Ah, if only it were that simple. Slashing in our area occurs...

Ah, if only it were that simple. Slashing in our area occurs throughout the year, not just prior/during months of increased fire risk. At least in Victoria, it seems there are numerous reasons to squandour our money on roadsides that previously required very little maintenance apart from the odd bloke with a chainsaw getting a bit of firewood.

https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/about-vicroads/our-strategy/vicroads-roadside-management-strategy
"Priority areas for treatment can be identified at a strategic statewide level by considering the statewide distribution of data. Areas needing more complex management (e.g. locations of high environmental or cultural heritage value, roads with high run-off-road crash rates, locations of high fire risk, or roadsides with high landscape value on approaches to towns) can be identified, and detailed investigations can be carried out to identify the most appropriate treatments in local and regional context."

"detailed investigations" and "complex management" - looking very hard for problems that may not actually exist, then spending bucketloads on them so people think you're actually doing something useful!