By CAROL-ANN FLETCHER
On the 20th of January 2025, Minister Felix Ellis announced in the online Premier of Tasmania page,
“The message is simple – your fire is your responsibility. Reckless and accidental fires put people’s lives and property at risk.
“Tasmania is one of the most bushfire prone places in the world, and through our Government’s 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future, we’re backing in campaigns like this to keep our communities safe.”
You light it, you own it | Premier of Tasmania
Just two days before Felix Ellis posted the above message, he was quoted in an Advocate story entitled, ‘Tasmania in a similar boat’ as Los Angeles when it comes to bushfire risk‘ Tasmania launches ‘You light it, you own it’ campaign | The Advocate | Burnie, TAS,
“It’s important that we do everything that we can to make sure that we’re protecting our fellow Tasmanians from the risk of bushfire,” Felix Ellis then went on to say, “That’s about ensuring that you’re not doing the wrong thing when it comes to fire, because a small fire at the moment in the middle of summer, in the middle of bushfire season can really get out of hand.”
However, it seems that Minister Ellis is happy to support a proposed Liberal Government plan to more quickly gain approval to build “large renewable energy projects” (which would also include building the high voltage transmission lines to support) via a state planning commission to help enable these projects to be built faster as reported by ABC News today. Energy projects in Tasmania would be fast tracked under proposed law changes – ABC News.
Why this is a major concern is that whilst Minister Ellis touts the importance of “all of us” (Tasmanians) having a part to play in preventing bushfires and promoting the new bushfire prevention campaign, “if you light it, you will own it”, it seems Felix Ellis, along with the rest of the Liberal government are unwilling to own or take any responsibility for how the 240km high voltage transmission lines proposed for NW Tasmania to be connected to Marinus Link (Media-Release-HC-Announcement-24-December-2024.pdf ) could potentially cause Tasmania to have a Black Saturday bushfire, just as Victoria did in 2009 that claimed 173 lives.
See also: Renewable_Energy_Coordination_Framework_May_2022.pdf
What was the cause of the deadly Black Saturday fires?
According to an ABC News article dated the 2nd January 2024, “Six of the 11 most catastrophic Black Saturday bushfires were started by high voltage electric powerlines. The state’s regulator says power companies didn’t do enough to mitigate risk ahead of what is predicted to be the state’s most dangerous bushfire season in recent years.” As Victoria’s bushfire season looms, one powerful reminder of Black Saturday hangs in the air – ABC News.
What was the cause of the recent catastrophic Los Angeles fires?
On the 5th of January 2025, CNN reported, “California’s second-largest wildfire was sparked when power lines came in contact with a tree, Cal Fire says” that was written by Sarah Moon. Later in the same article, Sarah reported that PG&E who owns the power lines that caused this fire was also responsible for and found guilty of “85 counts, including involuntary manslaughter and unlawfully starting the Camp Fire, the deadliest fire in the state’s history.” And sadly, that is not the end of PG&E’s transmission lines causing fires. PG&E were charged in two criminal cases where they were charged with five felonies, 28 misdemeanours, involuntary manslaughter, unlawfully burning forests, structures, causing bodily injury etc.
And what was PG&E’s response in both criminal cases against them? They denied any “criminal wrongdoing”, even though they agreed that it was their transmission lines which caused the deadly and destructive fires. California’s second-largest wildfire was sparked when power lines came in contact with a tree, Cal Fire says | CNN
Liberal mismanagement in California was also cited as being responsible for “the worst wildfire seasons in recent memory” California Wildfires: Liberal Leadership’s Costly Mismanagement Exposed
Labor is no better. Just read this quote from Shadow emergency services minister Richard Riordan on the 1st of Oct 2024, where he stated on Sky News ‘Huge potential for disaster’: Allan govt slammed for failing to ensure all wind turbines have fire suppression technology | Sky News Australia:
“Mr Riordan said that about 80 per cent of all deaths and property losses from fire stem from electrical blazes caused by power, transmission or distribution systems, and there were now 1,500 wind turbines in the system with another 900 planned.
“This is a huge potential for fire risk,” the shadow minister said.”
So, if Tasmania is in a “similar boat” with Los Angeles in regard to bushfire risks, what should Felix Ellis do to prevent unnecessary high voltage transmission line bushfires, especially in NW Tasmania?
STOP all renewable projects including Marinus Link, wind turbines, solar farms, and lithium-ion battery storage containers that are proposed to be connected to 240km of high voltage transmission lines that will be scattered throughout Tasmania to “do the right thing” and “make sure that we’re protecting our fellow Tasmanians from the risk of bushfire”.
