CANBERRA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A coalition of former Australian fire and emergency chiefs have issued a warning that the nation is unprepared for worsening natural disasters as a result of global warming.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, 23 former emergency service leaders and senior personnel from multiple states called on both major political parties to recognize the need for "national firefighting assets" in the lead-up to May's general election.
Signatories to the statement include Greg Mullins, the second-longest serve fire and rescue commissioner in New South Wales (NSW)'s history, former NSW environment minister Phil Koperberg and Neil Bibby, former chief executive of Victoria's Country Fire Authority (CFA), according to a Guardian report on Wednesday.
They call for the next prime minister to meet with signatories "who will outline, unconstrained by their former employers, how climate change risks are rapidly escalating".
The statement also calls for the next government to launch an inquiry into whether state's emergency services are well-equipped to deal with the increased risk from natural disaster caused by climate change.
Australia experienced one of its longest bushfire seasons in history in 2018-19, with fires in New South Wales (NSW) starting as early as August while world heritage listed forests in Tasmania were engulfed by flames in January, Australia's hottest month in recorded history.
The statement says that the federal government must invest in firefighting aircraft, which states currently lease from the northern hemisphere.
