CANBERRA, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has confirmed that it is considering an unprecedented compulsory callout of military reserves to fight bushfires on the nation's east coast.
Linda Reynolds, the minister for defence, told Parliament on Tuesday afternoon that she is scoping the "availability and readiness" of army, navy and air force reserve forces.
Bushfires that have killed at least three people in northern New South Wales (NSW) were on Tuesday exacerbated by "catastrophic" conditions as winds strengthen.
"As minister for defence at this time of unprecedented fire threat, I am focused on ensuring that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is ready to provide additional support for the front line first responders," Reynolds said during Question Time.
"But work is also now underway to scope the availability and also the readiness of our highly capable reserve forces across all three services. Reservists are already regularly employed for emergency disaster assistance and recovery under what is called for arrangements."
Under Australian law, reserve forces can be called out for disaster assistance by the governor-general.
"This mechanism has never been used. Defence is working through every aspect, at the moment, of such a callout, to ensure that we are prepared, if required, " Reynolds said.
She confirmed that 250 ADF personnel have already been deployed to "provide transport, logistics and other requested and required support" and though they were not firefighters they were "doing everything they can to help the community in these catastrophic circumstances."
"I pay tribute to our fire services who are battling these circumstances and I particularly thank our ADF personnel who are supporting the effort."
