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Australia fires live: NSW and Victoria bushfire communities assess damage as PM visits Kangaroo Island – latest updates
Australia fires live: NSW and Victoria bushfires communities assess damage as PM visits Kangaroo Island – latest updates
(32 minutes later)
Scott Morrison to tour island where there are grave fears for unique wildlife. NSW and Victorian communities clean up during a brief period of cooler weather. Follow the latest news and live updates
Scott Morrison to tour island where there are grave fears for unique wildlife. NSW and Victorian communities clean up during a brief period of cooler weather. Follow the latest news and live updates
Scott Morrison has promised a Kangaroo Island garlic farmer that he will place an order by the end of the day as community members share stories of the bushfires that have torn through the island community, destroying homes and livelihoods.
Authorities are working on getting the drinking water supply on Kangaroo Island restored - a water filtration and purification unit from Brisbane has been flown to the island, to help with that.
Shane Leahy, a garlic farmer and CFS volunteer who has lost his home, told Morrison he was not looking for a “hand out”, but told him the island community needed help to get back on their feet.Fires are still burning on the island, and authorities are on high alert as conditions are expected to worsen over the next few days.
Major General Jake Ellwood has an ADF update:
Leahy said he had been working 20 days straight volunteering for the CFS and was now sleeping on a friend’s floor.
Donald Trump has responded to the missiles launched at a Iraq base housing US troops on social media. Iran has claimed responsibility.
“I was out on the western end of the island fighting the fires on Friday night, and I couldn’t get back...there was no saving my house. My whole property is gone. I have got one shed left,” Leahy said.
Labor is also calling for a national natural asset audit, to try and get an idea of just what we have lost in these fires, in terms of the environment and wildlife. From Terri Butler and Anthony Albanese:
He is hoping garlic stored in the shed may still be saleable.
Anthony Albanese was also asked about any potential Australian involvement in Iraq or Iran – he says we should have nothing to do with it:
“At the end of the day I have got to live, I have got no home,” Leahy said.
The prime minister goes on to talk about those who are looking to cancel their holidays and want refunds:
Morrison visited the sheep station of the Kelly family who lost a shearing shed his grandfather had built after WWII, while his home suffered ember showers.
Scott Morrison has asked for people to be mindful of the impact on tourism operators:
Their home survived.Tourism operators asked Morrison to support a new tourism campaign, a call also being made by Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie
Scott Morrison echoes the calls we have been hearing from NSW and Victoria about donations - goods are not needed, but cash is.
“We need to start planning now - the best way for the regions to recover including KI and the Adelaide Hill is to get people visiting and spending money again,” Sharkie said.
Back to the fires, the prime minister says the two most impacted industries have been tourism and agriculture – and Kangaroo Island is an example where an area has been hit badly in both.
“It will still be the best holiday of your life.”
Scott Morrison:
Local tourism operator Chris Schumann told the PM he had been inundated with cancellations - including in the far-off months of April and May.
Scott Morrison says he has been in contact with Angus Campbell, the ADF chief – and has confirmed all diplomatic and defence staff from Australia, currently in Baghdad, are safe.
“There’s no reason for people to cancel then,” he said.
The National Security Committee will meet tomorrow morning to discuss the Iraq situation.
“What I’m saying is, don’t abandon us - we need your business.
The prime minister has begun his press conference.
“And ScoMo just said to me .. somewhere I’m going to do a press conference and say hey, if you’re asking for a refund from a small business doing accomodation or a tour operator for $500, give ‘Em a break and suck it up.”
He’ll speak about Kangaroo Island, the fire response generally, and also Iraq.
Morrison is now touring a defence staging station near Kingscote, which is housing the 9th brigade of reservists from Adelaide.
He will give a press conference shortly.
Victorian authorities are pleading with climate protesters to delay their protest action beyond Friday, given the heat spike which is expected - and with it, the dangerous fire conditions.
From AAP:
Victoria’s environment minister has endorsed a police call for climate activists to abandon a planned protest on the state’s next high fire danger day.
The demonstration has been set down for Friday night in Melbourne’s CBD in response to the bushfires which have blackened more than 1.2 million hectares of Victoria.
Authorities on Wednesday urged Uni Students for Climate Justice organisers to call off the action, change the date or at least confine it to one spot.
They say the protesters so far are not budging.
Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio says people can protest but Friday is not the day given there is a heat spike expected and emergency services personnel are needed to help fight fires.
“People are entitled to protest, absolutely, but the timing is wrong,” she told reporters while at the airport to greet North American firefighters coming to help.
“People are recovering, trying to recover, at the same time they’re preparing for another spike event.”
The last thing emergency services need is people “deviated or distracted” by the well-meaning t but poorly timed protest, she added.
While police are duty-bound to provide a well-sourced contingency for a public protest, Acting Assistant Commissioner Tim Hansen also said Friday is not a good time.
“This is a distraction for us. We see frontline staff returning from the fire ground ... fatigued that do need a break and this is now another operation we need to resource,” he told reporters.
“We are frustrated by this protest timing and we are also frustrated by the lack of flexibility by the protest organisers to work with us in trying to find a more suitable time.
“These are unprecedented times for emergency services.”
Back in the Iraq action at the moment, there are no reports of US casualties, as yet.
However there are reports of Iraqi casualties.
Our Pacific neighbours continue to assist – Vanuatu has donated $250,000 to the NSW RFS.
Our colleague Josh Taylor has looked at the causes of bushfires in the last financial year, according to the NSW RFS.
You may notice that the number put down to arson is 1.3%.
That information came from here,
Arson happens, but it is not the overwhelming cause of these bushfires. Of the 180 or so legal actions NSW police have taken this fire season, just 24 are arson charges. The rest are for things like ignoring the total fire ban, using fireworks, angle grinders, improperly disposing of lit cigarettes – that sort of thing.
And we say legal action, instead of arrests, because not all have been arrested.
We have had quite a few questions about fundraisers today.
This is a very good guide.
We are expecting to hear from the prime minister very soon.
Anthony Albanese is speaking in Adelaide, repeating that the bushfires are “not business as usual”.
“This is a national emergency,” he said.
He said the first priorities are saving lives, and protecting communities – but then the broader impacts have to be looked at: “This will have a very significant impact into the future,” he said.
“We also need to have proper assessments into whether this is the new normal. I hope that is not the case.”
The group pushing for a royal commission have been asked for more specifics about why they think it is necessary:
Q: You say you need more resources. What specifically do you need?
A: Leighton Drury notes the different kinds of technology across different organisations which don’t work together efficiently:
Stewart Little:
John Oliver says there isn’t even a national radio protocol. Scale up in a different way, communicate in a different way:
