Added: Tuesday , 17 Feb 2009 10:45 am

There is no doubt that a major contributor to the intensity of the Victorian bush fires was the build up of fuel and the lack of maintenance of fire trails, which inhibits access to fires in their infancy. The policy of restricting maintenance of fuel in our forests must be addressed regardless of bleeting from the Greens. What hypocrisy from senator Green to claim that we should not play politics with this situation when he was the one that in he last few days introduced politics into the situation.
Officials must look at the building codes in bushfire prone areas and look at requiring some kind of insulated refuge either within the house, say bathroom, or outside, semi undergroud insulated shelter, which would protect occupents for up to one hour as the fire passes through.
We manufacture, in Australia, alumina silicate high temperature, products similar to insulation on the space shuttle, which protects at temperatures to 1400 degrees celcius, a product protecting up to 1600 degrees celcius is also available. These materials are currently used to line brick and pottery Kilns and furnaces for heating steel for hot rolling and could well be used to provide a protective area which would save lives at a very reasonable cost.
Let us stop the talk and act now. A royal commission will not save lives or protect properties as we can see from the last Ash Wednesday royal commission but action now will.

M axwell G. Stewart, Ngunnawal

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