Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Griff, for your sensible question, and thank you for some notice so that I can actually provide you with an answer. Aerial firefighting plays an important role in protecting communities and essential infrastructure and in providing vital support to firefighters on the ground. Whilst aerial firefighting is one method of fire suppression, fire and land management agencies across the jurisdictions use a combination of firefighting tactics prior to enduring operations. The National Aerial Firefighting Centre was an incorporated company formed by states and territories with the assistance of the Australian government in 2003, and it is now the business unit of the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council. This represents a cost-effective method for the Australian government to deliver a critical emergency management capability. Commissioners and chief fire officers within each jurisdiction work with the NAFC to determine the type and base location of aerial firefighting assets based on the assessed bushfire risk. The NAFC then coordinate, contract and arrange the leasing arrangements. Minister Littleproud has written to the AFAC, and their CEO advised the government that there are enough aerial firefighting assets at present. So the minister responsible directly wrote to them, asking, 'Do you have what you need, given the context that you're fighting these fires in?' and they have returned that they do, at present. However, the government remains open to requests for further assistance. That will continue to be a flexible arrange arrangement, with us responding as needed.

We remain committed to supporting this important emergency management capability. The NAFC has contracts in place which guarantee a minimum number of aircraft are on stand-by during the fire season. These centralised contracts are the result of a collaborative procurement and evaluation process by the jurisdictions. This is the case for both small local aircraft and the large aircraft, which are mostly sourced internationally.