Wunwing I agree with you.
Neville,
The government has had more than enough cash to make this happen. Significant savings can be realized simply by more efficient use of assets. I'm not sure who you're referring to with the armchair experts comment, but it's a clear miss in this case. I am a volunteer firefighter (and previously SES for 12 years), former bushfire pilot and a former military and civilian Aircrewman. I have no axe to grind. I do however believe the current system, while a vast improvement on previous years, is not working.
The government needs to step up its commitment to prevention and combat of bushfire and natural disasters more generally. The ADF has the equipment to conduct water bombing operations, but has not trained with it for years. The 'operational commitments' argument doesn't hold water, because large parts of the organization do very little of operational value and the return for the number of assets and logistic support base is very low.
In my opinion, in a nation that is so prone to natural disasters, and with such vast distances to cover, a dedicated fleet is required to meet our response obligations. Not only that, but we should be leading the world in the development of new techniques and technology. While the individuals involved in emergency response to an amazing job, at the moment we are letting them, and the wider public down.