News Archive

Bushfire survivors are taking legal action to force the New South Wales Environmental Protection Authority to address climate change. EDO is representing a group of people from around the state, who have experienced first-hand the devastation caused by major bushfires – infernos made more likely and more intense by climate change.

Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action, of which Ms Roberts is a member, began the suit last week with the NSW Environmental Defenders Office "to kick [the EPA] into action".

Victims say deadlines for the royal commission into Australia's summer bushfire crisis are too tight and that many are unaware the probe is underway. The commission, which is aiming to hand down its findings before the next fire season, has received only 400 submissions so far, prompting calls for an extension.

The chair of Australia's Bushfire Royal Commission has extended his sympathy to the families of 33 people who died during Australia's disastrous "Black Summer" and says the harrowing season will linger in the national psyche.

Retired Air Chief Marshall Mark Binskin formally opened the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements in an online hearing from Canberra today.

Funding announced to help replace fences which separate private and public lands will relieve some of the pressure on Snowy Valleys farms who lost their boundary fencing during last summer’s fires.

The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements was established on 20 February 2020 in response to the extreme bushfire season of 2019-20 which resulted in loss of life, property and wildlife and environmental destruction.

The Commission is holding hearings to gather evidence about coordination, preparedness for, response to and recovery from disasters as well as improving resilience and adapting to changing climatic conditions and mitigating the impact of natural disasters. The Commission will also consider the legal framework for Commonwealth involvement in responding to national emergencies.

March 31 marked the official end to the most devastating bush fire season in the state’s history.

Central Coast Rural Fire Service District Superintendent, Viki Campbell, said the region had been fortunate to sustain relatively little damage in the face of bushfire threats from the Three Mile Fire and smaller blazes, including at Charmhaven and Wangi, in the peak of the season, from December, 2019 to January, 2020.

For the latest on the clean-up, temporary accommodation in Batlow and how the Snowy Valleys Council Recovery Team can help you

The operational clean-up is still progressing well with the majority of wrack and flood debris now removed from Tuggerah Lakes foreshores, and only stockpiles in limited access locations remailing. More than 2,600 tonnes of wrack has been removed from our foreshores, with an excess of 1,200 tonnes of kelp debris removed from our beaches so far.

The scale of the losses to agriculture on Kangaroo Island has been staggering. More than 53,000 livestock, mostly sheep, were killed by bushfires that tore through the region in recent weeks.

That's more than double the estimated livestock losses from the bushfires on mainland Australia.

The federal government is set to revise the total amount of land burnt in Australia this bushfire season after millions of hectares in the Northern Territory wasn't included in the official count.

Recent figures put the number of hectares destroyed at around 10 million, however this did not include nearly 7 million hectares of land in the Northern Territory.

Residents in the historic NSW town of Batlow - known as Australia's apple capital - have had a tough decision to make today.
Yesterday, they were told the town can't be saved if fire breaks out as is predicted tomorrow.
The RFS has warned embers from the fire may land in pine plantation adjacent to the township near Old Tumbarumba Road, and "the township will not be defendable."