Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to speak on this important bill, the Defence Legislation Amendment (Enhancement of Defence Force Response to Emergencies) Bill 2020, in the House today. I say that as the member for Gilmore, representing the New South Wales South Coast, where we saw some of the most horrific bushfires during 2019 and 2020. I really want to say thank you to our defence personnel and our reservists for all their work during the bushfires. This bill is really important. It will simplify the process for advising the Governor-General, prior to the issuing of an order to call out defence reservists. It will also increase the Chief of the Defence Force's flexibility to determine the periods and types of service reservists render during a call-out. It will provide immunity for our ADF and defence personnel, in certain circumstances, from civil and criminal liability, similar to that enjoyed by civil emergency services. Importantly, it will also address a gap in current arrangements that currently mean reservists providing continuous full-time service during a call-out do not receive superannuation, with the change to be retrospective from November 2019.

Some time ago, I think I described the Currowan fire as 'out of this world'. There really was no way to describe a fire that tormented my community every single day for so many months. Our emergency services volunteers, our workers and HMAS Albatross, with our Defence Force members, were there from the beginning, from November 2019. I want to thank particularly our members from HMAS Albatross, who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to support our state and local council areas through the bushfire crisis.

This bill is important and it deserves a proper government response. That's why I'm standing here talking on this bill today. I am standing here for the fine women and men in my community, for our children, for our organisations and for our businesses—everyone who went through the Currowan fires—for our extraordinary volunteer firefighters, for our emergency services volunteers and workers, for our councils and council workers, and for our dedicated Defence Force personnel at HMAS Albatross, who provided extraordinary support during the Currowan fires and elsewhere. Operation Bushfire Assist, from 4 January 2020, saw the call-out of 3,000 Australian Defence Force reservists to increase operational support on the ground. Since November 2019, HMAS Albatross had been involved in supporting the bushfire fighting effort. I want to particularly thank the outgoing commanding officer of HMAS Albatross, Captain Fiona Sneath, and the incoming commanding officer, Captain Robyn Phillips. At the time, there was certainly a baptism of fire around HMAS Albatross. At that time I was also going around and visiting our evacuation centres, and I just happened to run into Captain Fiona Sneath. I think it proves the point that everyone was impacted in some way by these bushfires. Even HMAS Albatross itself was under threat from the bushfires. It was a concerted community effort to fight the fires.

Of course HMAS Albatrossplayed a pivotal role in having the bushfire aerial command base there. That was a base for all the Rural Fire Service fixed-wing planes and helicopter water bombers. Right along the South Coast people, including people from my electorate, would have looked up into the sky and seen those little yellow fixed-wing planes and helicopter water bombers. It was a great relief for people to see those and the amazing work that they did. The aerial command base was back at HMAS Albatross, and our ADF personnel were playing such a pivotal role in supporting the emergency management there.

HMAS Albatross also provided logistics support—and there were a lot of logistics—water refuelling and retardant loading of our aircraft fighting the fires. They also provided engineering support, day- and night-time aerial mapping of fires, the transport of firefighters and accommodation and catering support for firefighters. We had a massive number of firefighters come into our area, which we are very grateful for. They came from all over the place. A lot of these firefighters were accommodated at HMAS Albatross. Again, our thanks go to our Defence members and our reservists who provided that support.

Importantly, our defence liaison officers, I'm really, really proud to say, played an absolutely pivotal role in working side by side with our local emergency services management. Every morning, for months on end, I was really privileged to go into my local fire control or emergency management centre and have those morning briefings with all the different agencies, and Defence were part of that. I think the reason that the efforts of HMAS Albatross were so successful was that they have literally been part of our community for decades. Their response was simply outstanding. Our squadrons at HMAS Albatross were ready and able to assist people, not only in our local area but right across Australia, during the bushfires.

The Royal Australian Navy's MRH-90 Taipan helicopters, based at HMAS Albatross, carried out many evacuations—some from Fishermans Paradise, North Sassafras and Yalwal. These were quite complex evacuations, where they were actually taking people out and there were flames all around them. It was quite difficult terrain and there were orange skies. They did an absolutely magnificent job. The 808 Squadron, in their MRH-90 helicopters, also played a key role across Australia—not only in the Shoalhaven—in assisting with evacuation operations in Victoria, delivering liaison teams into isolated areas, dropping off food, water and medical supplies into Mallacoota and resupplying HMAS Choules with everything from nappies for children of evacuees to food for the galley.

Since November 2019, flight squadrons flew a total of 640 hours in support of Operation Bushfire Assist 2019-2020. Of these 640 hours, 808 Squadron, based at HMAS Albatross, flew a total of 310 hours. That is an amazing amount of flying time. In addition, 808 Squadron conducted fodder drops for wildlife whose food sources had been destroyed by the bushfires. I want to thank the 808 Squadron members, their commanding officer, Commander Paul Hannigan, and their families. This happened at a time of the year when it's normally quiet, but they were there on red hot alert and helping and supporting everyone.

I see Defence Force members from 808 Squadron and other squadrons out in the community all the time. They are there supporting and fundraising to help our local community groups. So, whether it is the bushfires or supporting our community group, they are there. We could not be more proud of them and their role at Albatross during the bushfires, and I want to publicly thank them for their efforts.

