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

I dispute the premise of the senator's question. This government has in fact made very significant investments to improve the Australian government's capacity to support states and territories not just in relation to our response to natural disasters but also to improve the resilience of communities around Australia. Your question referred to the benefits of moving early once an ignition has been detected, and I know, from speaking to fire chiefs around the country, that these principles are embedded in many of the ways that fire chiefs are responding to some of these very difficult circumstances. We also—I acknowledge Minister Watt here—have established the Disaster Ready Fund. This fund—a $1 billion fund—has already had two rounds where we are making investments in a range of measures that can support resilience, including investments in early detection technologies.