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FM AMCONSUL MELBOURNE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5051
INFO RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 3691
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0023
RUEHDN/AMCONSUL SYDNEY 2167
RUEHPT/AMCONSUL PERTH 1649

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MELBOURNE 000011 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID SENV AS
SUBJECT: NEW AUSTRALIAN-U.S. FIREFIGHTING AGREEMENT IN THE WORKS 
 
Ref: 09 MELBOURNE 127 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (U) U.S. and Victorian fire authorities are preparing a new draft 
of an agreement which permits the routine exchange of fire experts. 
The updated agreement will contain language that will allow 
exchanges to take place independent of emergency needs and focus to 
a greater extent on research and skills transfers.  The deployment 
of 13 U.S. wildfire experts to Victoria in mid-January has generated 
significant benefits even in the absence of a major fire.  End 
Summary. 
 
Revised Agreement Expected Soon 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The 2002 "Wildfire Arrangement Between the Department of 
Interior and the Department of Agriculture of the United States and 
the Australian Participating Agencies" is due to expire in May 2010. 
 State Department authorities are presently revising the agreement 
which permits the exchange of U.S. and Australian wildfire experts. 
Fire authorities in Melbourne expect a draft to arrive in Australia 
after the U.S. Departments of Interior and Agriculture provide 
comments.  The draft contains language permitting routine 
(non-emergency) fire personnel exchanges aimed at increasing 
response times to natural disasters as well as bolstering 
collaboration in research and best practices.  The revised agreement 
also notes the provision of legal immunity for exchange firefighters 
through laws passed in both countries in 2009.  (Note: The state of 
Victoria is the lead interlocutor with U.S. fire agencies; other 
Australian states typically follow Victoria's lead and will likely 
sign the agreement after Victoria does.  End Note.) 
 
U.S. Deployment to Victoria 
--------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) A team of 13 U.S. and two Canadian fire experts are wrapping 
up their four week assignment to Melbourne and to several regional 
hotspots within Victoria.  Their deployment has generated positive 
media coverage and the lead U.S. liaison reports that two-way skills 
transfers have never been more productive.  The devastating fires of 
February 2009 provided political impetus to proactively position 
U.S. fire experts in Victoria during the peak fire season in early 
¶2010.  A second team of U.S. fire experts is due to arrive on 
February 9.  Despite forecasts of fire conditions as bad as or worse 
than last year, the fire season to date has been mild by comparison. 
 Victorian fire experts warn, however, that fire conditions may 
worsen if the state does not receive badly needed rain in the coming 
weeks. 
 
¶4. (U) U.S. fire experts say that they are using this window of 
opportunity to swap best practices with their Australian 
counterparts.  U.S. and Victorian authorities are also investigating 
metrics by which they can gauge the exchange's success and are open 
to suggestions from both the Embassy as well as the Department. 
There is some concern that the absence of a major fire may 
deteriorate political and financial support for the fire exchange 
program, but authorities here are confident that they can sell the 
benefits of the exchange program on the basis of skills transfer 
alone. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In addition to their work in Victoria, DOI and U.S. Forest 
Service experts visited Canberra in December and briefed the 
Australian federal government on the existing arrangements for fire 
assistance.  On January 21, Jim Dance, Assistant Secretary of the 
Crisis Coordination Branch at Emergency Management Australia, 
contacted Canberra econoff to say that EMA was interested in meeting 
to begin discussions on a federal-level agreement similar to that 
currently in place at the state level.  We have been unable to sit 
down with Dance since that discussion to further sound out the GOA's 
idea but plan to do so before the end of February.  Post will report 
back as soon as further information becomes available. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6. (U) The devastating Black Saturday fires of February 2009 have 
provided new momentum to the nearly 50-year old de facto firefighter 
exchange program with Australia.  Authorities here are eager to 
harness this energy to further regularize these exchanges.  Both 
U.S. and Australian fire experts have told post that these exchanges 
have translated into real lessons learned for both sides and will 
lead to shortened response times in future emergencies. 
 
MELBOURNE 00000011  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
THURSTON