Werbil.
Please allow that I'm familiar with the rapid turnaround that scoopers, where feasible, can permit. (I was watching an AT802 Fireboss working on the Clarence River only a fortnight ago.) Be aware that we've also seen Aircranes running turnarounds as low as 45 seconds under real Australian conditions and from water sources that could not possibly permit scooping by a fixed-wing aircraft. . When these issues are taken into consideration, the niche in which the CL415 is the most effective aircraft starts to narrow, considerably.
It is a part of my work to assess the risks to aircraft operating at fires. I don't claim to be an expert at it, but I've spent enough time on inland lakes to know that deepest sections - along the old river-beds -, were generally the most heavily timbered. We only have to miss one.....
It might also be worth mentioning that a number of our senior aviation personnel - in both DSEVic and NSWRFS - trained at the California School of Air Attack, so they have had the opportunity to see how the various aircraft types work. We send fire mangers over there on a regular basis, so it cannot be said that we're isolated from the latest developments in aerial firefighting overseas. A quick scan of the web indicates that the CDF don't own CL415s, and that the two counties that do use them (a total of 4 aircraft) lease, rather than buying. Only 3 Canadian provinces are listed as major users, and they are all in the eastern part of the state with high numbers of freshwater lakes. It appears that over most on Northern America, the Canadairs are not the outstanding "go-to" aircraft that the company advertising would have us believe.
Please hear me. I'm not saying that the '415 is a bad aircraft. What I am saying is that across much of Vic and NSW - particularly away from the narrow coastal strip - it cannot work to capacity and that, therefore, the choice of other aircraft is not as ridiculous as you might think.
The option is always there for a private company to import one and to go through the normal tender-for-contract or EOI (for the call-when-needed list) that all the others go through. While I remain suspiscious of the political factor in the lease under discussion, I'm quite sure that the firefighting authorities in Victoria have specific tasks and situations in mind for their major aircraft contracts, and have done their best to influence the choice.
Respectfully..... Peter