Orroral Valley fire inquiry is welcome

That will certainly be the case for the tens of thousands of southside residents who spent many anxious days and nights in February 2020 with their bags packed and ready to evacuate in the event the towering flames reached the city.

It will also be welcomed by the hundreds of thousands more who treasure the Namadgi National Park, an estimated 80 per cent of which was consumed by the flames, as a priceless wilderness asset that puts the "bush" into the "bush capital".

Generations of Canberrans, as well as countless visitors from across Australia and overseas, have found tranquillity, renewal, and a sense of reconnection with the wild natural landscape by tramping its tracks and taking in its stunning views.

The fire began on January 27, 2020, when an Australian Army MRH-90 Taipan helicopter landed in an isolated part of the park during a bushfire reconnaissance mission. It is believed the helicopter's landing light ignited the long dry grass, instantly sparking an inferno.

The Taipan, which suffered significant damage, made a hasty take-off and returned to Canberra. Many months later, media freedom-of-information requests revealed the crew of the helicopter had not advised the ACT authorities of the location of the rapidly spreading blaze until 45 minutes had passed.

Defence has repeatedly defended the slow response, saying the priority had been for the crew to return to Canberra safely after their machine was damaged.

That has not stopped many Canberrans from asking just why it was, once the helicopter was in the air, that accurate details on the incident weren't called in.

This is also a question which appears to be on the Chief Coroner's mind, given she has said her investigation will focus on that 45-minute period between the start of the fire and the communication of its location to the ACT emergency services.

One person who is unlikely to welcome this line of inquiry is ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, who has consistently opposed any type of formal inquiry and who has even gone so far as to say "[I'm not] offering endless commentary on things that happened a year ago that have absolutely nothing to do with the ACT government."

That statement came as a surprise to many residents given the proportion of the ACT covered by the Namadgi National Park, the ACT government's responsibility for the management of the area, and its importance to the Canberra community.

Mr Barr drew strong criticism earlier this year when he suggested that any inquiry would simply be a "witch hunt" and that the incident was "an accident".

"You can't undo it. It was an accident. I don't think it was deliberate and I just don't see the point in a witch hunt against a Defence pilot," he said.

In a Canberra Times comment piece in January, this publication said Mr Barr appeared to be employing diversionary tactics.

"What Barr did on Thursday morning - and this is the alarming part - was confuse, or deliberately attempt to blur, the very clear distinction between what amounts to accountability and what could be considered a 'witch hunt'," the paper wrote.

That observation is as true now as it was then. Chief Coroner Walker is to be commended for endeavouring to unearth the answers that Canberrans want and are entitled to receive.

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