For Immediate Release - July 24 2026
Former Emergency Leaders from every state and territory say new alert systems will be vital for saving lives, as climate pollution drives worsening fires, floods and storms across Australia.
The Federal Government will next week (Monday July 27) contact all Australians via the new AusAlert system - which will send signals from mobile phone towers to devices in danger zones when fully operational later this year.
Former Commissioner of Fire and Rescue NSW and founder of Emergency Leaders for Climate Action, Greg Mullins, said: “It’s good to see disaster planning being taken seriously as we enter an El Niño event, with the risk of dangerous bushfires also being supercharged by climate pollution from burning coal, oil and gas.”
Mr Mullins noted the AusAlert system would depend on wifi, telecommunication towers and electricity infrastructure, which can all be damaged during disasters.
“We can’t rely on emergency alerts alone; we need to keep preparing our communities for worsening disasters well ahead of time and we need to stop the burning of coal, oil and gas that’s driving these worsening events.”
Climate Councillor and a Lead Author of Australia's first National Climate Risk Assessment, Adjunct Professor Andrew Watkins said: “Australians are likely to experience more frequent and intense fires, floods and storms, sometimes in areas which haven’t experienced such extremes before."
“We are already paying the price for climate pollution in rising insurance bills. Unless we act faster, we can expect double the number of Aussies to be exposed to coastal flooding in the next 25 years - that’s 1.5 million people in harm’s way.“
“Consistent, national, all-hazard emergency alerts are a critical part of building our climate change resilience. Currently we’re in El Niño, which raises the chances of hotter and drier weather over spring and summer. When added to the rising risks of heatwaves, drought and fire caused by the burning of coal, oil and gas, we have a dangerous combination on the horizon."
"July has already been 2-3 degrees hotter than normal for much of eastern Australia, with record-breaking temperatures in our High Country, and drier than normal weather in Queensland and large parts of southern Australia. And the outlook is for more to come.”
ENDS
About us:
About Emergency Leaders for Climate Action: We are 37 former senior Australian fire and emergency service leaders who have observed how climate change is driving increasingly catastrophic extreme weather events that are putting lives, properties and livelihoods at greater risk and overwhelming our emergency services.
About the Climate Council: The Climate Council is an independent, community-funded organisation. We provide evidence-based information on climate change impacts and solutions to journalists, policymakers, and the wider Australian community.
Contact details:
For information / interviews contact Jacqui Street 0498 188 528 or [email protected]
or
Contact the Climate Council media team on [email protected] or call 0485 863 063.