Of course, reservists assisted with a whole range of duties in the bushfires. Often we didn't see them, because they were out in the middle of the bush, clearing fallen trees, clearing fire trails, creating fire breaks and putting up temporary bridges or workarounds, whether it was meals, logistics, transport support or more. So, our reservists were there, and I really want to say thank you to our reservists as well.

I want to mention another interesting aspect: Air Affairs, which is a local defence industry contractor physically based just outside of HMAS Albatross, at the Aviation Technology Park, played a pivotal role as well, through the fire schemes. That is basically the line mapping of the bushfire activity. People across Australia probably would have seen that through the bushfires. Line scanning is delivered during both day and night-time flight operations, providing imaging of the ground, clearly defining active fire and burnt terrain through dense smoke, which is invaluable support for the RFS, to our water bombers, to our firefighters, to defence personnel—a really important service.

I want to talk a little bit about the Eurobodalla, particularly around Batemans Bay and Moruya in my electorate. Reservists played a vital role there. They were a familiar sight, particularly next to the Batemans Bay evacuation centre. And we've got to remember that people went through extraordinary—there's really no way to describe it. What people went through was horrendous, and I think during those difficult conditions it was certainly a welcome sight and a relief for locals to see the Army roll in and set that medical tent up and help with a whole range of duties. Again we didn't see the reservists a lot, because they were out in the bush, but they were certainly assisting through clearing trees and fire trails and things like that. So, again I want to say thank you to our reservists and our Defence Force personnel.

I also want to mention the Mogo Zoo. People might have heard about that, because it's been in the news quite a lot, and of course the Mogo Wildlife Park was really hit hard by the bushfires, as was the whole Mogo community. But Chad and his team of wildlife keepers did everything to protect their animals, and it was just amazing. When I went back to visit the zoo and to talk with Chad and the team I found a team of Army personnel working to build a veterinary hospital for native wildlife injured in the bushfires. We lost over one billion animals in the bushfires, and this is just another example of where our Army personnel have stepped in. When I went the first time the walls were just starting to go up, and I had the pleasure of talking to some of the Army personnel, which was terrific—Army personnel attached to the 5th Engineer Regiment Task Group, part of Defence's Joint Task Force 1110. I think also assisting them were some Army members from our regional neighbours, which really just goes to show the huge effort both from Australia and from right around the world to fight these fires and shows that our Army and our reservists played a pivotal role in supporting that. Again, this was a real morale booster for wildlife keepers and their staff. I was delighted to return again at the official reopening of the zoo and see that vet hospital completed. It's a great example of how our Defence Force members, our councils, our state government and everybody else can work together to help fight the fires. I don't think there's ever been a greater example of that than the disaster effort on the New South Wales South Coast during the bushfires.

I want to conclude by saying that obviously there's been a lot of talk about Army reservists and what role we can play in the future. Think this bill is really important, because it goes a small but very important way towards helping and supporting our Defence reservists. But it's not the be-all and end-all. I guess the integration of military, volunteer and paid civilians and contractors during a very long bushfire crisis can sometimes be a very tricky thing to implement. I know I'm certainly lucky to live in the Nowra area and have had HMAS Albatross there for decades. So for me and for people in my local area HMAS Albatross is part of our community. Our defence members are part of our community. Our reservists are part of our community. And it's those connections, along with our local emergency services, that are so important.

Today I've highlighted many positive examples of where our Defence Force members have done so well in helping through the bushfires. We do need to build on those links and ensure our defence reservists are ready into the future, and I think this bill will help reservists as well. I just want to say, to conclude, thank you to our Defence Force members and their families. We're immensely proud of you and your efforts. We will never forget that. Thank you.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Defence Legislation Amendment (Enhancement of Defence Force Response to Emergencies) Bill 2020. Defence's role is to defend Australia and it's national interests. This bill clarifies the legal basis of arrangements for call-out of defence personnel in defence of Commonwealth interests and in protection of state and territories in a domestic scenario. The bill aims to enhance the Australian Defence Force's capacity to provide assistance in response to natural disasters and other emergencies, such as we saw—so sadly—this year during the bushfires and the pandemic. In recent months, we've seen the east coast ravaged by bushfires and we've seen society brought to its knees by the pandemic, and, absolutely, defence assistance has been essential.

Defence has vast capabilities and resources that are for the purpose of the protection of the Australian people, and this is traditionally thought to be the protection of Australia from external threats. However, as we've seen this year, and we have seen it over time but more and more, we are also likely to need our Defence for domestic protection. I thank the work of the Defence Force in response to both of the emergencies that we've seen through 2020. The work that has been done by defence personnel has been invaluable and I can only imagine, for those communities that were absolutely on the front line of the bushfires, how absolutely essential it has been.

Currently, in relation to this bill, the legal basis for the operation of defence forces, especially reserves, in these scenarios requires clarification. We don't need to see a to and fro on the nightly news to understand how or when defence personnel can be called out. Communities need to know that they will be there to help when needed. The measures in this bill will enhance the ability to provide defence assistance. They will streamline the process for calling out members of the ADF Reserves under sections 28 and 29 of the Defence Act 1903. It will provide ADF members and other defence personnel and members of foreign forces with similar immunities to state and territory emergency services personnel, in certain cases, while performing duties to support civil emergency and disaster preparedness, recovery and response. It will amend the ADF superannuation legislation to ensure that reserve members who provide full-time service following a call-out are appropriately covered for superannuation and related benefits.