After all, as Felix Ellis has rightfully reminded us in his 2025 bushfire prevention campaign, “if you light it, you own it” and that should include Felix Ellis and the rest of the Liberal/Labor government who are pushing these renewables including the high voltage transmission lines against community will as both Felix Ellis and Nick Duigan are well aware of –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCbmWzvvx2w&feature=youtu.be
Why are the 240km of proposed high voltage transmission lines such a high and unacceptable bushfire risk?
Just over sixteen years ago, on the 7th of February 2009, 6 out of the 11 Black Saturday fires that took 173 lives and did untold damage to property, livestock, and wildlife, were started by high voltage transmission lines. This was such a devastating, large scale catastrophe that a Royal Commission was called to investigate why these fires happened and how they could be prevented in the future – VBRC_Summary_PF.pdf, Remembering Black Saturday – 15th anniversary | Emergency Victoria.
Cameron Stuart of Brittanica.com on the 20th of January 2025, described the horrific, catastrophic, devastating Black Saturday fires in detail (Black Saturday bushfires | Causes, Deaths, Map, & Location | Britannica):
“On February 7 Victorians were told to brace for the “worst day” in the state’s history: weather forecasters warned of a record heat wave with temperatures soaring to 115.5 °F (46.4 °C), combined with gale-force winds of up to 56 miles (90 km) per hour. That day more than 47 major fires erupted across the state, 14 of them claiming lives or causing significant damage. The most deadly conflagration, known as the Kilmore East fire, which claimed 121 lives, was sparked by a faulty power pole near the township of Kilmore East, 37 miles (60 km) north of Melbourne. The flames quickly jumped a major highway and roared into a forest, where they turned into a giant fireball, dwarfing the resources of local firefighters, who could only flee in its path. Aided by steep slopes and powerful winds, this fire raced through a series of townships, including Kinglake (where 38 people died), Strathewen (27 perished), and St. Andrews (12 were killed), catching residents by surprise and trapping many in their homes. Some sought to escape by car as the fires approached, but dozens died on the roads as they were overtaken by the fire, which leapt 330 feet (100 metres) above the tree line and was powerful enough to kill with radiant heat from nearly 1,000 feet
Late in the afternoon a sudden change in wind direction pushed the fire to the northeast, bringing new towns into its path. A parallel fire, known as the Murrindindi fire, also blew to the northeast, swallowing the unsuspecting tourist town of Marysville, where 34 people lost their lives. Fire experts said that these two fires alone released energy equivalent to that of 1,500 atomic bombs like the one dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.”
And now today in the Advocate, it was reported that the Circular Head Coastal Awareness Network lost their court appeal against Robbins Island $1.6 billion wind farm proposed by Philippines-based ACEN Australia which will greatly negatively impact the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot, migratory seabirds, and a facial tumour disease-free Tasmanian devil population.
This is why the 240km of proposed high voltage transmission lines are such a high and unacceptable bushfire risk to Tasmanians.
According to ABC NEWS today,
“Tasmania’s Environment Protection Authority (EPA) initially appealed the tribunal’s decision to the Supreme Court, but then withdrew after the government changed the law around the state’s coastal policy.
ACEN will require separate approval for transmission lines in the north-west.”
What this means for Tasmanians is if the approval for the transmission lines go through, so will the very high potential of dangerous electrical bushfires breaking out from those high voltage transmission lines, even though the local NW Councils, State and Federal government, including Tanya Plibersek have had many constituents, me being one of them, who have brought to their attention how potentially dangerous and deadly the 240km proposed high voltage transmission lines are. It is because of this that I feel the local Councils, State and Federal government that are involved in pushing Marinus Link, wind turbines (both offshore and onshore) and the high voltage transmission lines are potentially putting themselves at an extremely high risk of being found culpable before a coronial inquest, which I also feel would be very embarrassing to the local, State and Federal government, given the “lessons learned” from the 2009 Black Saturday fires and what happened very recently in California.
So, my question to Felix Ellis and the rest of the Liberal/Labor government is, if all of you light them (electrical bushfires break out due to the dangerous and potentially deadly 240km proposed high voltage transmission lines that you and the rest of the Liberal/Labor government seem bound and determined to force on NW Tasmanian constituents, even many communities and constituent have already made it clear to you that they do NOT want them, are you going to do the right thing and own them?
After all, Regional Chief Simon Pilkington recently stated, “we’re counting on every Tasmanian to do their part,” and went on to say, “whether it’s obeying fire bans, taking care with tools, or speaking up when you see others doing the wrong thing, your actions could save lives.”
Every Tasmanian means you too, Felix Ellis. Maybe that is something you and the rest of the TAS Cabinet could have discussed at your recent Cabinet meeting in Burnie on the 18th of February, just two days after Craig Garland’s meeting in Burnie 2 days earlier.
Congratulations Carol-Ann on a very concerning article. I fully agree with you that the Government need to put on legal notice about what they are recklessly rolling out on us and our communities.