A firefighter battles the flames during bushfires near Taree, New South Wales, Australia, Nov. 11, 2019.  (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)

 

An international security expert has described Australia's fire strategy as "abysmal."

Allan Orr, an expert on counter-terrorism and insurgency, said in an recent interview published by The Sydney Morning Herald that the nation needs to ramp up investment in fire-fighting equipment, calling for the government to establish a specialized fire-fighting force within the Department of Defence.

Four people have been dead and hundreds of properties were lost in fires across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia in November.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended his government's preparation for fire season and has dismissed suggestions that the increased fire risk is linked to climate change policy.

Orr said with the increased risk there should be a network of significantly more fire towers with water tanks, which could be linked to fleets of drones equipped with fire retardant.

"You could also have water bombs on pallets out of military aircraft seconded to domestic agencies, even active bombing to de-oxygenate when cost-benefit protocols dictate," he said.

"A counter-fire bomb would have no shrapnel in it, for instance, and simply de-oxygenate the fire and would be scalable."

During the peak of catastrophic fires, Linda Reynolds, the Minister for Defence, made the decision to send hundreds of navy, army and air force reserve forces to fight the fires.

Reynolds said that the responsibility for responding to disasters remains with state and territory governments under the constitution.