The ACT’s bushfire warning system was not fully operational for the first 119 days of the 2025-26 bushfire season, the Canberra Liberals claim, amid one of the ACT’s most dangerous fire seasons: three total fire bans enacted for the first time in six years.
The ACT Government, however, accused the opposition of perpetuating “incredibly irresponsible and false information”.
Deborah Morris MLA, Shadow Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Community Safety, said questions on notice revealed the government’s warning system, Single Point of Truth, underwent testing 72 days into the bushfire season, after destructive fires had already broken out at Wee Jasper and in Tasmania.
Ms Morris said issues the testing identified were not resolved until 27 January 2026, while Victorian bushfires brought smoke to Canberra and caused devastating losses to homes, buildings, and livestock, and at least one person died.
“Canberra is proudly the Bush Capital, but that comes with a lot of responsibility to ensure we are bushfire ready,” Ms Morris said. “Clearly, the ACT Labor Government was not ready for the bushfire season which saw three total fire bans due to extremely dangerous heat conditions.”
Dr Marisa Paterson, Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, said the 11 December activity was a scheduled, annual test of system enhancements — not a failure — and the system’s capability was not reduced.
“ESA has been using the same alert and warning system — the SPOT application — for 14 years,” Dr Paterson said. “SPOT enables ESA to issue warnings for all hazards in line with national standards.”
The annual test on 11 December identified only minor issues, such as short delays between warnings appearing on social media and on the ESA website.
“Crucially, none of these issues prevented warnings from being issued, caused delays, or had any negative impact on the community,” Dr Paterson said. “Each issue could be readily addressed by someone updating the system in real time.”
The opposition also said ACT Fire & Rescue’s electric fire truck went off the road for repairs during the fire season, and did not return to service until 26 February.
“It’s deeply concerning to learn that during the most dangerous bushfire season since 2020, we were both down a fire truck and without a fully operational warning system,” Ms Morris said. “While the government was playing with fire, the rest of us were left sitting ducks.”
Dr Paterson confirmed that both the Rosenbauer electric fire truck and the Volvo electric breathing apparatus truck are now in service, and that the government would monitor their performance to decide whether to purchase more electric vehicles.
