SYDNEY NEW YEAR FIREWORKS TO LIGHT UP DESPITE BUSHFIRE CRISIS
▶ Fire service volunteers who have spent 10 days battling blazes will receive compensation
Sydney’s renowned New Year’s Eve firework display will go ahead despite the bushfire crisis to show the world Australia’s resilience, the country’s prime minister said yesterday.
As Prime Minister Scott Morrison was speaking, the authorities braced themselves for conditions to deteriorate as high temperatures returned.
Mr Morrison also announced financial support for some volunteer firefighters in New South Wales, the state worst hit by bush fires ravaging the nation.
“The world looks at Sydney every single year and they look at our vibrancy, they look at our passion, they look at our success,” he said. “In the midst of the challenges that we face, subject to the safety considerations, I can think of no better time to express to the world just how optimistic and positive we are as a country.”
The City of Sydney council gave permission for the display to go ahead although the fire authorities warned that the fireworks could be cancelled if catastrophic conditions are declared.
The prime minister said that volunteer firefighters will be offered government compensation after spending extended periods fighting the bush fires.
Rural Fire Service volunteers who have spent at least 10 days battling blazes in New South Wales state are immediately eligible for the scheme, which offers payments of up to A$209 (Dh535) a day to a maximum of nearly $4,200 per person. “The early and prolonged nature of this fire season has made a call beyond what is typically made on our volunteer firefighters,” Mr Morrison said.
“While I know RFS volunteers don’t seek payment for their service, I don’t want to see volunteers or their families unable to pay bills or struggle financially as a result of the selfless contribution they are making,” he said.
“This is not about paying volunteers. It is about sustaining our volunteer efforts by protecting them from financial loss.”
Mr Morrison said the compensation scheme would be introduced in other Australian states and territories should local authorities request that assistance.
“They run their own shows; they know what their challenges are,” he said of the state governments.
The scheme is expected to cost A$34million in New South Wales, which has 70,000 fire volunteers – the largest such service in the world.
Volunteers who are also government employees were granted additional paid leave to help fight the blazes last week.
Mr Morrison has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks over his response to the bushfire crisis, which has killed 10 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and scorched more than three million hectares.
The prime minister was forced to apologise for taking a family holiday to Hawaii as Australia battled the bush fires, a decision that sparked public outrage and street protests.
People were ordered to leave Victoria state’s East Gippsland region yesterday amid concerns three large blazes sparked more than a month ago could burn out of control.
Victoria’s Emergency Management
Commissioner Andrew Crisp said the more than 30,000 people in the tourist region should “leave now”, because fires could force the closure of the last major road still open.
Severe thunderstorms and damaging wind gusts are predicted for neighbouring South Australia state, where several fires are raging and the bushfire danger will be extreme in several areas today.
Firefighters are also getting ready for bushfire conditions to worsen during the week in New South Wales, where 95 fires were burning yesterday, 48 of them uncontained.