Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Emergency Management) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator McKim. Your question is apposite because, actually, this is an enterprise that rewards collaboration. I do work to stay in touch with my state and territory colleagues because, as I indicated in my response to your primary question, they do lead on these questions. They do lead on the response, but we are in a position to provide support. What that requires is me working with each of those ministerial counterparts to understand the circumstances that they are facing. I can tell you also that the National Emergency Management Agency, a new body established under our government, maintains very regular if not daily contact with fire chiefs, commissioners and other personnel in the emergency management system around the country. Indeed, as we speak, we are of course actively engaged in the circumstances continuing in Queensland—the recovery there—and in monitoring the cyclone which is forming off the north-west coast of Western Australia.