These are all amendments that are absolutely welcome. But there are some concerns in relation to this bill. This bill allows for the deployment of defence forces, both Australian and foreign forces, to be deployed in Australia in response to natural disasters and other emergencies. Natural disasters are well understood to include bushfires, floods, cyclones and landslides. However, I am concerned with the lack of specificity of these amendments in relation to the definition of 'other emergencies'. 'Other emergencies' could be anything from the pandemic that we're currently experiencing to chemical spills and nuclear incidents—any public health emergency. However, there is a lack of detail and definition of the term 'other emergencies'. Not defining it or at least limiting it to public health emergencies is a concern.

Our Defence Force should never be used for quashing internal protests or the exercise of democratic rights. Section 39(3)(b) of the Defence Act prohibits the use of the Australian Defence Force in industrial disputes and protests, but that doesn't completely quash my concern, because that prohibition does not apply if there is 'reasonable likelihood of serious damage to property'. To be very clear, the Defence Act does not define 'serious damage to property'. So there is a gap, and that gap is concerning.

We've seen a dangerous rise in authoritarian responses to civil protests around the world and in many neighbouring nations. Some months ago the Prime Minister himself spoke words that I found concerning in relation to the right to protest, especially around environmental issues. It would be concerning if there were any intention to use these measures in the amendments for something that was in fact quashing democratic rights.

There's another example of a lack of a definition. For example, the term 'domestic violence' is not defined, yet the Defence Act uses the term 'domestic violence' to justify the deployment of the Defence Force in the civil community. Similarly, it's not defined. There is danger, therefore. Having an ill-defined set of circumstances in which defence personnel can be deployed means that the public don't have assurance about their rights and liberties or that the deployment of defence personnel is not being used for a political purpose. That is something that should be clarified.

Defence personnel are immune from prosecution if acting in good faith under this legislation. The immunities that apply are similar to those of other emergency service personnel, which is absolutely appropriate. I repeat that the term 'other emergencies' should be defined. It must be defined to prevent deployment in circumstances that are not consistent with the public interest and the expectations of Australians. The government claim that they have left this term deliberately ambiguous as the nature of emergencies is that they cannot be forecast. While I agree it is difficult to establish an exhaustive list of emergencies, we can be very clear and define the circumstances in which defence personnel cannot and should not be engaged.

I urge the government to send this bill to a committee to refine the definitions and circumstances in which defence and the reserves can and should be deployed. The referral is important so that organisations, such as the Law Council of Australia, have an opportunity to consult and consider the amendments in detail and present findings to the committee. That would make the law better.

This summer we saw the first Australian climate refugees up and down the east coast of Australia. Defence personnel evacuated people from the beaches of Mallacoota and up and down the east coast. So many communities were decimated. Defence personnel and reservists have been intrinsically involved with the clean up and the rebuild. The rebuild is huge. Over 6,500 defence personnel were deployed in response to the summer bushfires—nearly 3,000 of whom were reservists.

Whilst it's important that we deploy all of our valuable resources to protect our communities from events like this summer's fires and to deal with floods and cyclones, it is also important that we look at the underlying causes. The government needs to step up and address the underlying factors exacerbating these events, actually invest in adaptation and resilience, and help communities protect themselves from extreme events, which we know from the scientists will be more frequent. As a matter of urgency the government needs to address the underlying factors exacerbating these events. The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements found in its interim report:

Australia's weather and climate agencies have told us that changes to the climate are projected to increase the frequency and intensity of natural disasters in Australia. Further warming over the next 20 years appears to be inevitable. Sea-levels are projected to continue to rise. Tropical cyclones are projected to decrease in number, but increase in intensity. Floods and bushfires are expected to become more frequent and more intense.

Australia needs to plan for a worsening scenario of natural disasters.

After last summer's bushfires, the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action, made up of 33 retired fire chiefs with a collective experience of over 600 years of firefighting emergency management service to the community, took the lead and held a national bushfire and climate summit on what needs to be learnt. The summit concluded with the release of the Australian Bushfire and Climate Plan, which has 165 recommendations to ensure we do not leave communities unprotected again. The recommendations include establishing a domestic aerial firefighting fleet; early detection, warning and intervention systems; and community resilience hubs.

Nevertheless, having spoken with former New South Wales fire commissioner Greg Mullins, I know that all our strategies and plans to build more resilient communities will be for nothing if we don't mitigate the ultimate cause. We have to do something about climate change and our increasing emissions. Last year, the emergency leaders' warnings to this government were not heeded. I urge the government to learn from its mistakes of last year and to listen now. The government should invest further funds into the established natural disaster response agencies and organisations. The Rural Fire Service, the state emergency services, the country fire services and others require government support. At a time when we're in recession and unemployment is rising sharply, I urge the government to invest in the capabilities recommended by the emergency leaders. This can, of course, be done with defence forces. These organisations need greater capabilities themselves. The measures in this bill only add to these organisations. The Defence Force does not replace them; it works with them.

