By Mike Foley
A royal commission into the summer's horror bushfire season will investigate the role of climate change, with the inquiry set to address the consequences of "longer, hotter, drier seasons and severe weather events".
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the inquiry will "acknowledge climate change" and focus on "practical action" to prevent, mitigate and respond to bushfires and other natural disasters.
The commission will be conducted at breakneck speed with a reporting date of August 31.
Its terms of reference cover a range of complex questions including tackling rising bushfire risks created by global warming; what are the best land management techniques to adapt to the new reality; are new planning laws required; and how can the federal and state governments work together to improve emergency response and recovery for local communities.
NSW, South Australian and Victorian governments are holding their own reviews of this summer's bushfires.
A spokeswoman for the NSW government said its "position is to co-operate with the royal commission", but a Victorian government spokeswoman said it would carefully review the terms of reference before signing up.
Victorian Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said on Thursday she was concerned the federal inquiry focused too much on the states, and not enough on the Commonwealth.
"I think there are some really critical things that they could be focusing on in relation to Commonwealth responsibilities and they haven't done that," Ms Neville said.
Mr Morrison said the federal government was currently forced to seek state approval before it intervened and called in the Defence Force and "we need to consider the need to establish new powers for the federal government to declare a national state of emergency".
The inquiry will also look at coordination between "all levels of government" for hazard reduction burning as well as the potential role for indigenous fire management, wildlife conservation, land use planning and residential zoning.
Former chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshall Mark Binskin, has been appointed to lead the royal commission. He will be assisted by former Federal Court judge Dr Annabelle Bennett and Australian National University legal and climate risk expert Professor Andrew Macintosh.
The devastating bushfires will be examined by a royal commission.Credit: Nick Moir
Mr Morrison denied the royal commission was prompted by criticism the federal government had been to slow to act in response to this summer's fires, or that he wanted to gain control of the states' bushfire prevention powers.
"This isn't about changing who does what, this is about how we work together even more effectively, we build on the disaster recovery arrangements put in place by previous governments," Mr Morrison said.
It remains unclear if the royal commission will complement or double up on federal parliamentary bushfire inquiries which are already under way.
Late last year Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud instructed the House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy to investigate the effect of land clearing and hazard reduction burns on bushfires.
The inquiry's terms of reference are similar to those of the 2018 Standing Committee on Agriculture, which was asked to investigate the impact of land-clearing laws on rural communities.
The Agriculture Committee issued a discussion paper noting its powers were limited to Commonwealth jurisdictions, which clashed with the inquiry's terms of reference that "almost exclusively" relate to state government matters.
Two weeks ago the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee launched an inquiry inquiry into lessons to be learned from the preparation, response, and recovery to this bushfire season.
National Secretary of the United Firefighters Union of Australia Peter Marshall said "many" of the recommendations from previous inquiries had not been implemented and the "last thing" bushfire ravaged communities need a federal royal commission.
With Benjamin Preiss