Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, access to foreign heavy firefighting aircraft is now problematic, as the Northern and Southern Hemisphere fire seasons overlap because of climate change, while domestic resources are stretched to fight simultaneous fires across Australia. Despite this, my repeated calls for a specialised RAAF capability have been dismissed by the government every time. The reality is that aid to the civil community is an accepted use of ADF assets and existing RAAF aircraft, like the C-17 Globemaster, the C-130 Hercules and the C-27 Spartan, could all deploy roll-on, roll-off tank systems for water bombing. Prime Minister, as the country deals with a shocking bushfire season, will you now direct Defence to develop a heavy firefighting aircraft capability?

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