I support the use of the vast resources that Defence has at its disposal to respond to natural disasters. It is a proper and fit use of the capabilities Australia has invested in. But I urge the government to do more to define the circumstances under which Australian Defence Force personnel can be deployed in response to other emergencies through the explanation of this bill by committee. And the government must do more to protect Australians from a warming climate than just committing to militarise our response to the resulting catastrophes. The government must commit to a target. We must mitigate the risks. If this were an army advancing upon our shores, we would mobilise all resources available, so I urge the government to do that now.

Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Defence Legislation Amendment (Enhancement of Defence Force Response to Emergencies) Bill 2020. As stated by my colleagues, Labor will support the passage of this bill through this House, which is an important thing, but it does need further legislative scrutiny via a Senate inquiry. The Australian Defence Force—the ADF as we affectionately know it—plays a vital role in assisting the Australian community, not only through its sovereign purpose of the defence of Australia but also in assisting us in emergencies and natural disasters. Having been a very young woman of the tender age of 19 when the Newcastle earthquake hit in 1989, I still remember the Army being called in to Newcastle to provide incredible support, assistance and reassurance. Really, it was a terrible shambles, in terms of buildings falling and danger all around. Knowing that the Army was there during that month or so when the city was completely shut down, on the streets, securing perimeters and helping residents, was a great comfort. It is not a recent thing that the Australian Defence Force has come to the aid of civilian society, in terms of natural disasters and incredible events in our community. They've always been there during these times.

We, of course, witnessed it more recently. In 2019—which was last year, even though it feels like it was about 10 years ago, as this year has really tested many of us—the bushfires were so incredible. I remember having to go home because there were fires in my own electorate that were circling not only my property but also neighbouring properties. We managed to hold off the fire and have a firebreak put in at a nearby road. We witnessed those devastating events that saw the loss of homes and sheds and lives. In fact, 33 of our fellow Australians were taken from us during last year's fires. I note that the member for Macquarie has just taken her place in this chamber, and I pay special tribute to her because I know she has worked tirelessly for her community amidst bushfires and, more recently, the coronavirus and all manner of things. She has suffered her own loss from bushfires. I think it's one of those situations where it's probably not until you've lost your home and all of your worldly possessions that you do think, 'This is incredible.' So I do want to take a moment to acknowledge the impact on those people who lost loved ones and homes, as well as photographs and all the things that you can't bring back. When those fires are bearing down on you, they have such an impact.

When the ADF are called out in circumstances like that, they come not only with the requisite training and skill but also with the gravitas of being the Army, the Navy, the Air Force—the Defence Force. Seeing those people in their uniforms does bring a certain sense of relief. Even though it can be a very frightening time, you know that the best of the best are there to give their best for you. Reservists are part of this. The Australian Defence reserves are, and have always been, a critical part of our nation's military. I really want to say thank you to those reservists and, just as importantly, to the businesses that employ reservists. Reservists often are not in a position to serve full time, but they make themselves available to help when they can, and their employers release them to do that. If you've got a small business, again, it is often a drain to lose a crucial staff member. So thank you to those businesses that release reservists and allow them to go and serve their country in this way. Thank you for doing that.

This bill aims to address issues identified in a review conducted by Defence in the aftermath of the 2019-20 bushfires, which, as I mentioned earlier, took the lives of 33 of our fellow Australians, including nine firefighters. Over 17 million hectares were burnt across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT, Western Australia and South Australia. We know that the Bureau of Meteorology, affectionately known as the BOM at our place, reported that these fires were likely to be the single largest fire event recorded in eastern Australia. It's hard to fathom the sheer scope of these fires, the area of the country affected and the determination of our people to try and stop them. We all witnessed the devastation and the loss of life, property and our natural environment. In circumstances such as these, it is easy to understand the necessity of calling upon our Defence Force reservists to assist in combating natural disasters of such scale.

The review identified that the process of calling out the reserve forces needed to be simplified in order to allow faster mobilisation. This bill seeks to address the need for expediency, which is really important, by simplifying the process for advising the Governor-General prior to the issue of an order to call out reservists; increasing the Chief of Defence Force's flexibility to determine periods and types of service that reservists render during a call-out, including by removing a requirement for continuous full-time service; providing to the ADF and Defence personnel—as well as to other protected persons, potentially including foreign military and police services—immunity from civil and criminal liability in certain circumstances, similar to that enjoyed by civil emergency services; and addressing a gap in current arrangements that means reservists providing continuous full-time service during a call-out do not receive superannuation, with the change to be retrospective from November 2019. Importantly, the bill does not confer additional authority nor expand the ability to deploy the ADF.

We really want to support these changes because they do make it easier and simpler and—let's face it—more practical and timely. When those fires are bearing down, when that tsunami tidal wave is bearing down, when any sort of natural disaster is bearing down, it is so important that we are able to deploy quickly and efficiently. The improvement of processes regarding the utilisation of defence people and equipment in times of national disaster should be supported and taken very seriously. As we all know, we are seeing more of these natural disasters as well.

