NSW bushfires: RFS chief clashes with government over fire funding
NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has accused the federal government of sitting on a business case for a boosted national aerial firefighting fleet for 18 months.
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NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has accused the federal government of sitting on a business case for a boosted national aerial firefighting fleet for 18 months.
With parts of the state burning in the worst bushfire season in living memory, the RFS chief had refused to turn the situation into a political debate, until yesterday.
Mr Fitzsimmons said a business case had been sitting dormant in the top drawer of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government for ongoing funding and had not been acted on.
However, Mr Morrison yesterday told a press conference that “$11 million” was going into “this year’s budget” and would be on an “ongoing basis”. Yesterday Mr Morrison pledged $20 million to lease four extra planes and said it could be built into the budget.
“They asked for one, we gave them four,” Mr Morrison said of the financial pledge.
“That will include two long range fixed wings DC-10s with 30,000 litres capacity and two medium range large air tankers with an 11,000 litre capacity.”
This came after Mr Fitzsimmons pressured the government to make an ongoing financial commitment so the RFS could make long-term plans on how to protect the state.
“We need to ensure that we have a locked-in budget so we can secure more long-term arrangements around funding and leasing,” he said.
He said the business case with the Commonwealth proposed an increase in funding which would be matched by the states and territories.
But the RFS boss said funding had been given sporadically. “What we have seen is the equivalent of annual injections of funding over the past two seasons,” he said.
The federal government gave Australia’s aerial firefighting centre a one-off $11 million injection in December.
Mr Morrison was asked about Mr Fitzsimmons’ claims yesterday and said his government had already committed to the funding.
“In response to that business case, the government responded with two separate decisions of $11 million which brought it up to the same level of capacity as was sought by that business case,” he said.
“There was a first decision which I announced a year ago … and more recently before this Christmas, there was a second supplementary investment of $11 million which supported the same business case proposition. That ongoing support will be there at that level in the budget and going forward.
“We’ve added an additional set of four very large assets … So we have provided those resources, we will continue to provide those resources.”
Mr Morrison has been heavily criticised for not providing enough funding for bushfire-fighting measures.
Originally published as NSW bushfires: RFS chief clashes with government over fire funding
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