Bushfire Inquiry submission & registration for online open mic session

Towong Shire Council has made a formal submission to the Parliament of Victoria’s Inquiry into the 2026 summer fires across Victoria.

The submission can be viewed here.

With the significant impacts the 2026 bushfires had on Towong Shire and our residents in mind, and following advocacy efforts by Council, we are pleased that the Inquiry has agreed to hold an online “open mic” session with Towong communities on 6 May commencing at 3.45pm. The community has been limited by the Inquiry to twenty online allocations for speakers each for three minutes.

Residents who would like to speak must register by 5 May on the Inquiry website:
Open mic - Inquiry into the 2026 summer fires across Victoria - Parliament of Victoria

Council’s submission notes that the 2026 Walwa – River Road fire event is the most recent emergency event in a prolonged sequence of emergency events impacting Towong Shire that include:

• 2015 Drought and downturn in dairy industry
• 2019/20 Black Summer Bushfires
• 2020-22 COVID-19 pandemic impacts
• 2022 Flood event
• 2025 Widespread drought
• 2026 January fire event

Whilst the focus of Council’s submission to the inquiry is the fire event in the summer of 2026, it also notes the regular experience of emergency events in the Shire (see list above) and the criticality of governments at all levels understanding, preparing for and responding to the ever-present risks and events that rural communities experience.

Other key points from the submission include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The January 2026 bushfires will have significant ongoing impacts on communities in Towong Shire, affecting safety, wellbeing, access, and social connection.
• There have been, and will continue to be for some time, broad economic impacts felt within Towong Shire.
  • For example;
    • the loss of trade for local businesses due to prolonged road closures, restricted access and reduced customer movement;
    • the cancellation of accommodation, events and tourism activities during the peak summer period affected hospitality, retail and visitor-based businesses;
    • increased financial stress for households and businesses (with compounding impacts on mental health and wellbeing).
• The inability of key infrastructure services (i.e. power and telecommunication) to maintain reliable and adequate performance during bushfire emergencies is a serious matter that must be addressed as a priority.
• The frequency of climate related events in Towong Shire is increasing, and the intensity of such events is becoming more severe. Climate change and its impacts are a significant cause of emergency events, and governments must do all they can to mitigate the impacts and risks of climate change. Council believes this a multi-layered issue that needs to be addressed urgently.
• The provision of relief or evacuation centres in the Upper Murray (Corryong and surrounds) is a major challenge in bushfire events and is a lesson that has not been adequately learned from the 2019/20 fires. Both the Victorian and New South Wales governments must better support local cross border communities in establishing and resourcing relief and response outcomes. The importance of agreed cross-border protocols in relation to Relief Centres, cannot be overstated.
• The impact of the fire on the natural environment has been devastating and there are now ongoing risks to biodiversity recovery due to the scale of the burn, loss of dog fencing and compounding climate pressures.
• Many lessons from previous bushfire events, as identified in various Royal Commission and Inspector General for Emergency Management recommendations and reports, have been implemented in a systematic and progressive manner and this was evident in the improved management and responses to the January 2026 fire event.
• However, several substantial lessons were not learned and/or recommendations not implemented. Council’s submission outlines the significant failure of the Commonwealth Disaster Recovery Financial Assistance (DRFA) assessment and eligibility criteria and function. This has been proven to be inconsistent, confusing, imprecise, and ignorant of the local impact.
• The transition of the fire event to the recovery stage under the management and responsibility of Council has identified serious issues with the administration and management of Commonwealth and/or State grant support programs. Poor co-ordination between government departments and other agencies in the collection of impacted residents’ data and information also forced residents already in significant distress to tell their story many times over.
• The condition of the Murray Valley Highway and Murray River Road is very poor in non-emergency times, plagued by an array of significant and dangerous potholes, deteriorating and rough surfaces, crumbling road shoulders, and more. In emergency events such as the recent fire, these road conditions are unacceptable, particularly given that both roads are the evacuation routes for community members, and access and response routes for control agencies. Significant government funding to restore the roads and to maintain appropriate condition is an urgent requirement.

Ends.