Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

What I also said was that under the federation model the state governments take on responsibility as first responders and they perform that role in fighting the fires—and they have, and well done to them. As far as the recovery efforts, again the states first and foremost rely on us when they call us, but we can't do it all as a Commonwealth, because that's their obligation and responsibility. What I also said—and this is important—was we will work with them and we will be there for the long haul—as we will. We have already put $2 billion on the table. We will be there to help them through this crisis, but it will be ongoing. It will be months, if not years. That's what I said. If you want to start talking about these things, you should say exactly what I said, not just a bit of it.

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