Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

Firefighting aircraft are generally leased, due to the very high cost of purchasing and maintaining specialist firefighting aircraft. The Australian bushfire season typically occurs during the off-season for US, Canadian and European firefighting aircraft. Because it gives us greater flexibility to adjust resourcing levels based on forecast risk and the ability to cost-effectively introduce new technologies, these are the reasons the Australian government this time has decided to lease this capability, rather than to purchase.