The prospect of a catastrophic bushfire in Western Australia is increasingly likely without greater investment in prevention and fuel hazard management, a parliamentary inquiry has concluded.
The report by former Victorian and South Australian Country Fire Service chief, Euan Ferguson, was tabled in parliament on Thursday and came after January's devastating lightning-sparked bushfire at Yarloop, which killed two elderly men and destroyed 166 homes.
As expected, Mr Ferguson's key recommendation was for WA to follow NSW, Victoria and South Australia in having a specialist country fire service to improve rural fire management and bushfire risk management.
"I recognise that this conclusion will be contentious," he said in a statement.
"But it is supported by many submissions and the repeated observations that point to the need for systemic change.
"Perhaps the most compelling support for fundamental change is the dramatic increase in the number and impact of damaging and costly bushfires over the last six years in Western Australia."
Mr Ferguson also said there was a strong argument that the state needed to shift expenditure away from fire response and recovery towards prevention and fuel hazard management.
"This includes investing more in the education, resilience and readiness of local communities and individual citizens," he said.
"The momentum must be maintained into the future. If such change does not occur, then the prospect of a future catastrophic bushfire event is increasingly likely."
Premier Colin Barnett said the findings were bold and acknowledged that mistakes were made during the difficult and complex decision-making process during bushfires, but no one was found to have been negligent or have not acted in good faith.
"The government is committed to learn lessons from this tragedy," Mr Barnett told parliament.
"There is much still to be done.
"While the forces of nature are beyond our control, many of the risk factors are not. As a community, we must continually address these."
The government will respond to the recommendations by September, Mr Barnett said.
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