As at the 1st of January 2020, 5 million hectares of land have been burnt, at least 11 people killed, over 100 houses destroyed and over 480 million mammals, birds and reptiles killed. And the fires are continuing.

Australia was clearly unprepared for this, and there needs to be a Royal Commission into the nations preparedness for this disaster so that it doesn't happen again.

Some of the questions that need to be asked include:

Is there adequate funding and resourcing of fire brigades and rural fire services?

Is there adequate resourcing of national parks and other land management bodies?

What role has climate change played and is there an adequate response to this from all levels of government?

Are there restrictive land clearing rules that have allowed fuel loads to build up?

Are there restrictive laws that have prevented hazard reduction burning from occurring?

Has lack of funding and resourcing inhibited hazard reduction burns from happening?

Are all levels of government listening to fire commissioners and scientists when they warn of increasing fire risk and lack of preparedness?

What can we learn from the archaeological record about fire prevalence in the Australian environment?

What can we learn from traditional indigenous land burning practises?

Are wildlife rescue organisations adequately funded?

Have any species been made extinct by this catastrophe and what can be done to aid recovery of existing species affected by this?

If moratoriums are placed on logging in state forests in order for the ecosystems to recover, can compensation be provided to those in effected industries?

Should volunteer fire fighters be paid?

What can we do to make sure this never happens again?