ENVIRONMENT Minister Matt Kean has been accused by regional residents of moving at a snail’s pace to remove dangerous, Greens-inspired bans on clearing fire fuel.
The climate activist MP, who attempted to blame last year’s devastating NSW bushfires on so-called “global warming”, is believed to be directly involved with cutting back clearing efforts.
- Regional property owners threatened with prosecution if they clear dangerous fire fuel.
- Despite four years of demands to fix anti-clearing laws, not much has been done.
- Mr Kean’s go-slow flies in the face of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's public demands.
Mr Kean’s department had overseen hazard reduction staff cuts by 16 per cent across the State preceding the 2019/20 fires – which lead to the worst bushfires in the nation and 25 deaths. Nine others perished across the rest of Australia.
NSW residents warn not much has changed since.
Bilpin resident Martin Tebbutt said regional property owners were under threat of prosecution if they cleared dangerous fuel.
UNPREPARED
Despite four years of demands to fix anti-clearing laws, not much has been done, Mr Tebbut warned, and NSW remains unprepared for summer.
“It’s almost a year since we were promised that landowners would be able to clear up to 25 metres of vegetation from their boundaries, without facing time-consuming approvals,” he said.
“This has still not been honoured.”
Mr Tebbutt said land holders were, instead, being threatened by NSW Police Minister David Elliott with penalties for “illegal” clearing.
“Bilpin was a hot spot in the 2019-20 bushfires and the NSW Rural Fire Service have long classed it a Category One Bushfire Prone Area,” he said.
“They advise it is every landholder’s responsibility to manage the bushfire hazards on their properties.
“It is absurd that farmers are legally obstructed from doing this and if we dare to effectively reduce fuel loads, without consent, we face fines so large that we could lose our property.
PROTECT
“Mr Elliott is safe in Macquarie St from the bushfire dangers we face. He is remote and if he answers correspondence at all, it can take him five or six months.”
Mr Tebbutt said politicians had taken away his right to protect his family.
“Preparations for the next fire should be taking place now but politicians have taken away our right to protect ourselves,” he said.
“Considering the catastrophic death and destruction, it is clear that, like COVID-19, bushfires have a life of their own and wait for no politician.
“Yet, here at the fire front we mere mortals must wait for permission to hazard reduce and try to protect ourselves, at our own expense.”
Mr Kean’s go-slow flies in the face of Prime Minister Scott Morrison publicly demanding he prioritise fire fuel removal.
After Mr Kean attempted to shift blame for NSW’s bushfire tragedy, saying it was the result of “global warming”, he was told by the Prime Minister that he didn’t know what he was talking about.
“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Mr Morrison told Nine’s Today show in January last year.
“I think Matt should focus on [fire] hazard reduction, I’ll focus on emissions reduction.”PC
“Minister Matt Kean has been accused by regional residents of moving at a snail’s pace to remove dangerous, Greens-inspired bans on clearing fire fuel. ”
Kean is being entirely consistent because he is a green.
These politicians both Liberal and Labour are happy for lives to be destroyed if it suits there cause. Waiting on permission to “back burn” fire hazard reduction is like waiting on “life saving” medication in hospital if you have covid19. It won’t happen! as it does not suit their “agenda”.
The gloves are now off. There is no redemption for the major party troika. All major parties must be opposed because of the treasonous lockdowns, preventable business failures, human sacrifice by suicides, economic vandalism, flouting of personal medical freedom and the sacred doctor patient relationship, violating the Nuremburg code, introduction of communism via Beijing inspired QR code system of internal passports and social credit scores. All governing parties have vacated their right to lead and surrendered their justification for their own existence.
Vote minor like LDP, ON, SFP.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported some time ago that the Minister joined his local RFS Unit as a volunteer fire fighter, was issued with the uniform, has posed for photographs but has never fought a bushfire.
PM Tony Abbott is a real RFS volunteer and fought fires in January 2014 after becoming PM in September 2013.
According to The Daily Telegraph report Minister Kean has been too busy to volunteer since joining.