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The last of the international contingent providing bushfire support to Australia departed on 4 March. Though work is over for the 43 Indonesian National Armed Forces engineers, more than 1,000 ADF members continue to provide support to regional recovery operations around the country.
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The Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI) personnel arrived in the country on 3 February, and worked alongside ADF elements from Army’s 5th Brigade as part of a joint engineering element deployed to NSW's Blue Mountains. The team capitalised on specialised emergency-recovery experience in order to assist state authorities to restore essential services in the region.
The Indonesian team's exit marks the last withdrawal of international military contingents, who have assisted significantly with efforts to combat Australia's deadly bushfire season. In addition to thanking this team, Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne has outlined Australia's ongoing appreciation to:
- The Republic of Fiji Military Force - for committing 54 troops, mostly construction engineers and plant equipment operators deployed to the East Gippsland area
- The United States Air Force - for providing two cargo load teams who operated from RAAF Base East Sale, as well as over 200 firefighters
- The Papua New Guinea Defence Force - for contributing engineers to operate as part of JTF in the Omeo region of Victoria
- The Republic of Singapore Air Force - for providing 40 members and two CH-47 Chinook helicopters to facilitate transport of food and water to inaccessible areas
- The Royal Canadian Air Force - for committing a C-17 aircraft to deliver fire-retardant to RAAF Base Richmond
- The New Zealand Defence Force - for providing a total of 147 members. 25 firefighters, 35 combat engineers, 12 Air Dispatchers, three Enviro Health Teams, a Primary Health Care Team and a chaplain.
ADF support to state and local authorities is being co-ordinated by Major General Justin 'Jake' Ellwood. Operations carried out in South Australia and Tasmania by Army's 9th Brigade (in particular, on Kangaroo Island and the Adelaide Hills) have been concluded; though the ADF remains in close contact with the National Bushfire Recovery Agency in order to respond to any unfolding events.
Army's 4th Brigade - responsible for the state of Victoria - has similarly scaled back its operations. The Brigade will continue to maintain two military modular bridges at Buchan, installed alongside colleagues from PNG and Fiji, until around 21 April.
In NSW and the ACT, 5th Brigade is expected to continue water purification works begun on 18 February in the Bega Valley. At the request of the Shire Council, these works will continue through to 14 March.
To date, ADF contributions to Operation Bushfire Assist has seen 4848km of roads cleared, over 5 million litres of water delivered, and over a million kilograms of food.
