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PRIME MINISTER
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE lION P J
KEATING MP
PRESS CONFERENCE AND DOORSTOP INT'ERVIlEW AT THE
BUSHIRE OPERATIONS CENTRE, ROSEHILL, SYDNEY
8 JANUARY, 1994
PM: I think it is worth recording the fact that the fires have been fought
notwithstanding thc loss of life we've had, and property, quite successfully over
the last week, and particularly in the last 24 hours. Yesterday there was a
reasonable expectation of many hundreds, maybe thousands of homes being lost,
that not having happened, and now the weather conditions being the all important
variable, and this day in particular being significant as some meteorological advice
gives us the hope, as the premier said, that wc could have a shift in conditions by
about six this evening. Now if that's the case, with damper air, thc containment
task should be something which this force now deployed is capable of. Could 1
just say from the Commonwealth's view we have as many Defence Force assets
deployed here as needs be. We have got more standing in rcscrve. We've got
anothcr five hundred people ready to be deployed if needs be, and that also goes
for equipment. I think we havc got now about 25 helicopters committed. Wc arc
reaching a point where Commissioner Koperbcrg's view is that if more aircraft are
dcploycd there is a risk to the aircraft and to firefighters, and that we are fighting
these fires conventionally, and conventionally has provcn to be the best way to
fight them, augmented by aviation scrvlccs as. needs be.
So I have indicated to the Premier this morning that for the firefighting task, which
is outside the National Disaster Relicf Arrangcments, the NDRA arrangements,
that is the actual task and cost of fighting such fires on such a large scale, the
Commonwealth will mcct NSW dollar for dollar on thosc arrangements.
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Also wc are this morning, the Commonwealth, the acting Minister for Social
Security, John Faulkner, will be declaring undcr the Social Security Act the
provision of emergency payments to families which are affected by the fires, with a
one-off payment which was set sometime ago and we arc reviewing thc quantum
of that paymcnt... at the moment it is $ 600. We will probably increase that, but It
will have to be increased by a change retrospectively to an act of parliament. So
that will be there to support those people who have been affected in the Immediate
sense. Of course, the National Disaster Relief Arrangemcnts are there for the
longer run re-instatement of infrastructure and other assets.
So cAould I perhaps round up my remarks by congratulating the firefighting effort
and task in NSW starting with the Government, the Premier, Minister Griffithl,
Commissioner Kopcrberg his deputy, the fire Chiefs, and the normal services who
have behaved in a way which is of course way above normal. And that was the fire
brigade, the ambulance, the police and the defence force, but most particularly all
those volunteers who have come and given their Christmas break to their fellow
Australians to make this burden easier on them. To those, and to the thousands of
people who were just simply helping, I think we all owe a great debt of gratitude.
J: Are you going to inspect the damage?
FM: Wc are & oins to look at the fifes which are the ones probably the most
threatcning at the moment. I have made clear though that neither I nor the Premier,
nor any of the other Ministers here or officials involved would want to be taking
aircraft which arc needed in the effort. But we have now aircraft which are surplus
to the effort, and thcrcforc I think it is probably worth our while to have a look.
J: With the cnd of the Cold War, do you think the defence forces should he more
aimed towards civil emerencics?
PM: The nature of the equipment of any conventional armed force will always
havc some civil applications in circumstances such as thcsc, and it is the
adaptability but more than that the willingness of the defence force to actually
apply them effectively which matters. And I think that's what matters rather than
the equipment selection or the rest, and that is that there will always be people
there. And in this case, certainly from the Government's point of view, and that of
my colleague the acting Defence Minister John Faulkner, we take the view that
wherever the defence force effectively help, then It ought to. And I know that Is
certainly the view of the chief of the Australian Defence Force, chief of general
staff, and the general willingness of the dcfcnce force personnel to actually be
involved, and to do it well and to do it quickly.
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J: Mr Keating, you're a Sydney resident, art you shocked by the way the fies have
ripped through NSW?
