Three days ago I saw this article on the ABC which talked about the possibility the ADF (Australian Defense Force - our Army) conducted live firing on their land near Canungra at Kokoda Barracks just before the fire that burnt down Binna Burra.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-12/ ... f/11694280More disturbing was the report of some of the locals that ADF had asked a facebook page where locals reported hearing the live firing just before the fires to remove all references to it.
As if this was not disturbing enough though, less than day later this article appears on the ABC where the Queensland Police state they had questioned a 17 and 19 year old who threw a cigarette butt on out their car window in the area, and that the fire was accidentally lit.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-13/ ... s/11699474At face level this appears to be the police attempting to clear up the true cause of the fire, however for me there are several red flags in these articles.
The first is simply the timing. This statement has issued less than one day after the article suggesting the ADF were involved. The Binna Burra fire occurred quite some time ago, yet the police did not come forward at any point before then, but they do just now, right after the ADF were implicated?
The second is that the ADF apparently tried to remove references to the possibility of their being involved from social media.
The third is in the second article. The Queensland Police mention that the 17 and 19 year old will not be charged and deserve the right to their privacy. I do not agree with the first (I do agree with the second). There are currently several other people being charged for starting other fires reported in the media within the last few days, whether accidental through rubbish burning (I saw an article on this), or boiling their billy tea on an open fire (another article I saw), or for deliberately lighting fires. Yet these two are let off with no charges whatsoever. At the least in my mind, they should be fined (since it was an accident) or at the least be required to perform some sort of community service, perhaps assist with the cleanup of Binna Burra, or restoring some of the National Park tracks up there.
The fourth is the stated cause of the fires - many people consider teenagers to be irresponsible, and many also dislike seeing or hearing of smokers throwing cigarette butts out the window, combined the two factors hardly make for sympathetic figures for the public, and certainly do make for easy scapegoats that most are likely to feel resentful towards. I have unfortunately heard the rabid social media sphere has been filled with comments including 'string them up'.
A cynical mind might come to the conclusion that they are not being charged so that their names do not appear on official documentation, they do not appear in court and thus cannot be reached by journalists, and so no one can discover who they are to talk to them.
A more cynical mind than this might come to the conclusion that they in fact do not exist, and this is rather convenient for the ADF.
In the last 24 hours I have heard the ABC radio talk repeatedly about the dangers of smokers discarding cigarette butts out the window, and also generally having a go at smokers in general. Do not get me wrong, I do not smoke (I have in the past) and I have little sympathy for smokers doing the wrong thing, but then neither does anyone else in the public. It seems to me this issue is rather taking up all the oxygen in some segments of the media and social media.
I would like for the investigations into the ADF live firing exercises during the high fire danger, and subsequent burning of the areas surrounding Canungra, and the Binna Burra lodge to be more thoroughly investigated. If there actually are teenagers who did this ridiculously stupid thing, then by all means maintain their privacy if possible - but some recompense should be made - a fine, and/or community service, tailored to the offense - such as assisting in cleaning up the damage. The Binna Burra lodge is a heritage building that has stood for many decades, and is beloved by many, it and the old growth forest deserve better than this.
Regards Kuhr