[ZenGum]

Certainly, the media have the same rabid slavering hyper-reaction to just about anything that will grab the attention of some channel-surfing Joe-Average.... "SHOCKING REVELATIONS ABOUT UNDERAGE DRINING IN OUR EXCLUSIVE EXPOSE!!!! THE STORY NO PARENT CAN AFFORD TO MISS!!!"

Serious issues that require thought and self-examination are damn near taboo, except for on the (government funded) ABC.

However, this issue is a serious one and there were, it seems, some serious failures of communication. One town - I can't remember which one, I think it was Kinglake - was a bad case. The command center knew that a wind change was coming, and that the wind would drive the fire straight over the town on a huge front that would be impossible to defend, and even though this was known more than two hours before it happened, no warning was issued to that town. IMHO, that is a serious #@&%-up. This is the sort of thing this inquiry is looking at.