SPEECH TO THE AERIAL FIREFIGHTING FORUM

Queensland

Monday 21 September 2009

CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

First, may I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we meet on – and pay my respects to their elders, both past and present.

It is a great pleasure to join you today as we prepare for our next bushfire season.

Only seven months ago, Victoria suffered the worst bushfires in our nation’s history. More than 2,000 homes were lost. More than 400,000 hectares were burned and tragically, 173 people lost their lives. Bushfires also hit New South Wales and remain a constant threat throughout the country.

In order to address this, a pro-active approach built on clear national coordination arrangements is critical. A point which has been recently emphasised by the Interim Report of the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission.

Commonwealth Emergency Management Agenda

The Government has undertaken a significant body of work to strengthen Australia’s emergency management framework.

At a policy level, a national disaster resilience strategy was commissioned by the Ministerial Council for Police and Emergency Management (MCPEM) at its November 2008 meeting.

This strategy will be finalised in November and will include a National Catastrophic Natural Disaster Plan as well as action plans to address Volunteers, Climate Change, and Regional and Community Engagement and Recovery.

In March 2009 I convened a National Workshop to Reduce Deliberate Bushfires, which has resulted in the drafting of strengthened arson penalties; the sharing of best practice in arson prevention; and a renewed focus on better training and education to both prevent arson and investigate crimes after their commission.

Late this week, I will also be presenting a Draft Action Plan on Bushfire Arson Prevention to a pre-season meeting of MCPEM. An operational briefing will also be provided from Commonwealth agencies outlining Commonwealth assets that may be utilised by States and Territories in the upcoming fire season.

The meeting will also consider a range of measures that can be implemented before the next bushfire season, such as considering measures to improve aspects of the Triple Zero emergency call system, including arrangements for managing a surge in calls during a major disaster.

These measures have also been supplemented by a significant increase in the practical support that the Commonwealth Government provides to enhance national emergency management capabilities, including over $26 million to develop a National Emergency Warning System.

The system will be capable of providing warnings to fixed lines and mobiles based on their billing address and can be targeted to a specific geographic area, depending on the nature of the risk.

Further research has been commissioned by the Victorian Government to examine a way forward for delivering warnings to mobile phones based on their physical location, and the Council of Australian Governments will examine the results of this research to determine the best way forward as soon as it is complete.

The Government’s commitment also includes a new $110 million Natural Disaster Resilience Program to build community resilience and mitigate the impacts of natural disasters.

This program is a significant improvement which draws together a number of previously separate programs which dealt with different aspects of emergency management, including the Natural Disaster Mitigation Program, the Bushfire Mitigation Program and the National Emergency Volunteer Support Fund.

The Natural Disaster Resilience Program improves upon these models by allowing States and Territories to focus on the risks that are most pressing within their own jurisdiction.

There is also a new emphasis on encouraging partnerships between the public and private sector. Such partnerships, as evidenced by the conference today, will greatly improve the resilience of communities as a whole.

Just as importantly, the program also contains a national projects arm, which will provide a new mechanism for policies to be implemented for the benefit of all Australians.

National Aerial Firefighting Arrangements

There is no doubt that when used as part of a coordinated ground strategy, aerial firefighting is an invaluable tool to combat bushfires.

In the 2009-10 Budget, the Commonwealth committed an additional $12.8 million to assist States and Territories lease additional firefighting aircraft for longer periods. This additional funding brings the Commonwealth’s annual contribution to National Aerial Firefighting Arrangements to $14 million.

Significantly, this increased funding will help individual States and Territories access a range of specialised aircraft that would otherwise be out of reach.

Present arrangements require States and Territories to match the Commonwealth’s contribution towards leasing and positioning costs and pay for all operating costs. This often limits participation by a number of smaller jurisdictions with limited capacity in this area.

Accordingly, my Department is working with the National Aerial Firefighting Centre to develop an alternative funding model. The model will advance our intention of maximising participation in the national arrangements in order to provide economies of scale as well as an efficient and effective way of sharing resources.

This model is another measure which will be in place for the upcoming fire season, to ensure the best possible resources for all jurisdictions.

These innovations will further strengthen the already effective partnership between the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments managed through the National Aerial Firefighting Centre.

New Technology

Within this context, your forum has an important role to play.

I understand today that you will be discussing issues of optimum fleet mix, Very Large Aerial Tankers, aerial tactics and aircraft limitations.

These are all important issues to examine, as new aerial firefighting technologies become available and operational lessons are learned.

It is critical for operational providers and policy makers to always be receptive to innovations which will make the community safer and improve our ability to respond when disasters occur.

Accordingly, I encourage you all to engage with every level of Government and the National Aerial Firefighting Corporation if there are proposals which you think would contribute to this goal.

International Links

I would like to extend our thoughts and best wishes to all those in the United States affected by recent bushfires. We appreciate how fierce and damaging such fires can be.

United States authorities often provide valuable assistance to Australia in the lead up to and during our annual bushfire season. Since 2003, more than 170 fire fighters have been deployed to Australia, including for the horrific fires we experienced in February.

That is why I was very pleased that last week the Foreign States Immunities Amendment Act 2009 passed the Federal Parliament. The Act will enable civil immunity in Australian courts to be conferred on United States firefighters helping authorities in Australia prepare for, manage and respond to bushfires.

The Act will also facilitate the conclusion of a firefighter exchange agreement with the United States which is currently being negotiated by the Victorian Government on behalf of all Australian States and Territories. This agreement will also provide for Australian fire fighters to enjoy similar protection when operating in the United States.

Conclusion

Thank you all for your valuable contributions to this important aspect of emergency response capability.

I’m sure this forum will stimulate much discussion in this rapidly developing area.

I look forward very much to hearing the outcomes.

Thank you.