Frustratingly, complacency is all too common and, as a community, we remain frighteningly unprepared for these all-too-predictable events.

The situation is actually worse in Tasmania than most other states. Well over half of the state is now owned by government – national parks, public reserves, or road verges. And the government needs to understand and commit to its role as a responsible landowner – just like the rest of us.

Government agencies must undertake the same sort of activities any other landowner would to ensure fires don’t start on their properties and, if they do, that there are control measures in place to minimise impacts on adjoining neighbours.

I’m not just talking now about the risks that come from unmanaged bush and forest. Although these are severe, the risk is often to farms and rural communities, and can, to some extent, be disregarded by city dwellers as ‘out of sight, out of mind’.

We’ve gone well beyond that now – and lack of good management practices by government can – and most likely will – impact on us all. All across the state, road verges are overgrown, with dried vegetation just waiting for a spark to start a conflagration.

We all have a duty to support measures that protect our community from the ravages of bushfires and the inevitable heartache it brings. We all have a duty to minimise the risk we present to ourselves and to our neighbours.

The government must also be held to account to meet basic landowner responsibilities – just as would be the case for any other landowner in any other situation. This has to include management of vegetation on roadside and boundary environments, and commitment to meeting shared fencing and other rehabilitation costs.

Coming together in the face of disaster is an underpinning strength of our community. This requires recognition of shared obligations and a shared trust that everyone will do their bit.

Sadly, we’ve got a long way to go before we reach that point. And that is simply not good enough.