....a fiery rant...

Our country is burning and most of us feel helpless..we can only watch, donate (it’s been an amazing effort but let’s keep going), wonder at the commitment of those that fight the fires and despair for the people and animals affected....

I know it’s easy to be angry....I know I am...but, now is not the time to act on the basis of anger...

Personally, I am tired of seeing long streams of often politically related invective...which is usually aimed at either blaming someone and/or avoiding or misrepresenting the issues. Now is not the time!

Can we just agree that for the immediate future, we don’t make angry comments about climate change, politics, land management problems or anything else that caused the fires. Can we just focus on doing everything we can to help the people fighting them get them under control and deal with fall-out.

Equally, we don’t want hear drivel about which level of government should be dealing with the issues.....we are all Australian and you should all be pulling your weight... It is a national emergency.

Once the fires are under control, we should have a proper independent review of causes and solutions....not a political cover-up or witch hunt...a proper review by qualified people with a commitment to implement the outcomes.

We have to deal with, not deny, our new reality and plan for what we cannot change whilst changing to avoid the worst aspects of the future...

We need to develop develop proper disaster recovery plan across all levels of government...

On funding. We have a history of taxation levies in Australia, why not have a special 1.5% levy on all taxpayers including companies (not included in franking outcomes) with the money set aside specifically to deal with the outcomes of these fires and related issues and to start us down the path to a better solution. This levy should not be a substitute for existing and enhanced spending by all levels of government.