 Protests were held in the midst of the crisis, although some were criticised for their timing and use of resources, including by the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.However, conservative politicians and media primarily blamed a lack of prescribed burning and fire break management, although such assertion has subsequently been heavily criticised and disproven by scientific experts.Accompanying this was the assertion that environmental groups were responsible for the crisis by inhibiting prescribed burning, despite environmental groups holding relatively negligible political power compared to the Liberal and National parties.