Scott Morrison's blunder was caught on tape. Photo / ABC
Scott Morrison's blunder was caught on tape. Photo / ABC
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been left red-faced after telling residents on Kangaroo Island it was lucky no-one died in the region's devastating bushfires last week.
Two people lost their lives when fires ripped across the island on Friday, destroying more than 150000 hectares of land and the world-famous SouthernOcean Lodge.
Bush pilot Dick Lang and his youngest son Clayton, a leading plastic surgeon, died while trying to return to their family property, a statement from their family said.
But on his visit to the island with South Australian Premier Steven Marshall today, Morrison was captured on video telling locals "thankfully we've had no loss of life", reports news.com.au.
Some New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel just deployed to Australia's bushfire crisis may be headed for biodiversity-rich Kangaroo Island, where around 155,000ha of pristine land has been scorched.
Around 100 NZDF personnel were yesterday day flown across the Tasman to help Australia battle the unprecedented fires, now burning across several states.
The contingent includes two NZ Army combat engineer sections, three Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopters and crew and a command element to support the Australian Defence Force.
The support was in addition to the latest rotation of five NZDF firefighters deployed to bolster numbers of responders on the ground.
"One of things I know will add value to the Australian operation is that our people are light and mobile, and can be deployed in small aircraft and helicopters quite swiftly, and then can operate independently on the ground," Defence Minister Ron Mark told reporters.
Mark suggested that some staff may be deployed on Kangaroo Island, where about a third of the land area has been ravaged.
