KRISTY MCBAIN, MEMBER FOR EDEN-MONARO: Well, thank you all for being here today. It's great to have so many people here with us at the Bega Fire Control Centre. Obviously, we've experienced another substantial bushfire in the Bega Valley, which has not only impacted communities here, but it's impacted our entire region after what was a pretty devastating Black Summer bushfire. I want to thank the Prime Minister, the Premier, the Minister for Emergency Services, the local Mayor and our local State Member for being here and coming to speak firsthand to our community. I want to thank the Commissioner, Rob Rogers, and our incident controller, as well as our team at the Emergency Operations Centre. We know that this spring and summer is going to be incredibly difficult for a number of our communities. And I want to thank all of these people here for the support that they've already shown for this community and for communities right across the country experiencing similar things. I'm going to hand over to the Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: I think maybe Rob was going to say something first.
ROB ROGERS, COMMISSIONER OF NSW RURAL FIRE SERVICES: Look, if I could just on behalf of the RFS and the multi-agency approach, thanks very much to the community as well. Indications are that the community listened to the warnings that we put out as early as we possibly could. And I think the door knocking that was undertaken, a multi-agency environment later on, showed a lot of people have heeded those warnings. And I've got to say, for those people that saw the footage of this fire, saw how quickly it travelled, 15 kilometres in a few hours, saw how terrifying and deadly this fire was. And for that, if we get out of this with no person injured or worse, then I think it's been a job well done by all the agencies working together. At the moment, we can confirm three homes are confirmed as lost. But there's still a lot of work doing to get to, I guess, that final number. But it could have been so much worse. I think we said from the very beginning that our concerns for this fire season, about how dry it's been and just that this particular region has been experiencing drought conditions. So, we're one month into spring. So, we obviously are not going to be complacent from this point on. And I think for the rest of the community, the fire season is absolutely here. And we need to take this seriously. So, I just want to acknowledge the work of firefighters on the ground. The people, multi-agency, RFS, Fire Rescue, National Parks, State Forest, all worked very hard to protect properties, and also the other agencies that have come together to support the community. So, I think so far, you know, it could have been a lot worse. So, thank you. PM.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks very much, Commissioner. It's just one week since I spoke at the National Disaster Preparedness Summit, that was convened by Minister Murray Watt in Canberra, where we brought together all of the emergency services, fire services, people who are engaged in disaster relief as well into one spot - to plan and to prepare for what we knew was going to be a very difficult time. But just one week later is very soon. We're just at the beginning of October. And already, we have a serious fire here that has had an impact. And it is an opportunity for us, myself and the Premier, ministers who are here, to just say thank you to the emergency services personnel, volunteers and full-time people who do an amazing job. This must be an incredibly traumatic experience. We're standing here, we can smell, we can see the impact that these fires are having. And that would be having a triggering response for people who went through such a traumatic time during the summer of 2019-2020. But many of the people that I met during that period, who are providing the support and services, I've met again. They are back doing what they always do, helping their fellow Australians. And it seems to me that there's something consistent about the Australian character, which is that at the worst of the times, we see the best of the Australian character. We see people digging deep to, in some cases as well, put their own safety on the line. There's more than 200 people out there fighting fires as we speak right now. They are people who are not putting themselves first, but putting their communities first. And it's been an opportunity to be briefed in an extensive way about the full range of services of what's happening, but also just an opportunity to say thank you. I'll hand over to the Premier.
CHRIS MINNS, PREMIER OF NEW SOUTH WALES: Thanks so much, PM. Obviously, it's a very difficult time for this community having gone through the 2019-2020 bushfires and to be back at square one for many communities with a fast-moving fire through the National Park in a situation where communities are under threat. A couple of things I wanted to say. Firstly, it's encouraging to hear the Commissioner say that these communities listened to official emergency broadcasts and followed bushfire preparedness plans. That's extremely important. Hazard reductions are very difficult to do, particularly when you've got a wet winter season. And the first line of defence is listening to official broadcast communication from the RFS and ensuring that you've got a bushfire plan and emergency plan that you follow to the letter. Be prepared. Be prepared for a horror summer. We are one week into October and we're experiencing mid-summer conditions, multiple days above 30 degrees, high winds. Bushfires love this environment and it's devastating for regional communities in particular. But it is encouraging that the communities on the South Coast listened to official broadcasts and communication from the RFS in particular. Secondly, I want to say that if you are on holidays on the New South Wales South Coast, or you're heading to the beach for the second week of the New South Wales school holidays, and it's not your residential environment, it is not your natural environment, it's extremely important that you understand where evacuation centres are and that you listen to official broadcasts from the RFS in the community in which you're having your holiday. We want people to have fun, get into regional communities, spend money, have fun with their children, But it's important, particularly if there's a threat of a bushfire, that you understand what those risks are. Lastly, I just want to echo what the Prime Minister said. There were 800 firefighters and emergency service workers that worked through the night to battle this bushfire, to save regional communities on the South Coast. We owe them a lot. A lot of the firefighters that backed up last night and pulled a 24-hour shift were the same people that had to go through the 2019-2020 bushfires. It shows their commitment to this community and the State owes them a hell of a lot. We're all happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Commissioner, can I just ask for an update on the condition of the person who was hit on the side of the road?
ROGERS: So, they were taken to hospital with the injury. We don't believe they are life-threatening but they are in hospital. And we will have to get more confirmation from the hospital.