We should also not forget the tardiness of this Prime Minister in acting to fight these horrific fires. We shouldn't forget that while the country burnt the Prime Minister was on a beach in Hawaii. I've heard many of his colleagues say he was having a holiday. Everyone accepts that he worked hard and he deserved a holiday, but when something of that magnitude was happening he really needed to truncate his holiday and come home, like every Prime Minister that has faced similar or equivalent disasters has done. I do think that's an important point to make. Yes, he's a human being and, yes, he's got a terrific family and, yes, he deserves a holiday, but you sign up to be the Prime Minister. It is a very important job. Whilst families are all-important, being the Prime Minister is, for that period of your life, the most important thing, and he really should have come home at his first availability. Given the fact that he has transport at hand, that shouldn't have taken the time that it did. Even though we recognise that, as the Prime Minister, he has worked hard, he should have gotten himself home much faster. I think even reasonable Liberal people would accept that observation.

We shouldn't forget that 23 former fire and emergency services leaders attempted, unsuccessfully, to meet with the Prime Minister. That leaves me aghast. We're always looking for experts and people with experience. Everyone who has been elected to this place over the years talks about good policy being formed when experience and expertise come together. So when 23 former fire and emergency services leaders reach out to a current leader and say: 'Look, we've got a bit of experience in this. We've walked a mile in these moccasins, and we'd like to share some experience with you,' wouldn't you think that a Prime Minister would be at least willing to give them an hour of his time? Again, I am still aghast at that one. These people have put their life on the line for many thousands of hours across their careers. For the Prime Minister, in the midpoint of his career, not to give them time last year was extraordinary.

This is the background to which the suggested changes to the administration of the Reserve Assistance Program have come about. This is why we're making this legislation. We're going to support this bill. We've said all along that we will. But it does require really good scrutiny, and that's what the review by the Senate committee will do. I implore the government to be proactive and to listen to the results of what comes out of the review in the Senate. We need to be able to combat these huge events. Had we listened to the experts in the community, much could have been saved, I dare say. So it is a great shame that the Prime Minister fiddled while Australia burnt.

Labor has consulted and will continue to interact with stakeholders in both government and the wider community. We note that representatives of key defence personnel and reservists associations are generally supportive of the changes that this bill proposes, and that's a good thing. There you have it again: people who have been involved in this and have history, providing examples and providing knowledge.

We must look after our reservists, as they look after us, and ensure that the gap in current arrangements is filled and they receive superannuation while providing continuous, full-time service. We must set them up for success so that they can do their job. The provision to provide immunity in certain circumstances from civil and criminal liability, for defence personnel and other designated protected persons responding to an emergency similar to that enjoyed by civil emergency services, is welcome, and that is very important. We want these people to feel as though they don't have to be thinking, 'Will this person sue me?' or 'Will I be in some sort of strife if I carry someone from a fire or a flood?' We need these people to fully do what they're trained to do and to be able to help, no matter what.

I want to take a quick moment to speak on schedule 2 of the bill, which provides immunity to certain personnel, while they're performing duties, to respond and to support emergency and natural disaster preparedness. I think that is very important. The manner in which the proposed amendments are drafted does raise the question of whether the bill, as well as providing certain immunities, provides the minister with the statutory power to direct use of the ADF and other defence resources in certain natural disasters and other emergencies.

We understand that the minister has some non-statutory executive power to direct assistance. The extent of that non-statutory power depends on the scope of the Commonwealth's nationhood power, which is not regarded as settled in constitutional law. It is possible that these provisions expand the existing executive power. These are things that really must be explored more and expanded in greater depth, and that's why it is good that it's going for further review in the Senate.

I would like to take a moment to also speak on schedule 3 of the bill, which will make amendments to the Military Superannuation and Benefits Act 1991, the Australian Defence Force Superannuation Act 2015 and the Australian Defence Force Cover Act 2015. These amendments will ensure that Reserve members who provide continuous full-time service under a call-out order will receive superannuation and related benefits commensurate with those reservists who provide the same service on a voluntary basis. I think that's really important. It's vital that we recognise the fantastic contribution our ADF make, especially during times of national emergency. With this, we must ensure that they're sufficiently compensated.

I welcome these amendments as they will provide greater flexibility in the call-out of our reserves, enable greater consistency in the treatment of our reserves and ensure that our defence personnel have all the appropriate legal protections when serving our nation, in good faith, during times of great crisis and emergency. We agree to support this bill and, in closing, again, I want to thank those people who pull on the uniform every day. They serve our country in conflict, in crisis and in natural disaster. This bill, for all intents and purposes, is a good bill because it brings about requisite change to those serving personnel and our reservists. But we must ensure that it's properly drafted and its intent is also what is delivered for those people who pull on that uniform every day.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the member for Paterson has been saying, it is really good to see some movement on this. There haven't been a lot of outcomes from the fires of last summer. The inquiries are still happening. There are tentative recommendations but we haven't seen a lot of action. So I'm really pleased to see that Defence can get its stuff together and get a bunch of recommendations through to be considered by this parliament. I note that we do have some questions about some of the issues and look forward to it being considered by the Senate and for us to make a final view about it. As we saw in the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury, in my electorate, firsthand throughout summer, the Australian Defence Force played an absolutely vital role in assisting our community during that emergency, and that applies to a range of emergencies and disasters across the rest of the country.

