Bushfire preparedness
David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:13): (425) My question is to the Minister for Emergency Services. Minister, Tuesday last week was the first catastrophic fire danger day declared since the 2019–20 Black Summer fires, and people in affected communities were advised to leave their homes on Monday night. I ask: what additional firefighting aircraft were repositioned into the Wimmera region to deal with this catastrophic fire day?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:13): I thank Mr Davis for his question. I have a preprepared answer in relation to aerial firefighting because it comes up a lot in here, so I wanted to make sure that I had accurate information. We were very well protected and prepared with our firefighting aircraft on Tuesday. Obviously, they are a support to the on-the-ground efforts when we are dealing with fire incidents. Sixty-two fire-bombing and other aviation assets were made available ahead of the catastrophic fire day on Tuesday. They were repositioned across the state based on risk. In response to the fires in the Grampians 27 aircraft were dispatched over 13 and 14 February, including 17 water-bombing and fire-retardant aircraft. Again – I think I say this regularly – I do not deploy the assets; the experts deploy the assets. They are strategic decisions made by emergency response experts, and that is exactly how it should be. As I have indicated before, the aerial fleet is a great asset, but it is there to support the on-the-ground efforts, because there are instances where it is dangerous to fly and therefore there was a lot of aerial deployment both during the fires and after. In Pomonal – I was there on Thursday and could see the aerial response in terms of suppression of that fire with dropping retardant. There was a lot of the pink stuff floating around to ensure that that community was protected from any sparks that could happen after the main fire had been suppressed. Mr Davis, hopefully that answers your question in relation to the deployment of our aerial fleet.
David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:15): I thank the minister for her response, but actually it did not quite answer the question. I have a further point. Minister, given the extreme risk and the inaccessible terrain of much of the Wimmera region, why did Victoria only rely on smaller and mid-size aircraft instead of requesting large air tankers from interstate?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:16): Mr Davis, again, we keep drawing into this conversation where you expect me as Minister for Emergency Services to be the person who makes operational decisions about which aircraft are where. As I said, 62 fire-bombing and other aviation assets were made available on the day.
Members interjecting.
Jaclyn SYMES: I saw them myself. They were flying in the air, I can assure you. They were dropping wet stuff on the hot stuff, and it certainly helped with the suppression and the protection of those communities.
David Davis: On a point of order, President, it is a very, very specific question about why Victoria relied on smaller and mid-sized aircraft instead of requesting large air tankers from interstate. The minister has actually not responded to that at all.
The PRESIDENT: Mr Davis, the minister has been relevant to the question that she has been asked.
David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:17): Not to the air tanker. I move:
That the minister’s answer be taken into consideration on the next day of meeting.
Motion agreed to.