Education and Training

Written by Matt Martino and Madeleine Morris, Animated by Evan McInnes, voiced by Matt Martino, Produced by Devi Mallal with thanks to Kate Cawley.

Last summer, Australia endured it’s worst bushfires in recent memory.

And there’s ongoing confusion about the causes.

While experts pointed to the role of climate change, some pundits and politicians blamed the fires on a so-called “arson emergency”.

Let’s take a look at the facts.

NSW and Victoria were hardest hit by the crisis.

In NSW, the data doesn’t point to arson being the primary cause.

There were actually fewer people charged over deliberately lit bushfires last year compared to the 10-year average.

In Victoria, the situation was similar.

There were fewer cases of arson than in the previous decade.

Also, fires started by arsonists are more likely to be in urban areas and are generally smaller than those caused by lightning strikes.

The notorious Gosper’s Mountain fire, for example, was started by lightning

And burned through some 500,000 hectares over several months.

In fact, a 2008 study of 280,000 fires found the bigger the fire is,

the more likely it is the result of natural causes.

So, what is the takeaway here?

Experts say that prolonged drought combined with the hotter, drier conditions created by climate change are chiefly to blame for our summer of fire, not an unprecedented level of arson.

Who would have guessed the citizenship saga would be so complicated?

Certainly, not many Australian federal politicians,

They cannot be citizens of any other country

So the rules are important.

It’s complicated though because each country has its own citizenship rules

For example, a UK born British citizen can pass citizenship onto their children.

Until 1983 only the father could pass it on but after that if either one of your parents was a British citizen born in the UK your likely to be a British citizen as well.

If your born in Australia to Italian parents, you could be entitled to Italian citizenship but it’s not automatic,

If you married an Italian man before April 27^th 1983, you may have automatically received Italian citizenship.

And finally if you or either of your parents was born in New Zealand you are a New Zealand citizen.

For more details check our the RMIT ABC Fact Check web site.