North Queensland is to benefit from an enhanced presence of the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) following the Federal Budget announcement earlier this month establishing the Australian Climate Service (ACS).
Minister for the Environment, Sussan Ley said the ACS was a partnership between BoM, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Geoscience Australia and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
“The new service brings together experts from Australia’s leading science and data Agencies to help communities better prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters,” Ms Ley said.
“Six new Bureau of Meteorology staff will be located in Townsville to directly support the weather and climate knowledge needs of the new National Recovery and Resilience Agency and Emergency Management Australia in north Queensland,” she said.
“The new staff will also draw on the Bureau’s Brisbane-based specialist forecasting capability to provide 24/7 on-ground support to Emergency Management Australia, local disaster management groups and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services during times of emergency.”
Ms Ley said the ACS would commence operations on 1 July and built on BoM’s North Queensland capability, with Cairns already the centre for a more-than-15-person specialist technical hub.
Chief Executive Officer of BoM, Andrew Johnson, said the Bureau was committed to supporting the safety and prosperity of Queensland communities.
“We know that while our climate is highly variable now, that variability is likely to increase into the future,” Dr Johnson said.
“We cannot stop disasters from happening, but preparation is the key to keeping our communities safer in the future,” he said.
