Melbourne was in floodwaters up to its waist., officials were launching a $100 million national bushfire-research initiative. As federal Science Minister Peter McGauran said, there would always be bushfires in Australia, regardless of the weather. "They will never be fully avoided, but their destructive power can be limited," Mr McGauran said. Firefighters, academics and state and federal governments have joined forces to launch the "world-first" research centre on bushfires, as the nation prepares for another potentially dangerous bushfire season.