The Australian Government will boost the country\u2019s aerial firefighting capabilities by $11 million.
\nPrime Minister Scott Morrison said this additional funding would see more specialised firefighting aircraft take to the skies to keep Australians safe this summer.
\n\u201cIn response to the request from our national fire chiefs we\u2019re backing our firefighters and our water bombing fleet with an extra $11 million boost. That\u2019s on top of the $15 million we already deliver each year for aerial firefighting to tackle what has already been a devastating fire season,\u201d the Prime Minister said.
\n\u201cEach bushfire season we take the advice of the states and experts about what we can do to keep Australians safe. As we continue into this hot and dry bushfire season we want to ensure our fireys get the aerial support they need and have asked for.
\n\u201cWe saw how useful our extra support was last season which is why we\u2019re boosting it again this year.
\n\u201cAs we\u2019ve said all along, my government stands ready to deliver whatever further assistance is asked of us by the states as they battle these devastating fires.\u201d
\nMinister for Natural Disaster and Emergency Management David Littleproud said the additional funding announced today would enable annual lease periods of firefighting aircraft to be extended and ensures the right mix and type of aircraft are available to protect communities this summer.
\n\u201cWe recognise the vital role that aerial firefighting plays in protecting communities, essential infrastructure, and environmental values, as well as supporting firefighters on the ground,\u201d Minister Littleproud said.
\n\u201cOnce again, we owe a debt of gratitude to our career and volunteer emergency services who are out there protecting our communities in the face of very difficult conditions.\u201d
\n\u201cIt is clear we are facing longer and more intense seasons, and as this summer has only just begun we have already seen devastating fires tear through communities right across the country.
\n\u201cSadly, bushfires are part of the Australian landscape and while we cannot always prevent them, we can prepare for them and ensure that we are responding in the most effective way.\u201d
\nThe National Aerial Firefighting Centre has more than 140 aircraft at its disposal to be directed to wherever they are needed. These aircraft, contracted on behalf of state and territory governments, are supplemented by additional state owned, and state contracted aircraft and other aircraft hired to meet peak demand across Australia. In total more than 500 aircraft, provided by over 150 operators, are available for firefighting across Australia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Australian Government will boost the country\u2019s aerial firefighting capabilities by $11 million. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this additional funding would see more specialised firefighting aircraft take to the skies to keep Australians safe this summer. \u201cIn response to the request from our national fire chiefs we\u2019re backing our firefighters and our water bombing … Continue reading “Boost for Australia\u2019s Aerial Firefighting Capability”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4597\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}