Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Sheldon, and thank you again for your ongoing work as the government's Special Envoy for Disaster Recovery.

The bushfire seasonal outlook for spring, which was released by AFAC last month, is certainly starting to eventuate. We've seen increased fire activity across the Northern Territory, Queensland and parts of New South Wales over the past week, which serves as a reminder that the higher-risk weather season is now upon us. At the national level, we've made a number of changes since Black Summer—to be better prepared and to make sure that people are as safe as possible. There's now a new fire-danger-rating system to explain to people more clearly the level of risk that they face; we're investing more in mitigation and resilience than any government has ever done; and we have an extra-large water bomber plane, in addition to more large helicopters to do dumps of water.

We are working closely with the state and territory governments, and I know that they're increasing their fuel-reduction activity where it's safe to do so. Particularly for some of those in New South Wales, the smoke they're experiencing around Sydney from prescribed burns at the moment may bring back memories of the Black Summer fires so, given that today is R U OK? Day, I really want to encourage those who need help or someone to talk to as they're experiencing some pretty bad memories to reach out for assistance.

In two weeks time, the Albanese government will be hosting the first-ever National Bushfire Preparedness Summit here in Canberra, bringing together personnel from state and territory governments, emergency services, industry and not-for-profit organisations to share resources and practice national-level coordination and exercises. This is on top of the usual high-risk weather season planning, which involves a range of exercises and briefings across all states and territories and with key stakeholder groups, including media, First Nations groups and disability support organisations.

We have been planning for this coming season for months now, and we're committed to supporting the states and territories in their planning and preparedness for the months ahead.