Bushfire resilience to be front and centre of campaign as labor hints at firefighting fleet
14 April 2022
Published by: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au
AUSTRALIA – Labor will make the nation’s ability to respond to worsening bushfire seasons a part of its election pitch with a candidate in one of Western Australia’s most bushfire-prone electorates hinting the party will commit to expanding the national aerial firefighting fleet.
The Liberals have accused the opposition of playing politics with natural disasters but Labor’s Hasluck candidate Tania Lawrence said bushfire risks were a key issue for her electorate, which saw 86 properties destroyed during the 2021 Wooroloo bushfire — one of the worst in WA’s history.
Lawrence called for improved national aerial firefighting capabilities by purchasing more large air tankers and increasing night firefighting capabilities, as recommended by the royal commission which followed the devastating 2019-20 Victorian and NSW bushfire season.
“We have no consistent capability to respond to the near and present threat to our lives … simply there hasn’t been any decisive action taken by the Liberal government,” she said.
“It’s a very deadly, very technical issue that we need to be putting resources into because this is not a problem going anywhere.”
Disaster response has plagued the Morrison government since the 2019-20 bushfires and Labor will be looking to capitalise on it during the election.
Large air tankers are an effective tool in fighting out-of-control bushfires because they can drop thousands of litres of fire retardant on fronts in one go, but Australia leases planes from the northern hemisphere.
The Morrison government rejected a call by the royal commission to create a national sovereign firefighting fleet, preferring to keep responsibility for aerial firefighting in the hands of states and territories.
Last year, however, it announced $4 million in annual funding for Australia’s first dedicated large air tanker, which entered service on December 2021 and is based in Busselton in WA’s South West.
Albanese has previously committed to creating a sovereign firefighting fleet if elected but is yet to announce any details.
Lawrence, who herself lost her home in the 2009 Toodyay bushfire, said there would be “further announcements to come”.
Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience Minister Bridget McKenzie accused Labor of politicising natural disasters and said her government had provided record funding for aerial firefighting.
“The Liberal and Nationals government provides approximately $26 million per annum to the National Aerial Firefighting Centre,” she said.
“This supports the leasing and standing/positioning costs of a national fleet of highly specialised firefighting aircraft, including the recently announced large air tanker for use by state and territory emergency services and land management agencies across Australia.
“[Hasluck MP] Ken Wyatt and the WA Liberals are keeping Western Australians safe with our record funding to aerial firefighting, the Labor Party should not be politicising natural disasters.”
Lawrence has worked in senior management positions at LNG giant Woodside but said voters should not be sceptical of her efforts to address global warming issues in her electorate.
She said her experience at the company was actually beneficial.
“Labor has got a very clear position on setting a carbon emissions target and being part of a company in the past that’s moving towards hydrogen I think plays to the strength of having clear, decisive governance setting policies that businesses can respond to,” she said.
