Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for his question. I know he has a keen interest in these issues and has made a number of contributions to the Senate on these issues. In relation to the New South Wales issue, I am not sure I can provide that information today, Senator. But I can indicate some of the work that has been undertaken by the federal government to support states and territories to prepare for and to respond to bushfires. Obviously, the states and territories have primary responsibility for dealing with natural disasters, although the Commonwealth stand ready to assist in any way we can.

I am advised that the Commonwealth has committed over $26 million to assist the states and territories to develop a national telephony based emergency warning system. The Commonwealth has also, through the Ministerial Council for Police and Emergency Management, supported an endorsement of a national catastrophic natural disaster plan and a national work plan to reduce bushfire arson. In relation to the former, this is a plan which outlines contingency arrangements for the Commonwealth and for other governments to assist a jurisdiction affected by a catastrophic disaster that overwhelms that jurisdiction’s ability to respond. This is the first time that such a plan has been agreed in Australia and it meets key recommendations of the 2005 Review of Australia’s ability to respond to and recover from catastrophic disasters. The Commonwealth, through this council, has also endorsed a national work plan to reduce bushfire arson, which includes the development of a strategy on best practices to reduce bushfire arson.

The Commonwealth is also conducting a trial of bushfire detection technology, including the FireWatch system, promoted by the member for McEwen, to determine if these new technologies can offer a cost-effective way of detecting fires in Australian conditions. In September, the Attorney-General chaired an extraordinary meeting of the Ministerial Council for Police and Emergency Management— (Time expired)