PM: I am, and we all arc, but these arc unusual weather conditions. And I mean
Sydney has assets which very few cities in the world have, and they arc very large
areas of reserve around it, which the people of this city enjoy variously from time
to time, but it always carried with it somne risks, and I think it Is a matter of
managing those risks. It is thc Paitre of NSW, and the fact that there arc many
national parks which does make the place such a beautiful place. But large forest
areas will always attract some of these risks. It is a case of managing them. But out
in the very large areas, as the Premier said, it is a moot question about whether you
can ever effectively manage such a risk, with clearing et cetera. But in the Inner
city areas, or areas near to the city proper, it is imponant I think that we do manage
these areas well, particularly in the future, But preserving what we've had luckily,
which other governments In the past have given us, that Is, thc foresight to declarc
reserves around the city which has rmade Sydney one of the nicest cities in the
world. TRANSCRIPT OF DOORSTOP W ITH POOL TV CREW, OPERATIONS
ROOM J: What's thc extent of the fires now?
PM: Weill the first element of the briefing was that the containment of fire
overnight, and the minimisation of loss of life and housing was probably the best
news of the day, because as John ( Fahey) said earlier, we expected yesterday that
mnore homes would be lost in the evening. Now it depends very much I think on
the prevailing weather conditions today. If there is a successful containment over
the course of the day there is somne prospect on mecteorological information of the
wind shifting by about lunchtime tomorrow.
J: How have you been able to help the fire fighters?
PM. Well, we've got maximum deployment I think. We talked about aircraft, and
we now think if we put any more aircraft in the air there is a dangcr to aircraft and
to firefighters. So there is a maximum levcl or commitment of resources one can
make, and I thinik in the case of the services we have more aircraft on standby and
more pcrsonriet, but I think the message John and I rececived today was what we
have deployed at the moment is the optimum that needs to bc deployed for the
problcrms at hand. .1fal d 1 1 V INL1 V I.
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J: What do you think the costs will be to the governments?
PM: Well let me just say this before I give you that answer, I think the spirit here
has been remarkablc. That is, the co-operative spirit that has seen thc work not just
of thc professional fire services, the police, ambulance, and thc defence forces, but
the volunteers, and of course the thousands of ordinary people who
have thrown their lot in with this. I think we are seeing Australia at its best in this
environment. On costs, I've indicated to John this morning that wc, the
Commonwealth, with NSW will pick up half the cost or the fire ighting effort.
On the larger issues or replacing and putting back some of the lost infrastructure
facilities and homes we have a set of forrmulae in place for that, but we are also
having a talk about that as well.,
DOORSTOP AFTER PM's AERIAL INSP'ECTION OF FIRE SITES TO
THE NORTH OF SYDNEY
PM: I think the impression we have is that the wind conditions at the moment, I
mean the fires are burning on very broad fronts, and some of them arc still quite
Intense, you can see very large flames. Others are burning through grasslands
below the trees, but they axe burning on a broad front and you can see the
extensive damage, and where certain localiti.. have been saved you can see where
the fires have come right up to the odges of the homes. I think we'd say that the
wind conditions at the moment are, if you like, retarding the progress of the fires
somewhat. And with the wind change wc hope that doesn't accelerate them off into
another direction, They will help In one respect, but not In others.
J; Mr Keating, were you shocked by what you saw?
PM: Well, it is the extent of it. But the fires which have taken homes they are
smnall local fires which have come up a gully, they arc not part of thc big fires. The
big fire,; have largely been contained in terms of communities and homes. But of
course they have devastated a very large area of, if you like, the State's estate.
J: So you are hopeful, are you?
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PM: Well I think the conditions today are better than we thought they might be,
and by the end of the day if we get a wind change that suits the fires I think we
could bc in better shape than we thought 24 hours ago. Bushflircs arc nasty things,
especially seeing them work on such a big front and with very high flames. But
some arc the high flame variety, others are the low grass burning variety which arc
moving up through the hills, and they arc moving inexorably, now that the
bushfires themselves arc not being fought, so they are just going on. If the wind
goes thc wrong way on us, they'll jump some of the crccks, and that's some of the
conccrn. Some of the small communities, you can see where the towns have actually been
saved, the fire has burnt right down to them. So while there has been loss of life,
which is tragic, and loss of housing, it is nothing on the scale that it could have
been without a quite magnificent fire fighting effort.
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