In our case, the Richmond RAAF base was a hive of activity and there was never a more hopeful sound than that of a plane full of fire retardant heading towards the smoke. People were very pleased to see those planes. There are some planes I don't want to see over my electorate and there are others I'm very happy to see. The planes and their crew were supported by the entire base. I know that leave was cancelled and permanent defence personnel and reservists alike threw everything they had into making sure the tankers could get in and back out as fast as possible, in what were some of the darkest days for our small communities. The RAAF provided space in the workshop and maintenance hangers and it provided accommodation and catering support for firefighters. So, they were there for us across the whole gamut.

In the first month of the campaign, between 150 and 300 firefighters from Victoria's Country Fire Authority were fed and watered at the base. The same went for others as the months went on. The RAAF aircraft, including the C-130 'Hercs' were used to bring firefighters from interstate and to take them elsewhere. 37 Squadron was kept busy. For example, in November alone they brought South Australian firefighters from Adelaide up to Port Macquarie in New South Wales, Tasmanian firefighters were carried from Hobart to Port Macquarie, and Victorian firefighters were brought from Essendon and Mildura up to Armidale. So, our RAAF base didn't just support the fire effort in the immediate area of the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury. They supported the fire effort up and down the eastern seaboard. It really does highlight how important that base is. There is periodically talk about closing Richmond RAAF base—that it's outlived its usefulness. But I cannot imagine there ever being a good reason to give up that strip of tarmac on the edge of our largest city. It isn't just a base for our emergency operations overseas when international crises occur and we lend a hand—in the Pacific or in Asia—but, as last summer showed, it was pivotal in our ability to deal with the Gospers fire and with fires up and down Victoria and New South Wales, up into Queensland and across to the west. We sometimes think about bushfires as being on the eastern seaboard, but there are also those that occur further west.

There is so much capacity at the base, either by drawing on the Defence resources that are already there or by, potentially, building up alongside the defence forces the additional skills for bushfire defence. We could be training our own firefighting pilot crews there, for instance. We could be researching the effectiveness of various firefighting techniques and honing our ability to respond fast to fires. But what we saw should leave nobody in any doubt that it is absolutely an essential base now for our firefighting efforts in the summer. As we expect that fires will become more frequent, not less, and will be of greater ferocity, not less, it remains absolutely crucial.

We had RAAF personnel, including 22 Squadron, plus Army reservists not just working off the base but also at the RAAF headquarters in Wilberforce, where I turned up for the early morning briefings. They'd often be there unloading pallets of stuff or getting ready to deliver eskies of food to the fire ground. They were out at Bilpin providing supplies for the firefighters, with volunteers preparing the meals for the firefighters as they came in from a long, hard shift or were heading out for one. Everywhere I went I caught moments of our reservists and permanent personnel helping out. Once the fire had gone through, they were there long after the flames had cleared, for many, many weeks, helping to clear dangerous trees from trails in places like Blackheath, Bell and Mount Victoria.

I witnessed all of that last summer and I give a heartfelt thanks to Defence Force personnel for their service on behalf of the people in the electorate of Macquarie and beyond. We all watched on TV, way outside my electorate, what the Navy was doing down on the South Coast and into Victoria. I think none of us have any doubt about the role that the Defence Force can play in something like a bushfire. But, with the pandemic, we've also seen the roles that can be played during other types of disasters or emergencies.

That's why I am really pleased to see that there is some intent to improve the way in which their role is activated and defined. I think that there could have been a greater role for Defence during the fires. They have the skills, the training and the mindset. We need to do more work on what that role is and what role they play in the future. None of us in New South Wales will forget the confusion that surrounded the activation of their role and the clear discord between the Premier of New South Wales and the Prime Minister. We need to get things right so that we don't have those sorts of disagreements playing out in the midst of a disaster. We need to get the legal stuff right.

This bill will make several changes to the administrative arrangements for the use of ADF personnel, particularly, when reservists are called out. The changes follow the review by Defence after the last bushfire season. I do hope they take into account the experience of Defence during the current pandemic. The aim of the bill is to simplify arrangements, particularly for advising the Governor-General prior to the issuing of an order to call out the reserves. That's a really good thing. It'll increase flexibility, hopefully in terms of the types and periods of services that reserves render during a call-out, rather than just requiring one continuous full-time service call. Having some flexibility clearly was what was needed during the bushfires.

The changes will also look at the immunity that's provided in certain circumstances from civil and criminal liability for Defence personnel and other designated protected persons responding to an emergency—similar to those that are enjoyed by civil emergency services. That is really important and has come up in discussions that I've had with people. Getting that bit right will be really key. I note we are aware of some concerns about that part of the bill, around the immunity provisions and potential interpretations. I think there is real value in the Senate taking a look at that before we form a final position on it.

