Senator McCARTHY (Northern Territory—Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate) (15:47): At the request of Senators Watt and Griff, I move: That the Senate— (a) notes: (i) reports that, in December 2017, the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC) submitted a business case to the Government requesting a permanent increase in funding of $11 million to its annual budget, (ii) evidence from the Department of Home Affairs that, as at 6 December 2019, the Government was still considering the business case, and (iii) that when asked about the business case on 4 January 2020, the Commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Mr Shane Fitzsimmons, said that "We haven't seen a positive response to that business case"; and (b) recognises that, given the Government's failure to respond to the NAFC business case for at least 2 years, more could have been done to ensure adequate aerial firefighting capability during the 2019 bushfire season.