Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

Bushfires exact an enormous human toll but they also destroy huge amounts of public and private property. They are job destroyers in agriculture, in forestry and in tourism. The ACT fires of 2003 laid waste to invaluable infrastructure, including the historic Mount Stromlo Observatory. They did enormous damage to rural properties and razed over two-thirds of the Australian Capital Territory’s pasture, forests and parks. Bushfire costs Australia around $70 million a year and has cost more than $2.5 billion over the last four years. The Pyrotron will enable us to limit the economic damage caused by bushfires. It will help us improve not only the way we fight fires but also the way we manage our land and forests. It will give us the information we need to minimise the risk. (Time expired)