The Western Australian Nationals Party has made a commitment to invest $136 million to deliver a boost to local government volunteer firefighting facilities and acquire an aerial firefighting fleet.
Party leader, Shane Love, and Shadow Minister for Emergency Services, Martin Aldridge, announced the commitment on 13 December to make Western Australia a national leader in aviation firefighting.
Mr Love said that $60 million would fund the purchase of a state-owned aerial firefighting fleet, including a C130 Large Air Tanker, lead plane, and four Blackhawk helicopters, providing Western Australia with a year-round response to bushfires and other natural disasters.
“Over 90 per cent of Western Australia is bushfire prone, and a drying climate means our bushfire season is getting longer, hotter and more dangerous than ever before, yet we continue to rely on leased aircraft from outside of Australia to fulfil our rapid aerial response,” Mr Love said.
Shadow Minister Aldridge said that the Nationals would also deliver a $76 million boost to local governments to fund upgrades and improvements for fire stations, SES facilities, and provide additional staffing for emergency management.
“Local government volunteers are responsible for the initial fire response to over 90 per cent of Western Australia’s landmass, and The Nationals WA will deliver a huge funding boost to help fund much-needed improvements to bushfire and SES facilities,” Mr Aldridge said.
In the most recent round of the Local Government Grants Scheme (LGGS), the State Government paid out just $3 million in facilities funding, yet a further 82 applications which met the grants criteria, totalling over $35 million, were left unfunded.
“The Nationals in Government will deliver a one-off $45.5 million commitment to clear the backlog of requests and commit additional annual funding, worth $2.8 million, to the LGGS each year to ensure it is sustainable into the future.”
The party has said that a further $20 million over four years will fund the expansion of the Community Emergency Service Manager (CESM) Program with the creation of an additional 27 positions working across 54 local government areas, funded through the Emergency Services Levy.
“Local Governments have long been calling for an expansion of this program, which will help bolster local emergency management capability across prevention, preparedness, response and recovery,” Mr Aldridge said.
Local government response
The Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) has welcomed the Nationals commitment to increase funding for the LGGS and expansion of the CESM Program.
LGGS funds buildings, facilities, appliances, vehicles and equipment for local government volunteer bushfire brigades and the State Emergency Services. Demand for LGGS capital funding has consistently exceeded the available resources, and WALGA has warned that this gap is widening.
There are currently 35 CESMs in Western Australia, who assist in local emergency management across prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. This funding commitment would see the creation of an additional 27 positions working across 54 Local Governments.
WALGA President, Karen Chappel, has commended the Nationals on their commitment and highlighted that WALGA has long called for additional funding to be allocated towards Emergency Services.
“As we see the effects of the high threat season across the state and look to our volunteers for support, WALGA welcomes the funding commitment towards Emergency Services from the Nationals that meets our advocacy asks,” Cr Chappel.
Across the state, local governments manage 563 volunteer bush fire brigades (VBFBs) with approximately 20,000 volunteers and oversee funding for both VBFBs and the SES. Local governments are responsible for the initial fire response over 91.8 per cent of Western Australia’s landmass.
“Despite their critical role in keeping our communities safe, the funding provided to VBFBs through the LGGS is not sufficient to meet their needs.”
CESMs are an important resource that are particularly valuable to smaller regional local governments with responsibility for VBFBs that lack the financial resources to sustain a dedicated Emergency Management Officer.
“An increased number of CESMs provides more local governments and their VBFBs with operational and funding advice, a bridged gap with other agencies such as the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, and increased bushfire awareness, potential mitigation and response measures amongst local government staff.
“Funding commitments such as that of the Nationals allow all levels of government to be disaster-ready and support local governments as they play a critical role in Western Australia’s emergency and disaster response capabilities.
“WALGA is calling for all parties to make a commitment in this space.”
