Ms Neville said the community could be assured that Victoria had more than enough active operational volunteers and support to fight fires this summer.

“Volunteer numbers will change from year to year, but it’s important to note that the number of active operational volunteer firefighters has not been declining,” she said.

City of Greater Geelong director city services Guy Wilson-Browne said the council undertook vegetation control between September and December each year along 1117km of rural roadsides.

“Currently, we have tractors working in Lara, Mount Duneed and areas on the Bellarine, with plans to follow up in areas of high grass growth in February,” he said.

The council has referred reports of long grass on sections of the Bellarine Hwy to Regional Roads Victoria, which is the responsible authority for that section of road.