Firestick Estate Inc (Annual General Meeting, 9 February 2026)

President’s Report

In my opinion, we are now influencing the Opposition, and probably the government, on extreme bushfire policy. This is based on the unusual Fletcher email stream (click here for emails), which now appear logical because of two recent newspaper articles. But first, let’s look at what we did in 2025, to keep pressure on the government.

“Thanks for updating me” – the ‘risk estimate’ of 8,000 deaths

On 18 March 2025, the former Federal Shadow Minister, Paul Fletcher MP, emailed me: “Tim, Thanks for updating me – I will forward this to Senator Perin Davey, Shadow Minister for Emergency Management, Regards, Paul Fletcher” (click here for email). He was responding to our website changes, containing our assertion, that in January 2012, the Australian government had released a secret ‘risk estimate’ of 8,000 deaths for extreme bushfires. (click here for ‘Don’t Wait and See’)

To consider the implications of the secret ‘risk estimate’, our book’s June 2025 Afterword details an event from eleven years ago. In 2014, the Black Saturday Fire’s Kilmore East Class Action Trial, settled on a $494 million damages payout to victims, without reference to the ‘risk estimate’ video, compiled three years earlier (2011). If that official ‘risk estimate’ had been part of the trial, we believe exemplary damages would have made the settlement closer to $1.5 billion:

“It seems the 2011 Don’t Wait and See video used obscure language to avoid incriminating the perpetrators of the Black Saturday Fires 173 deaths two years earlier. It states: “The significant loss of life …” and later, the number “… 8,000 people, or so, trying to flee, are going to find it extremely hard”. However, it fails to state it is a ‘worst-case scenario death toll estimate’…crucial evidence withheld from the victims seeking damages in Australia’s biggest class action trial. Had Don’t Wait and See included the words kill, or die, for example: “Virus could kill up to 100,000 Australians” (Financial Review, 3 March 2020), we believe the damages awarded would have been…three times that amount”  (click here for Exemplary Damages).

Three months after the former Shadow Minister’s last email, “mass murder” and the coverups was updated with this new information. This was accompanied by added text on the front cover, stating: June 2024 (Afterword: Politicians failing, added June 2025). 

“…created by…firesticks” The Australian

The first of these two ground-breaking newspaper articles, was published on 14 December 2025. The article is about the failure of bushfire governance in Australia. It was published 18 months after the Federal Shadow Minister’s first email, unconditionally endorsing “mass murder” and the coverups, Extreme Bushfires in Australia. The Australian article was ground-breaking, because it was not the usual fake ‘natural disaster’ advocacy based on fake pseudoscience. It was credibly evidenced: “…Australia was…an artefact created by Aborigines with their firesticks …This is a land that burns. For as long as humans have walked it, it always has. Climate shapes the weather, but fuel shapes the fire. We neglect this abiding truth at our peril” (Playing with fire when it comes to our bushland, The Australian, 13-14 December 2025). (click here for article)

“…flawed bushfire defences”  The Age

The second ground-breaking newspaper article was published on 19 January 2026. The article is about the Victorian Liberal Coalition Opposition finally admitting to ‘flawed’ bushfire defences. Following our 17 years of campaigning on prescribed burning, the State ‘Liberals’ suddenly changed from persecuting us, to adopting our agenda, and they “…vowed to reintroduce an annual fuel reduction burning target…” (Opposition vows to overhaul state’s ‘flawed’  bushfire defences, The AGE, 19 January 2026). (click here for article)

A victory born out of perseverance 

The Fletcher email stream, now explained by the two newspaper articles, suggests our “…informed and science based advocacy…”, has been successful. I think the evidence indicates the government are secretly in agreement with the Opposition, or we have broken their failed ‘uni-party’ governance on this issue. If so, this will allow exposure in parliament to facilitate the development of sound risk, financial and Treaty policy for extreme bushfires in Australia (click here for Government takes our advice, literally). Indeed, I believe this is our victory, born out of correct strategy, careful perseverance and our stated claim: “The government had lost the war” (click here for The Government has lost the war).

Tim Malseed, President.