O primeiro-ministro Scott Morrison, que enfrenta muitas críticas do eleitorado por sua atuação nesta temporada de fogos, anunciou a nova diretiva ontem.
Scott Morrison disse que há em torno de 150 mil funcionários públicos em toda a Austrália com o direito de solicitar esta licença de emergência:
"This means that we have more people able to be deployed out of those mainly metropolitan brigades and to be able to relieve those in country and rural areas and allow those very tired firefighters, particularly in parts of New South Wales where they've been going for weeks on end and that they can go home to their families and their businesses and, if you like, the reserves can come out of the cities and metropolitan areas of Commonwealth employees and state employees."
