Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to speak on the Foreign States Immunities Amendment Bill 2009. This is a bill where I think there is absolutely no difference between the government’s and the opposition’s positions. When I explain what the bill is about, everyone will understand that. It is about giving foreign firefighters immunity when they come to Australia to fight fires. It never fails to inspire and amaze me, when there is a natural disaster, particularly a fire—and we reflect on the recent Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria and fires that affected my electorate in western New South Wales, in Kosciusko and in Canberra in 2003—how people come to help. I could be way out in the west of New South Wales in the middle of the week in a small town where there is not a tree to be seen and find that many of the farmers and businessmen have left their communities, their jobs and their families to go sometimes for weeks on end to elsewhere in Australia or elsewhere in the state to fight fires. It seems when disasters strike those men and women hear the call and everything else becomes of secondary importance.

It is encouraging to realise that that sense of community when it comes to fighting fires extends not just nationally but internationally. Australians have benefited greatly in recent years from the expertise and resources of US firefighters. Their contributions in times of dire emergency are hugely appreciated. In the 2002-03 bushfire season, the US sent an infrared scanning aircraft and photo interpreters, together with 36 firefighters and a 20-person crew, to aid Australia. During this time US firefighters shared their knowledge and experience with Australian firefighters. The 2006-07 bushfire season saw some off the worst fires in Australia in over 50 years. Fires burned through 2.4 million acres in the state of Victoria, and 114 American firefighters, two hot shot crews and 68 other resources from the US were dispatched to Australia for a month-long assignment.

Our firefighters too have been able to reciprocate assistance on numerous occasions. Australian firefighters’ aid to the US started in 2000. After the 2000 wildfire season, the US realised the value of having effective flexible, cooperative and formal relationships. Australia continued to provide assistance in suppressing wildfires in 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2006 all over the US, including Colorado, California, Washington, Oregon, Montana and Idaho. In 2007 the US Secretary of the Interior, while on a presidential delegation in Australia, personally thanked the Australian firefighters who assisted in suppressing wildfires in the US. The arrangement assists both countries not only in the tasks that each can perform for the other but for the valuable experience they gain, which can be put to use in their home countries. A branch manager from Forests New South Wales said:

We deploy people not only as a way of sharing our forest fire fighting experience, but to develop skills and provide invaluable experience that our teams can bring back to their home country.

Dean Kearney, a firefighter from New South Wales, recalls his firefighting experience in Boise, Idaho, in the US:

It was really amazing to see the way these crews worked, with all 20 crew members walking in single file according to rank, both in camp and on the fire ground. It’s not the sort of thing you see on fires in Australia.

So I certainly commend that exchange of experience. It is not just seeing how another country carries out firefighting activities, which will clearly differ for a variety of reasons, but the moral support in knowing that someone has come from so far away to help you in your time of need. The amendment bill that we are debating today will help to further enhance this firefighting experience. It is very much in our interests to ensure that the arrangement continues. The amendment will allow for the establishment of concrete protocols to ensure that aid gets to Australia as efficiently and quickly as possible. In Kearney’s case, he was in Idaho within 48 hours of a request from the US. Of course, when fires break out there is no time to be going through red tape and bureaucratic hoops. We need people to be able to travel quickly and get onto the job as soon as possible.

The main concern that the US has about dispatching her firefighters is vulnerability they may have in Australia to liability claims. This legislation will facilitate the formalisation of that arrangement going forward. The Foreign States Immunities Amendment Bill 2009 will provide immunity in tort in respect of the acts or omissions of foreign personnel in the course of rendering assistance. Under our current system, if an American firefighter during the course of duties in Australia were to cause injury or damage to property or other people, he or she would not be protected from liability. In August 2002 a bill was passed in the US to provide tort liability coverage for any international firefighter brought to the US. The US has already taken the first steps to cover our firefighters. Australia itself has acknowledged since 2002 that there are liability concerns surrounding Australian firefighters providing assistance in the US, so now is the time for Australia to offer to US firefighters the same protection that the US has provided to our firefighters since 2002.

While of course it is not common here for firefighters to be sued for negligence for something not done, or not seen to be done, in the course of their duties such claims will arise from time to time. Probably, and sadly, they may arise more often as our society becomes more litigious. I note the US case of Capital and Counties PLC versus Hampshire County Council in 1996, where a firefighting officer was held liable after negligently ordering the sprinkler system in a building to be switched off when that building was burning. No government would want to send aid to Australia if there were a possibility of liability claims being made against their volunteers, so this legislation will cure this defect and encourage assistance to Australia in critical times. It is clearly not in our interests or in the interests of any country providing emergency assistance for any deterrent to access to foreign assistance, expertise and resources in times of emergency to exist. So this is sensible legislation which seeks to secure a very important arrangement and which has the coalition’s full support. I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context