New Zealand fiddles while Australia burns
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009Some New Zealanders in New South Wales are distressed by the causal approach with which New Zealand authorities greeted the onset of the absolutely disastrous bushfires in Victoria. To read in the Sydney Morning Herald that Prime Minister Key was “taking advice about what to do” seemed considerably less than what was expected. He may be new in the job, but over here we expected his first reaction to be something positive and useful. Not a suggestion that he didn’t know what to do and was asking around for ideas.
Someone might have suggested that he look at the files and look for some precedents. It shouldn’t have taken too long to find out what happened the last time fires threatened this tinder dry continent.
Over the Christmas-New Year holidays 1993-94 fires ravaged the surrounds of Sydney. Ash and embers rained down on the CBD itself and columns of smoke surrounded the city.
As soon as the potential for disaster was flashed across the Tasman the government machine swung into action. An RNZAF Hercules picked up monsoon fire buckets from around the country together with a team of experts who knew how to use them. They were flown across overnight to Richmond airbase in Sydney arriving at dawn. A fleet of RAAF helicopters was waiting, the buckets were attached and instructions given for their use. By eleven that morning they were in action in the Hunter Valley putting out a series of threatening blazes.
Something similar could have been initiated, or at least offered, this time round. When Kevin Rudd ordered the Australian defence forces into action it was only the army that could respond with men and equipment. The RAAF would surely have welcomed the opportunity to play a role again.
The latest word is that New Zealand is sending fire fighters as we did in 1993 and that an official contribution of $500,000 has been made to Red Cross aid. But in 1993 the New Zealand government came up with a million dollars for assistance right away.
This has been Australia’s greatest natural disaster and it is sad that the lessons learned in 1993 were not followed through in 2009.
Today we are told that the United States has offered to send technical fire fighters including helicopter specialists. If they arrive in a few days then they might well appreciate some more choppers to use and manage.
At noon today there are still 24 fires burning out of control in Victoria. It’s not too late to offer more help.