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Natural disaster royal commission commences hearings
The royal commission examining legal frameworks for the Commonwealth’s involvement in responding to national emergencies has commenced its hearings.
Naomi Neilson
The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements has commenced its hearings on Monday, with a focus on the changing global climate and natural disaster risk following the devastating bushfires and floods that plagued Australia in early 2020.
In the Commonwealth’s Letters Patent, the commission was charged with: “Recognising that Australia as a nation must take action, including the development and implementation of adaptation actions, to address the consequences of longer, hotter, drier seasons and the severe weather events [such as the bushfires and floods].”
Commissioners air chief marshal Mark Binskin AC, Dr Annabelle Bennett AC, SC and the ANU College of Law professor Andrew Macintosh will receive presentations from the Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO and Geoscience Australia to examine climate trends.
They will then hear from a panel of witnesses from the Actuaries Institute, Australia Group and natural hazards research centre Risk Frontiers in relation to natural disaster risks.
The commissioners will be assisted by senior counsel assisting Dominique Hogan-Doran SC and Andrew Tokley QC, as well as junior counsel assisting Jesmini Ambikapathy and Trent Glover, Kess Dovey and Anna Spies. Solicitors assisting the commissioner are from BigLaw firm King & Wood Mallesons.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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