Thu, 8th May 2008

Warnings on disaster preparedness must be taken seriously

Senator the Hon George Brandis SC
Shadow Attorney-General

The Shadow Attorney-General, Senator George Brandis, said the Federal Government must take the concerns raised by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute on Australia’s ability to respond to natural disasters seriously.

Senator Brandis said the Strategic Insights paper, Taking a Punch: Building a More Resilient Australia, contains timely reminders of the cost of natural disasters and of the new challenges of emergency management that must be met by Governments at all levels.

“One of the many issues raised by this paper is Australia’s ageing emergency volunteer workforce of 500,000 members and the need for Governments to attract new, younger, members to volunteer emergency services.”

“Along with the ageing of our emergency service volunteers, the changing nature of our regional communities from sea-change and tree-change population movements must also be met, and managed, by Australian Governments.”

“The ASPI paper also questions the standards of Australia’s hospital system, and its ability to cope with large scale emergency situations, which will be of no surprise to those who are familiar with the state of public hospitals administered by Labor Governments around Australia.”

Senator Brandis said that protecting Australia involved more than preventing crime and terrorism, and the Federal Government should take warnings about weaknesses in our ability to cope with natural disasters very seriously.