3 years ago
WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW FROM THE BUSHFIRE ROYAL COMMISSION
SENATOR MURRAY WATT
Labor welcomes the start of hearings for the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements on Monday.
The Royal Commission was established following the 2019-20 bushfire season, which saw 33 people lose their lives, thousands of homes destroyed and more than 12 million hectares of land burnt.
It is crucial that the Royal Commission gets to the bottom of how these events occurred and is used to inform the Federal Government’s planning and response to future natural disasters.
It is appropriate that hearings commence with scientific evidence from the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology, in relation to climate trends and their impact on natural disasters, such as the recent bushfires.
Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, the Government has rightly acted on scientific advice. Equally, the Government must now listen to the science, when it comes to climate change, and the increased risk of natural disasters it causes.
It is also important for the Royal Commission to get to the bottom of what actions could have been taken before the 2019-20 bushfire season. This will include what advice the Federal Government received, and what action was taken in response, in the months leading up to the crisis.
These bushfires were unprecedented, but they were not unexpected.
We know that the Prime Minister and key Ministers were briefed on “multiple occasions” about the unusually high risk of these fires, in the months beforehand, and were repeatedly asked to fund additional water bombing aircraft.
We owe it to the victims of these fires to understand why that advice was not acted on, so we don’t see the same mistakes repeated in the future.
We will also expect the Royal Commission to address the Federal Government’s track record on insurance, mitigation funding and climate change.
The Royal Commission is an opportunity to examine what led to the policy failures of this bushfires season, as well as providing recommendations to the Federal Government on what they can do to ensure it is never so unprepared for a natural disaster again.
With the Royal Commission providing a high level examination of our preparedness for bushfires, the Senate Inquiry into the 2019-20 bushfire season is also commencing hearings this Wednesday.
This Senate Inquiry will provide an opportunity for a more grassroots review of events leading up to the bushfires, as well as progress with recovery.
The Royal Commission was established following the 2019-20 bushfire season, which saw 33 people lose their lives, thousands of homes destroyed and more than 12 million hectares of land burnt.
It is crucial that the Royal Commission gets to the bottom of how these events occurred and is used to inform the Federal Government’s planning and response to future natural disasters.
It is appropriate that hearings commence with scientific evidence from the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology, in relation to climate trends and their impact on natural disasters, such as the recent bushfires.
Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, the Government has rightly acted on scientific advice. Equally, the Government must now listen to the science, when it comes to climate change, and the increased risk of natural disasters it causes.
It is also important for the Royal Commission to get to the bottom of what actions could have been taken before the 2019-20 bushfire season. This will include what advice the Federal Government received, and what action was taken in response, in the months leading up to the crisis.
These bushfires were unprecedented, but they were not unexpected.
We know that the Prime Minister and key Ministers were briefed on “multiple occasions” about the unusually high risk of these fires, in the months beforehand, and were repeatedly asked to fund additional water bombing aircraft.
We owe it to the victims of these fires to understand why that advice was not acted on, so we don’t see the same mistakes repeated in the future.
We will also expect the Royal Commission to address the Federal Government’s track record on insurance, mitigation funding and climate change.
The Royal Commission is an opportunity to examine what led to the policy failures of this bushfires season, as well as providing recommendations to the Federal Government on what they can do to ensure it is never so unprepared for a natural disaster again.
With the Royal Commission providing a high level examination of our preparedness for bushfires, the Senate Inquiry into the 2019-20 bushfire season is also commencing hearings this Wednesday.
This Senate Inquiry will provide an opportunity for a more grassroots review of events leading up to the bushfires, as well as progress with recovery.