Bushfires: NSW Minister David Elliott apologises for his ‘inexcusable’ holiday
NSW minister David Elliott has apologised for his ‘inexcusable’ holiday taken amid the worst bushfire season on record.
NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott has apologised for his “inexcusable” holiday taken amid the worst bushfire season on record, revealing that even his own family thought he made the wrong decision.
Mr Elliot, who last week left Australia for a holiday in the UK and France, confessed he considered cancelling the trip but decided to go ahead saying that NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons would keep him briefed on the deteriorating situation.
He returned to Australia on Wednesday, cutting his trip short as fires ravaged NSW’s south coast over the New Year period.
In a Facebook post written on Friday, Mr Elliott revealed that he had visited the RFS headquarters for a briefing and apologised for his absence.
“My absence over the last week was inexcusable.
“I should have put my RFS family first and foremost given the current conditions (even my own family acknowledge that) and now it’s time to get back to work.
“The areas of most concern tomorrow are the South Coast, Wollondilly and Snowy Mountains and we will have 3000 fire fighters in the Area of Operations with a further 600 on standby to be deployed at short notice.
“On top of that we have 104 aircraft providing air support to the more than 700 appliances.
“The good news is that after tomorrow’s extreme weather we should have a week of milder conditions which should provide relief to the fire fighters and an opportunity to start the process of containment,” it read.
Mr Elliott sustained significant criticism for choosing to go overseas during the fire season, right after Prime Minister Scott Morrison cut his Hawaii holiday short for similar reasons.
He has also been criticised for his comments on paying RFS volunteers saying “anyone who is arguing we have to pay them doesn’t understand the ethos of the volunteer in this country” shortly before Mr Morrison consented to a plan to pay volunteer firefighters in NSW and Victoria.
In the week Mr Elliott was overseas entire communities were wiped out and 11 people died in bushfires in NSW.
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