PM&C did not brief Scott Morrison in Hawaii on bushfires

PM&C secretary Phil Gaetjens says his department did not directly brief the PM while he was on holiday in Hawaii during the Black Summer bushfire crisis.

The Black Summer fires have created an ‘ecological disaster’, with 1800 species now at risk of extinction. Picture: Brad Fleet

Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Phil Gaetjens says his department did not directly brief Scott Morrison while he was on holiday in Hawaii during the Black Summer bushfire crisis and he was never consulted about the Prime Minister taking leave.

Mr Gaetjens told the Senate committee scrutinising the government’s bushfire response on Wednesday that he was also on holiday at the time and while PM&C did not provide Mr Morrison with any written or verbal briefings on the fires, he felt very confident the Prime Minister was “well informed” of the crisis as it unfolded.

Mr Morrison cut his Hawaii trip short in December after facing a week of criticism for going overseas while fires raged across the nation.

Mr Gaetjens was quick to defend the Prime Minister, saying it was incorrect to suggest he had been missing in action during the emergency, and he believed Mr Morrison was briefed by his own office rather than PM&C.

“I don’t think it’s a correct interpretation to say the Prime Minister wasn’t here during the crisis,” Mr Gaetjens said.

On announcing his early return on December 20, Mr Morrison said he had been receiving regular updates while he was away and deeply regretted the ­offence he had caused for taking leave about the time two volunteer firefighters were killed when a falling tree caused their firetruck to roll off a road.

Mr Gaetjens told the committee the emergency bushfire warnings that were later sounded across four states did not happen until December 31 when Mr Morrison was back on home soil.

PM&C was advised of Mr Morrison’s leave on December 9.

Former NSW fire chief and ­climate change advocate Greg Mullins told the inquiry he believed serving fire bosses were being “gagged” from voicing their views on climate change for political reasons.

Mr Mullins gave evidence that when he was in the role “some things were out of bounds and often climate change was one of those issues, even to the point of having to work around it when preparing documents, and I think that is a tragedy”.

A separate hearing for the Royal Commission into National Disaster Response was told the bushfire season had been declared an “ecological disaster” in January, with hundreds of animal and plant species now at increased risk of extinction.

Australia’s Threatened Species Commissioner Sally Box said the impact had been severe.