Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

The government is obviously very keen to investigate all options, to make sure that we have full capacity for our firefighters come fire season. It's been very clear that the ADF is not trained or equipped or certified to undertake firefighting, whether that be on-ground firefighting or aerial firefighting. Civilian aircraft that are used for aerial firefighting are modified significantly for the purpose of firefighting. Defence's transport aircraft fleet is primarily configured for airlift missions to support military activities. Those are terribly important when it comes to assisting our firefighting activities. However, whilst of course we're going to look at all the recommendations that exist in the interim report, as we will in the final report, clearly the ADF's capability is much better suited for on-ground activity because of the extraordinary requirements for modification.