Scott Morrison flags new emergency powers to tackle disasters
Scott Morrison has flagged the creation of emergency powers to allow the federal government to respond more proactively when disasters strike.
Scott Morrison has flagged the creation of new commonwealth emergency powers to allow the federal government to respond more proactively when disasters strike.
The Prime Minister said a “resilient legal framework” was needed to allow the more rapid deployment of Defence Force personnel and hardware in response to “new normal” natural disasters such as bushfires and floods.
Such legislation would require state co-operation, including the referral of state powers under the Constitution, Mr Morrison said.
He said the nation’s ongoing bushfire crisis had shown that Australians wanted the federal government to get involved earlier in dealing with natural disasters, but there was currently limited capacity to do so.
“What this would mean is there would be, after all assessments are undertaken, a proactive role for the Defence Force of this nation to be engaging in response and recovery in relation to disasters of this nature,” Mr Morrison said.
While the states had emergency powers that could be activated during disasters, “there is no such statutory state of emergency which is declared at a federal level”, he said.
Mr Morrison said his instruction to Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell to deploy ADF personnel during the bushfires regardless of state requests had “taken us into some extreme constitutional territory”. “And so, consideration of what a federal ‘state of disaster’ declaration by law would mean is a very serious matter that the commonwealth will now consider in concert with the states and territories,” he said.
If the government went down that path, it would require a rethink of ADF training, positioning and resources, Mr Morrison said.
It’s understood that if the federal government proceeds with such legislation, it would aim to do so ahead of the next fire season, taking into account the initial recommendations of a national bushfires royal commission.
Constitutional lawyer Anne Twomey said the national approach to dealing with terrorism, which involved the referral of state powers to the commonwealth, offered a model for greater federal involvement in responding to natural disasters.
“What we need to be doing, I think, is doing the same thing in relation to national disasters and emergencies, because clearly they are going to be becoming more widespread because of climate change,” Professor Twomey said.
She said the states would not have to give up any powers, but their agreement would allow the commonwealth to legislate on specific matters to streamline federal support.
“The main thing, though, is to make sure that in these circumstances you have a system where you get proper co-operation between the commonwealth and the states,” Professor Twomey said.
About 2700 reservists have been deployed following the call-out on January 4, joining full-time ADF colleagues in supporting fire-affected communities.
ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre professor John Blaxland said there was a long tradition of ADF support following natural disasters at home, including after Cyclone Tracy in 1974.
“The military gets involved in these things when they need to be,” he said. “But what has happened is the scale of the challenges have been of such a magnitude that a simple approach between one state and the federal government — which has been the norm — seems completely inadequate.”
He said the challenges the nation faced at home and in its immediate region strengthened the case for national and community service.
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