❓ A WA parliamentary question regarding the deployment of a second large air tanker (LAT) in WA, the federal government's response, and the basis for comments made by the Minister for Emergency Services about fire risk in the Wheatbelt region.
AnsweredQoN 1285Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
EMERGENCY SERVICES — LARGE AIR TANKER
1285. Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the Minister for Emergency Services:
I
refer to the minister's comments in The Sunday Times of 13
November 2022 in an article titled ''Sky-high fire alert ''
regarding a request to the commonwealth to base a second large air tanker—LAT—out
of WA this fire season.
(1) Has the
federal government responded to the minister's request; and if so, what
is the outcome and what are the associated costs with this additional LAT?
(2) Will the minister please table
the request to the commonwealth?
(3) On what basis
did the minister make the comments stating —
In places like
Narrogin and Corrigin and out in the Wheatbelt, you don't get many
fires.
(4) Will the minister please table the
Bureau of Meteorology advice referred to in the article?
1285. Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the Minister for Emergency Services:
I
refer to the minister's comments in The Sunday Times of 13
November 2022 in an article titled ''Sky-high fire alert ''
regarding a request to the commonwealth to base a second large air tanker—LAT—out
of WA this fire season.
(1) Has the
federal government responded to the minister's request; and if so, what
is the outcome and what are the associated costs with this additional LAT?
(2) Will the minister please table
the request to the commonwealth?
(3) On what basis
did the minister make the comments stating —
In places like
Narrogin and Corrigin and out in the Wheatbelt, you don't get many
fires.
(4) Will the minister please table the
Bureau of Meteorology advice referred to in the article?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question and answer on behalf of the Minister for Emergency Services.
(1) The national
large air tanker is provided through the National Aerial Firefighting Centre.
Its location is currently being considered by AFAC—the National Council
for Fire and Emergency Services—for the upcoming high-threat period.
(2) The request was made verbally.
(3) The minister's comments were referring to
the wheatbelt regions of Narrogin and Corrigin not experiencing multiple
level 3 incidents occurring concurrently, as they did from 4 to 7 February
2022.
(4) The Department of Fire and Emergency Services is
provided with daily advice by the Bureau of Meteorology in order to make
decisions around operational preparedness. This included a combination of both
long and short-range forecasting.
some notice of the question and answer on behalf of the Minister for Emergency Services.
(1) The national
large air tanker is provided through the National Aerial Firefighting Centre.
Its location is currently being considered by AFAC—the National Council
for Fire and Emergency Services—for the upcoming high-threat period.
(2) The request was made verbally.
(3) The minister's comments were referring to
the wheatbelt regions of Narrogin and Corrigin not experiencing multiple
level 3 incidents occurring concurrently, as they did from 4 to 7 February
2022.
(4) The Department of Fire and Emergency Services is
provided with daily advice by the Bureau of Meteorology in order to make
decisions around operational preparedness. This included a combination of both
long and short-range forecasting.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.