Emergency Management Australia Flood media conference
Transcript of Joe Buffone, Director General of Emergency Management Australia press conference
14 March 2022
JOE BUFFONE: I’m Joe Buffone. I’m the Director General of Emergency Management Australia. What I want to do is acknowledge that right now we’ve got thousands of individuals and many, many communities that have been impacted by these floods. And I want to let them know that that is not lost on us in any way and that our thoughts are with them at every step of the way through this very, very difficult time, and that we are collectively doing everything that we possibly can to support them.
Despite the commentary, EMA and the ADF, Department of Defence, continue to and have worked very, very closely with Queensland Emergency Services and with New South Wales Emergency Services and recovery agencies. This weather and flood event was very complicated. It was persistent. It was dynamic and it was very, very complicated – starting in Gympie and moving all the way down to Kiama in New South Wales, with many, many communities being affected and some of them re impacted by this complex weather system that did persist. At one stage, it was even forecast to push into the Victorian border and also parts of Tasmania.
In these circumstances, decisions are made very often in difficult circumstances with limited time and with incomplete information. That is the nature of disasters. They are made at every level with the best information available at the time and everyone – everyone – does their absolute best in these circumstances. So, we continue to work closely with the operational leads in the states to make sure that we are connected, we are coordinated, and this has been the case for this disaster and we will continue to do so.
For context, I want to put some clarity around the arrangements within the Federation, because that’s what we are bound to operate within and that is how we do operate. So, first of all, the States have the responsibility for coordinating and planning for response to disasters. Second, the Commonwealth and Defence do not have the legal jurisdiction to respond without being requested or tasked, and they operate in support of the requesting State. The State remains with the primacy.
The Australian Government Disaster Response Plan, which is known as COMDISPLAN, is how these requests for assistance are coordinated at the Commonwealth level. Again, the Commonwealth does not have the legal authority to take over or respond without authority from the state. So, as the disaster unfolds and escalates, the Commonwealth does not become the jurisdiction of responsibility.
How this also works is the Commonwealth and the ADF get ready and they rally troops so that they can deploy as quickly as possible. That means we need lead time, and what happens is if there is a statement made that there are 2,000 ADF troops available, what that means is that they are put on reduced notice to move or, basically, they can be tasked and deployed within 24 hours. And that’s how the system works. The state remains in charge and the capability for the ADF are deployed under their tasking and direction. We sent emergency management and ADF liaison officers into Queensland and New South Wales state disaster centres to make sure that communication was effective.
On the 25th of February, COMDISPLAN was activated in anticipation of any requests. At that stage, we did not have any requests, but we did that in anticipation so that that was as smooth as possible. As the emergency unfolded, the ADF contingent continued to incrementally increase their numbers ready for deployment, based on the dynamic information we were receiving, and ready to be tasked through the joint task group arrangements. And now we’re looking at in excess of 6,000 that are in that situation.
Since the 25th, we have continually engaged with Queensland and New South Wales on their requirements; and on 28 February, we specifically streamlined the arrangements by establishing, with Defence, the joint task group, and that allowed New South Wales and Queensland to task directly into ADF. So, that means they have the conversations, the planning conversations, on what the needs are, and then they are tasked directly. So, there is no requirement for that to actually escalate up into Canberra. That was done recognising the requirements.
An example is on the 28th we had discussions with New South Wales on the situation in Lismore and [indistinct] in anticipation of requests for assistance we spoke with ADF and ADF mobilised three helicopters ahead of that request. When the request came in, they were in a very, very good position to respond, and by 2.30 that afternoon they were on station rescuing people. Only three ADF aircraft could fly in those treacherous conditions to rescue people, and there was another CareFlight aircraft. So four aircraft. Other aircraft could not actually fly.
So, I just want to just acknowledge that it is difficult circumstances. They are called disasters for a reason. And everybody – that’s the volunteers, career staff, States and Territories and the Commonwealth – have to work really, really hard to work together to do the best that they possibly can in these very, very difficult circumstances. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Would your job have been made easier if an emergency declaration was made earlier on in this disaster?
JOE BUFFONE: No, the emergency declaration – the best effect of the emergency declaration for this event was because it is now sort of into those early recovery areas and it actually helps with things like providing identification, things like regulation for aircraft landing and those sorts of things. So, the way this declaration is right at the moment, it actually wouldn’t have changed our posture at all.
JOURNALIST: But if the declaration had been made earlier, Defence could have been sent in without needing the request from the States?
JOE BUFFONE: No, that’s not correct. The legislation does not change those arrangements that I said, that we can deploy ADF without the request of the States.
