Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This time last year Australia was heading into one of the worst fire seasons in recent memory. The blazes had a deep and lasting impact socially, environmentally and economically. While it may have been over shadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, bushfire recovery is very much still underway, and the Morrison government is committed to sticking with fire affected regions for the long haul. We're also supporting the development of world-first technologies that help detect and fight bushfires and put out the blazes before they can take hold, and Noosa, in Wide Bay, is leading the way with cutting-edge innovation.

I've announced $200,000 for the Peregian Digital Hub to deliver their world-first commercialisation program for promising bushfire resilience technologies. A total $100,000 of this is through the Morrison government's Incubator Support initiative's expert in residence program. This will help fund to FireTech Connect to bring together mentors, business partners and procurement experts to help more than 30 companies fast-track their solutions into commercialisation and deployment to protect regional communities in Australia and abroad from fire.

A $100,000 grant through the Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Grants program will help the start-ups put their technologies on the world stage, with a fire tech international conference planned for late 2021, showcasing state-of-the-art bushfire technology solutions to an international audience of local, state and federal emergency response agencies.

Noosa tech company Fireball International has received $500,000 through the Entrepreneurs' Program for an innovative new system that could detect bushfires in as little as three minutes, allowing for rapid response and control. This innovative technology will significantly reduce both the human and financial cost of bushfires such as those seen in Noosa and, on a greater scale, across Australia last summer.

I also acknowledge the great work of McDermott Aviation, which, together with Helitak, is at the forefront of aerial firefighting. Helitak at Noosa has received almost $500,000 to expand its capacity, providing a cheap, safe and efficient way to enable the Super Puma helicopters to be used in aerial firefighting. These technology solutions to fighting bushfires could have a significant economic and social benefit not only for Australia but globally. These projects will boost the region's technology sector and get innovative companies and visitors back to the Noosa area, strengthening our economy and creating local jobs.