Ms Ryan said recent fires “highlighted the error of Labor’s decision to abandon planned burning recommendations from the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission”.
The Nationals are also calling for incorporation of indigenous fire practices, including the “Return of the Firestick”, which they committed to at the last election, and improved state forest, Crown land and roadside vegetation management to reduce bushfire risk.
“The Royal Commission considered expert evidence following the horrific 2009 Black Saturday bushfires,” Ms Ryan said.
“It made a clear recommendation that the state government should conduct fuel reduction burns on five per cent of public land each year to reduce bushfire risk. This equates to around 390 000 hectares per year.
“The Andrews Labor Government abandoned the Royal Commission’s recommendation and, consequently, far less planned burning has taken place, despite assurances to the contrary at the time.
“In Parliament recently, The Nationals called on the premier to again make the Royal Commission’s hectare-based target the basis of Victoria’s planned burning objectives, in addition to a revised residual risk reduction target.”
Ms Ryan said indigenous Australians managed the landscape with fire for eons and they did it through all seasons and in many different landscapes.
“The bush has changed since 1788 but we could do worse than utilise some of the techniques our first peoples used for thousands of years,” she said.
In a statement, the state government said since 2016, Victoria had used a risk-based approach to fuel management, rather than a hectare-based target.
“The risk-based approach was informed by members of an expert scientific panel on fuel management that advised the 2009 Victoria Bushfires Royal Commission,” the statement said.
“Forest Fire Management Victoria planned to burn 246 396 hectares of public land in 2019, but was unable to do the full amount because it would have been unsafe.
“That’s why for 2019-20 we have the largest mechanical fuel treatment program ever, with 20 000 hectares planned for 2019–20.
“Cultural burning is being fully integrated into the state’s existing planned burning program.”
Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said planned burning was not a silver bullet, but was part of an integrated strategy to protect life and property.
“This is sheer hypocrisy from a party that didn’t reach the five per cent target when in government,” she said.
“The fact is it's harder and harder to find enough days for the safe and effective conduct of planned burning.
“We will be guided by the experts and will ensure that planned burning only occurs when it is safe to do so.”