More than five million hectares has been razed since devastating fires broke out to our north, hundreds of buildings have been destroyed and sadly, lives have been lost.

Countless lives have also been impacted, some of them in the most tragic circumstances imaginable, and our thoughts are with all those who have committed to fighting the deadly fires.

The firestorm shows no sign of abating, and it seems only drought breaking rains will slow its progress, and in a worrying sign for our region, the hot and dry weather has only just begun.

As for what we could have done to prevent these fires in the first place, the answer is complicated, and in some ways, the answer is not a lot.

The problem we now face is that decades of inaction, ignorance and short-sightedness have all come home to roost at the same time.

The policy vacuum that's been that of successive federal governments has led us to towards the almost doomsday-like scenario that rages on.

What we can or cannot do today will not alter what's happening right now, but we can at least prepare for what might come our way when the full force of summer impacts later in January and February.

The simple fact is, we chose to defer action when we needed to act.

None of this excuses us from doing what we can and should to at least respect the environment we are but custodians of, but our failure to do anything for too long is now exacting its savage toll.

We owe it to our children and those to come to ensure they inherit a society and environment that is safe, sustainable and offers hope for the future.

We're now stuck in a reactive moment where earlier actions might have given us a better outcome.

We can, and must do better.