JOURNALIST: Just a message about how dangerous falling trees can be.
ROGERS: Absolutely. It just shows that when we block roads, they're blocked for a reason. And that's just because it's unstable. Trees, we need to assess them because trees can come down. We've seen in previous fire seasons, the danger and how deadly trees falling can be. So, please take care with that. Don't assume just because the trees are standing there, they're going to stay like that. One gust of wind from fire-affected trees, and they become deadly. So, please take care.
JOURNALIST: Premier, there's been a lot of talk of a lot of money pumped in post the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires. You said, 'We're ready'. Were you ready? And have you seen systems change?
PREMIER MINNS: Well, look, I mean, I think that the community really responded to bushfire preparedness plans and listening to official communication. That's important. Because when you've got a fire front with the wind change or weather conditions that change, the circumstances can change rapidly in the area that you're living or that you're having a holiday in. And so, that's encouraging. Obviously, the Commissioner for the Rural Fire Service has made it clear that when it comes to hazard reduction, we haven't been able to meet targets that have been set, but there's good reasons for that. And I think it's important that the community understand, and I think most people do, that hazard reductions themselves are inherently dangerous. And it's understandable that if the conditions aren't perfect, if there's high winds, you don't want to imperil communities by starting a hazard reduction that could put families and communities in danger. So, they've made the right decisions. I think we've made major progress when it comes to hazard reductions for regional communities. It's never going to be perfect. And we're all going to have to rely on each other to get through the summer.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, obviously we're about 20 kilometres from the fire front itself. Why didn't you choose to go further into that? And can you possibly reflect on what happened with Scott Morrison three years ago, it was a nearby area, he was heckled from some fire victims. How is this situation different?
PRIME MINISTER: We're going to Bermagui after this.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you didn't want to comment on what happened with Scott Morrison a few years ago?
PRIME MINISTER: I think that is history. And I think that this is a time where we're focused on what's happening right now rather than me giving a critique of Scott Morrison's time as Prime Minister. I think people will pass their judgement on that, or maybe they already have.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've spoken about the community spirit on display, people banding together. We are in the first week of October, there is a long way to run in this fire season. How concerned are you about fatigue over this summer period considering how early the danger has already hit?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that is certainly going to be a factor. I met with communities in Ulladulla in July. Because in July, it was obvious that the period coming up was going to be very difficult. We had the hottest July on record. We've had as well, those conditions where we had a wet period, which made things difficult in terms of preparedness. And that's one of the reasons why the exercise that happened last week in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra is the most extensive preparedness exercise that has ever taken place. And I pay tribute to Murray Watt and to the National Emergency Management Agency for the work that they did in that, working with all of the state authorities, doing what they can to prepare. But what I've seen in these communities, whenever I've been here, is remarkable resilience and determination. In July, I met with people of Ulladulla who had lost their homes in 2019-20 and had rebuilt in that time. Rebuilt in a way that took into account potential risks which are there. This is a community that has a great sense of spirit. It is fantastic that we're joined today by the Mayor and by state, local and federal representatives here.
JOURNALIST: Are you satisfied, Prime Minister, that there are enough resources and that they are ready for the summer ahead?
PRIME MINISTER: We will provide whatever is necessary. One of the reasons why it's important that leaders be on the ground, whether they be myself or Premier Minns, is to hear firsthand and to provide people who are providing those services on the ground, people like the Commissioner and Paul, who I met with a while ago in Braidwood. Just hearing off them. And can I just say on behalf of the Federal Government, we will make whatever resources are required available.
JOURNALIST: Just a question on that, how are you going to be able to do that? I mean, you've just spoken about how hundreds of people are here fighting fires, which is amazing. But when there's other bushfires at an emergency level in other places in New South Wales or other states, you know, where are those people going to be? They're not going to be here on the South Coast.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, one of the things that's occurring here is that just about everyone that we've just met were all locals. They were all locals who have come together to make a difference. And we don't underestimate the size of the challenge. But what we need to do is to prepare in the best way possible. And that is what we've done.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've just been given a briefing there. Could you give us the impression from that briefing of how ferocious this fire was?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, certainly it moved very quickly. It moved something like 15 kilometres just over a period of hours. Paul Jones was talking about leaving Queanbeyan to travel to the Coast and the fires got here quicker than you could drive. So, we had conditions of grass with wind and heat that made this fire move very quickly. Some of the areas that moved through were areas that burnt in 2019-20. But what I saw inside was people who are prepared, people who are certainly on top of the tasks that they have, who are determined to make a difference for this local community. And I pay tribute to each and every one of them. Thanks very much. Last one.
JOURNALIST: In the wake of Black Summer fires was, of course, the Royal Commission into preparedness for future emergencies. Are you confident that there's been enough time between that inquiry and now in this dangerous summer we're facing to see some of those improvements, things like better communication systems for firefighters?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's why we had the Disaster Preparedness Summit just last week was to work through those issues. There were theoretical tasks undertaken and scenarios developed so that one of the reasons why you do that isn't just as an academic exercise, it's so that you can identify where gaps are and fill those gaps. And certainly, I have every confidence, I've got to say, in the expertise and the commitment of these magnificent servants of Australia, whether they be in the RFS or whether they be in the SES and other emergency management. They do an extraordinary job. And I pay tribute to them and I thank them. Thanks very much.