A new report has laid bare the billions of dollars worth of damage to Australian agriculture during the Black Summer bushfires.
The Fire on the Farm report, by the University of Sydney with the World Wide Fund for Nature Australia, estimates between $4 billion and $5 billion was lost to agriculture in the blazes of 2019-20.
The catastrophic fires claimed 33 lives and destroyed 10,000 homes and other structures.
The report estimates the fires cost the agriculture and food sector about 6 to 8 per cent of Australia’s agricultural gross domestic product.
It says the bill includes damage to farm buildings and a downgrading of farmland values estimated between $2 billion and $3 billion, as well as the loss of crops and more than 100,000 livestock.
The estimates also include at least $279 million in losses due to the fire-related health impacts suffered by farmers and other food workers.
The report recommends the government and food industry do more to help farmers become more resilient to bushfires and other natural disasters.
“Australia relies on agriculture for both domestic food supply and international trade,” University of Sydney fire ecologist Tina Bell said.
“We need to protect this industry by doing everything in our power to reduce the devastating impact bushfires can have on production, landscapes and livelihoods.”
The report also updates initial estimates by WWF Australia of the economic cost of the 2019-20 bushfire greenhouse gas emissions.
It found that cost has risen dramatically to between $3 billion and $7 billion in damages, depending on the expected rate of forest regeneration and based on the federal government’s most recent emissions report.
The royal commission into natural disasters which followed the Black Summer bushfires recommended a body similar to national cabinet look at long-term policy, national preparations and disaster response.
Among the inquiry’s findings released in October 2020 was that governments at all levels should be engaged – along with Indigenous and other communities – to ensure effective disaster management, action and recovery.
The new report comes as Victorian officials implement a total fire in the Mallee and Wimmera regions of the state’s northwest.
It follows a bushfire that burned almost 5500 hectares in Western Australia’s Margaret River region, which police believe was deliberately lit.
The warning level for that fire has been downgraded to watch and act, with fire warnings in place for other areas of the state.
AAP
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