I welcome the fact that this does look at addressing the current arrangements that mean reservists who are providing continuous full-time service during a call-out don't receive superannuation. They're the sorts of basic things we need to get right. I welcome this legislation. We're coming up to nearly 12 months after the fires began and there hasn't been a lot of change that we've seen. I talk about this from a perspective of what people are seeing on the ground as well as what we're seeing here. There's been lots of talk but there hasn't been a lot of tangible action. There's still a lot to do. Just to be clear, so that this place recognises it, the work is far from over in bushfire-affected areas. There's been no significant planning to reduce the impact of bushfires. We still have the $4 billion Emergency Response Fund that this place voted on 18 months ago and we've not seen a cent spent. There's been nothing in my electorate to say, 'Here's how we will make things better for next time.' That is really disappointing. While it's good to see this type of legislation, there's so much more that could be happening.

We're not seeing an injection of funds into the community to really tackle the enormous environmental issues that we face. There are small amounts of money that are just starting to trickle through, but we're into the next fire season. We failed to get environmentalists and researchers out on the ground fast to do early audits of what was lost. We've missed that opportunity now, so why aren't we seeing legislation here that would set up a fund that allows, in the case of an emergency, researchers to be taken off and allowed to park their existing projects. Academics tell me that parking a project, in a research context, is an impossible thing to do, but why aren't we making it easier so they can sideline certain research and divert their energy into the stuff that can only happen in a tiny little window of opportunity in our World Heritage area? We have missed the opportunity to really understand the impact. We'll now start to see which bits recover and which bits don't, but we're never getting that ground zero data that would have been so useful. That's the sort of legislation I'd like to see here: some real planning around how we respond to these sorts of disasters going forward.

The other thing we're not seeing in this place is any commitment to fixing one of the fundamental issues for communities like mine, which is around a failure of mobile communication. There were people in my electorate who had no way to make a phone call as fires were bearing down on them. There were brigades who had no way to activate their brigade. They had no way to communicate because of a failure of communication. We're meant to be seeing a satellite phone in every rural fire brigade. The failure to make any provision for improved telecommunications is a fundamental flaw, and it leaves people's lives at risk. The lives of people in the Blue Mountains, the Hawkesbury and many other areas are at risk because of that failure. We don't need recommendations; we just need to fix that problem. This government has failed miserably to do that.

That's why there is some unease in my community when they look at the areas that were fire affected. I was in Mount Tomah last Friday with shadow minister Jason Clare, and we identified that not one single house had been rebuilt in that area. As far as I can establish, there were only two pre-DAs of all the 40 hours that burnt down. We didn't lose hundreds of homes—not this time; we lost hundreds in the previous fire—but the pace of the recovery is so slow that there aren't any homes being rebuilt yet.

These are the sorts of things that this parliament really needs to consider. We need to put in place mechanisms so that recovery can happen faster. Ultimately what I'm saying is that this is a step forward, but, gee, it's a small step. It's a terrific step from a defence personnel perspective, and I know that my community will be grateful for the clarity that it will ultimately provide. The RAAF, Army and Navy personnel and reservists who live in my electorate will be grateful for that clarity.

My communities have faced disasters, and we're not just talking about bushfires in the electorate of Macquarie; we also face floods and storms—you name it; it probably happens in my electorate. We need confidence in the government that things are in place—so that things can happen much faster. I worry less about a Prime Minister being overseas than about the mechanisms being put in place—and they clearly weren't. Personally, I couldn't sleep while the beds were burning; I needed to be out in my electorate every day. That was my approach to it. I saw great people doing incredible work, but they didn't have the things in place that would have made their lives better, that would have made the decisions quicker and faster, and that may well have meant a different outcome for some of my communities.

Eighty per cent of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area was fire affected. The fire went through 80 per cent of it. If we had been able to reduce that, we might be seeing less of an environmental disaster unfolding there. While some parts of it are recovering, and there are the wonderful furry trees with the new green growth growing from the bottom of the trunk right up the top, there are others that are still black ash—simply a burnt forest standing, never to recover, for the foreseeable future.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I begin my speech on the Defence Legislation Amendment (Enhancement of Defence Force Response to Emergencies) Bill 2020, I want to acknowledge the member for Macquarie and her sterling leadership through the fires in her electorate, Fiona Phillips, the member for Gilmore, Mike Kelly, the former member for Eden-Monaro, and of course Kristy McBain, the current member for Eden-Monaro. There were many others who were genuinely there to help, but I wanted to particularly point out those people.

Labor supports the passage of this bill through the House. We understand the need to expedite it, but we also note our intention to refer the bill to the Senate for legislative inquiry. I'd like to take this opportunity to once again thank our men and women in uniform, our firefighters, police officers and emergency workers, and volunteers from across society who pulled together to fight those devastating fires, and I want to again offer my condolences to the families and friends of those Australians who were lost.

We also had international assistance that flooded in to help Australia in our time of need. I especially thank our US ally for sending over 100 firefighting personnel, the 44 Forest Service and wildlife personnel to assist Australians. At an airport down south, I spoke with one of the American Forest Service personnel; he was in an air bomber. He was keen to be here. He was keen to help. But, of course, we also remember with great sadness the three Americans who lost their lives fighting the bushfires: Ian McBeth, Paul Hudson, and Rick DeMorgan Jr.