JOURNALIST: So, now that the declaration has been made, what impact does that have on the recovery efforts? How much of a tangible difference has it actually made on the ground in terms of those recovery efforts?
JOE BUFFONE: Look, I don’t have that specific data, but what I do know is a classic example is people lose their identification documents. They lose, you know, a whole range of other critical information. That means that they can go in; they don’t need to provide those identification documents. Their privacy and those sorts of matters are dealt with very, very promptly so that they can get the support that they need.
JOURNALIST: What else could be done to ensure that the rollout of assistance is smoother in future disasters?
JOE BUFFONE: Look, we are critically analysing how we’ve operated in this event. This event has been, you know, unique in some ways where we have had those consecutive events – so first starting in Gympie then moving down the flood system, moving into New South Wales. We’ve seen Lismore, basically, two metres above any previous record that we’ve known. So, we need to have a look at that and understand how we can actually make this very, very smooth, the system as it’s designed to be utilised in every possible way.
JOURNALIST: What would you say is the key hindrance at the moment still? We can always learn from these disasters. What’s the key thing that needs to be changed?
JOE BUFFONE: I would suggest that if we hit a particular threshold – and I don’t know what that threshold is – that ADF initially in particular can, basically, be prepared to assist a State and Territory ahead of any request.
JOURNALIST: So, how would that work? Can you run through an example of how that would work?
JOE BUFFONE: Well, it would need a change to legislation. It would need a whole range of different things that would change. The important thing here is, though, we have to be connected with the State to work [indistinct] arrangements. Because if not, you can imagine communities where everybody’s trying to respond in and not being coordinated. So, it needs to be directly with the State so that it’s really, really clear around how they ramp up, but it enables them to ramp up in a way that you don’t have to wait for the request.
JOURNALIST: There have been calls for some people that there should be some sort of other body that kind of sits outside the ADF, outside the SES, it’s a dedicated task force of people that go into natural disasters like this to assist in efforts, rather than have this back and forth about who’s responsible for putting in the ADF or which department of government is responsible for which aspect of that. So would you support that sort of dedicated force to be able to go in there without that necessary, I guess, hindrance or constitutionality?
JOE BUFFONE: Just establishing a civilian force like that actually makes no difference under the current arrangements. The Constitution, the way the legal framework is set, those are the arrangements that are in place. So, having a civilian force would not change that if it was under the auspice of the Commonwealth. I think, what needs to happen is that conversation needs to be had. We need to look at how we are better prepared. We need to look at how we can support States and Territories in these disasters and make sure that we get the best possible response.
The other thing is we do need to support the communities. Regardless of what structure you put in place, community will always be the first responders. There’s one message I want to get across. There’s no emergency service/ADF emergency manager that does not get up each morning and want to do their best, and they want to focus on the best outcome for the community. So, I think that we can work together to see how we can improve community preparedness, but then the arrangements are such that we can respond and support in the best way possible.
JOURNALIST: Given the anger from the communities on the ground, what do you think went wrong with the planning for this?
JOE BUFFONE: Look, right now, you know, we’re focused on making sure they get the support. We will have a very, very close look. We talk, I talk to New South Wales on a daily basis. I talk to Queensland regularly. And after this, we need to sit down and actually work through how best we can make sure that we get the best arrangements in place to look after communities.
JOURNALIST: To be fair, with the [indistinct] all around why [indistinct] sooner [indistinct] seem to be asking the same questions again. Have we not learnt?
JOE BUFFONE: Well, we’ve learnt, but it’s also about scale, and, you know, the arrangements are in place. The national emergency management declaration legislation was put in place as a response to that. However, it’s still put in place in line with the existing legal frameworks that are in place, and I think that right now the debate can be opened up around the national emergency declaration, and let’s have a look at how we can improve it. Every event, particularly big complex disasters, we need to [review. I would say we are better connected with the States and Territories in how we engage and how we prepare. We ran 29 preparedness sessions ahead of this event. We ran scenarios. We worked with industry. We were prepared as best we possibly can but that doesn’t mean we can’t get better.
JOURNALIST: Just one more, sorry. The State Government found out Defence Force members were going up to northern New South Wales via the media. Does that show sort of a breakdown in communications within the different offices?
JOE BUFFONE: As I stated, the way the ADF works, they start incrementally increasing the people that they have available. And we don’t actually go, “Oh, you get 2,000. You get this.” What happens is they ramp up their capability and then what we do is we are engaged to see what the State requires. And then we work with them to make sure they get that support as quickly as possible. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Thank you.
