The devastating bushfires will be examined by a royal commission.Credit:Nick Moir
Mr Morrison denied the royal commission was prompted bycriticism the federal government had been to slow to act in response to this summer's fires,or that he wanted to gain control of the states'bushfire prevention powers.
"This isn't about changing who does what,this is about how we work together even more effectively,we build on the disaster recovery arrangements put in place by previous governments,"Mr Morrison said.
It remains unclear if the royal commission will complement or double up on federal parliamentary bushfire inquiries which are already under way.
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Late last year Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud instructed the House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy toinvestigate the effect of land clearing and hazard reduction burns on bushfires.
The inquiry's terms of reference are similar to those of the 2018 Standing Committee on Agriculture,which was asked to investigate the impact of land-clearing laws on rural communities.
The Agriculture Committee issued a discussion paper noting its powers were limited to Commonwealth jurisdictions,which clashed with the inquiry's terms of reference that"almost exclusively"relate to state government matters.
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Two weeks ago the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee launched an inquiry inquiry into lessons to be learned from the preparation,response,and recovery to this bushfire season.
National Secretary of the United Firefighters Union of Australia Peter Marshall said"many"of the recommendations from previous inquiries had not been implemented and the"last thing"bushfire ravaged communities need a federal royal commission.
With Benjamin Preiss