I also want to thank our Pacific family mates, including those from Papua New Guinea, which sent a hundred soldiers to help fight the flames and offered up to a thousand personnel to help us during the crisis. Thank you to our wantoks. Fire-ravaged towns like Merimbula received $60,000 in donations raised by youth from Lae in PNG. We thank them. I've got family in Merimbula. I've also got mates who are veterans who were in Merimbula during the fires. On their behalf, I say thank you. Vanuatu offered $250,000 to assist bushfire victims and their families. I want to acknowledge the Vanuatuans picking mangoes right now in the Northern Territory. The Anzacs, our trans-Tasman cousins, also sent over 125 firefighters and personnel to help, as early as October. We thank them. A 43-person Indonesian military engineer contingent supported efforts in the Blue Mountains region, so we say terima kasih banyak.

Singapore and France offered military assistance. Thank you; merci. Canadians offered to come and fight the fires. Thank you to them. I note the help of our heroic friends, allies and families because it reminds us of the fact that the bushfires on this scale across our nation, across our continent, did resemble a coalition task force who were at war through fire ravaged communities. It was a form of coalition warfare as the fire advanced on many fronts. So I want to thank all of those internationals. It's important to note that this legislation will provide cover for those personnel when they come to help, and it also reminds us of what our own ADF Reserves and regular personnel were up against and why it's so important to protect them from, for instance, potential prosecution for just doing their jobs, or loss of income, or being forced into conditions of full-time employment when their personal situation might determine a better response to be of a part-time nature.

In this bill, we ask a lot from our men and women in uniform. Labor will not oppose the bill, and we'll make our final position on it known after the Senate legislative inquiry helps to ensure that our ADF members are given the same protections that their Indonesian, American, New Zealand and Papua New Guinean foreign military personnel in Australia would have enjoyed—and, indeed, the same protections that our civilian emergency personnel, like my brother, who's a professional firefighter, also enjoy.

There's very important and even critical risk to assess around issues such as civil military relations, as raised by my learned colleague the member for Wills. I acknowledge those. Labor is aware of concerns around some of the immunity provisions. It's vital for our own ADF personnel as well as for the high esteem in which the community hold our armed forces that this issue be thoroughly and adequately addressed.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank all members who've contributed to the debate on the Defence Legislation Amendment (Enhancement of Defence Force Response to Emergencies) Bill 2020. As someone who experienced last year's devastating bushfire season firsthand, I know the importance of the changes outlined in this bill. The critical support provided by Defence Force personnel is something many communities, particularly in my electorate of Page, will never forget. At the peak of the bushfire support, some 6½ thousand personnel provided support to emergency services in five states and territories. More than 8,000 ADF service personnel were involved over the entire operation, and they were joined by nearly 500 personnel from Australia's international defence force partners. Around 3,000 reservists supported the entire operation, about 2½ thousand under compulsory call-out and around 500 providing further support across the nation.

This bill is about making positive changes to defence legislation to enhance the Commonwealth's ability to assist in natural disasters and emergencies of a national scale. As we have moved from the bushfires to managing a global pandemic, it has become clear that our Defence Force is integral to the nation's response. This bill will streamline the process of calling out the reserves for the purpose of responding to natural disasters or emergencies. It ensures defence personnel are provided similar immunities as state and territory emergency services when performing their duties in good faith to support disaster preparedness, recovery and response. And it ensures reservists who serve under a call-out order will receive commensurate superannuation to those who provide the same service on a voluntary basis.

Schedule 1 amends the Defence Act 1903 to streamline the process of providing advice to the Governor-General on a call-out of reserves, including for responding to natural disasters or emergencies. The amendment allows the Governor-General to act on the advice of the Minister for Defence after consultation with the Prime Minister. This enables a more timely and effective defence response to national disasters for a call-out of the reserves. Preserving the power of the Governor-General to call out the ADF reserves ensures decisions of this magnitude are only taken when absolutely warranted by the circumstances.

Additionally, the changes provide the Chief of Defence Force the delegation to determine the nature and period of reserve force provided under a call-out order. This gives the Chief of Defence Force the flexibility required to integrate reservists into the overall defence response.

Schedule 2 amends the Defence Act 1903 to provide immunities to defence personnel supporting disaster preparedness, recovery and response efforts. The immunity provision covers assistance, directed by the Minister for Defence, where the minister is satisfied that: (a) the nature or scale of the natural disaster or other emergency makes it necessary for the benefit of the nation for the Commonwealth, through the use of the ADF's special capabilities or available resources, to provide the assistance, and/or the assistance is necessary for the protection of Commonwealth agencies, Commonwealth personnel or Commonwealth property. This will see our defence personnel being provided with immunity from civil and criminal liability when they are performing their required emergency response duties in good faith, similar to the immunities provided to state and territory emergency services personnel.

Schedule 3 makes amendments to the Military Superannuation and Benefits Act 1991, the Defence Force Superannuation Act 2015 and the Australian Defence Force Cover Act 2015. These changes ensure reservists who provide continuous full-time service under a call-out receive commensurate superannuation and related benefits as reservists who provide the same service on a voluntary basis.

This bill provides greater flexibility for a call-out of the reserves, enables greater consistency in the treatment of our reservists and ensures defence personnel have appropriate legal protections when serving our nation in good faith.

To the men and women in uniform, on behalf of the government and the many communities you have served through the bushfire and pandemic, can I simply say thank you for your service. I commend this bill.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.