David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. I respectfully don't agree that the access to fire and heavy firefighting equipment is problematic at the moment. I say that because only in the last three weeks I wrote to AFAC, the chief council that represents fire commissioners, and they assured me in writing that at the moment there are suitable assets. But they do make the point that, if the season is protracted, we will have to be agile enough to work with them. That is a commitment our government has given to them.

They also, in that letter, outline the fact that they are comfortable with the arrangements we currently have with the Australian Defence Force and the support that they provide and the logistic support that they provide our firefighters. In fact, I met with those former fire chiefs that raised some concerns only today, and I assured them that they should take comfort but great pride in the professional men and women who lead our fire agencies around this state and take great comfort that they are leading us through this season.

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