Yes they were lit and they should have been lit a decade ago; annualy in a controlled manner. The fact that they were not and the fact that fuel loads were building should have had the climate deniers doing somethng to reduce the load. It's called mitigation and that is all those are calling for in relation to climate change; MITIGATION.
Instead we get - all is usual, situation normal, cyclic events, we can manage, keep the Austalian spirit alive, breed more volunteers, believe in Coalition miracles and we are meeting our ineffective targets.
It's about time the government put a price on inaction and compared that to the cost of their ineffecive action.
The cost of the floods, fires and drought compared to the current spending on climate, environment and energy policy.