For decades, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA have shared firefighting equipment and personnel when fire seasons overwhelm local capacity.
During Black Summer (2019/20), hundreds of overseas firefighters came to help, and 11 of the 12 large air tankers used were sourced from overseas. The arrangement has worked because northern and southern hemisphere fire seasons had historically occurred at different times of the year.
As was noted by the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action in their recent report Prepare or Pay, things are now changing. Between 1958 and 2000, dangerous fire weather in eastern Australia and western North America overlapped only once. Since 2000, it has happened at least seven times, and the length of that overlap has been growing by one day each year since 1979.
Since Black Summer, governments have invested in Australia’s own aerial firefighting fleet. However, national capability for large air tankers still relies almost entirely on contracted arrangements with private aircraft companies based in the northern hemisphere.
As fire seasons lengthen and overlap across both hemispheres, that contracting model will come under increasing pressure.
A key option for boosting Australians’ bushfire preparedness will be to develop an Australian fleet of large firefighting aircraft suited to our landscapes and conditions.
As fire seasons get longer and more intense and competition to lease large aircraft increases, now is the time to establish a publicly opened fleet.
Please sign our open letter to the federal Emergency Services minister, Kristy McBain, urging the federal government to get on with purchasing a publicly owned fleets of LATs.
Dear Minister
I appreciate that your government provides support for the national fire fighting fleet.
I worry that the current reliance on leased in larger aircraft puts Australia at risk.
Australia relies on firefighting aircraft from the USA and Canada, whose fire seasons increasingly overlap with ours. We generally rely on having at least 6 Large Air Tankers (LATs) in an average season and the majority of these are leased in.
The NSW Rural Fire Service owns one LAT and we have another that is leased and available year round.
However, our national capability for large air tankers still relies almost entirely entirely on contracted arrangements with private aircraft companies based in the northern hemisphere.
As fire seasons lengthen and overlap across both hemispheres, that contracting model will come under increasing pressure.
The Royal Commission into the natural disasters of 2019/20 recommended that Australia set up a ‘modest’ sovereign fleet of large aircraft.
I support the call from the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action who say that a key option for boosting Australians’ bushfire preparedness will be to develop an Australian fleet of large firefighting aircraft suited to our landscapes and conditions.
I urge you to do everything in your power to ensure that the Australian government commits to a program that would see a fleet of publicly owned LATs established as soon as possible, with a commitment to buy one aircraft per year until a minimum fleet of 6 LATs is created.
As a politician who represents a fire prone regional seat, I am sure you understand the need for Australia to be prepared for future fire seasons. A national fleet of LATs will be a great asset as seasons continue to get longer and more intense.
Yours sincerely,