Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the Australian Defence Force's role in the ongoing bushfire crisis will become "greater and greater" in the days ahead.
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Federal opposition leader Anthony Albanese has urged Mr Morrison to make all defence assets available to help those affected by bushfires raging across the country.
Defence forces have been providing refuelling, retardant loading and support services for Rural Fire Service aircraft in NSW. The navy is also evacuating people trapped by bushfires in Mallacoota, eastern Victoria.
Mr Morrison said earlier this week naval assets were ready "at the request of state agencies", but NSW had not yet requested ADF support for evacuations.
"Here in Victoria, every single request, every single proposal that has been put forward, we have been meeting them and we will continue to do that and the same is true in NSW," Mr Morrison told reporters in East Gippsland on Friday.
"The role of the Australian Defence Force will become greater and greater in the days ahead: the airlifting, the evacuations, the engineering support, the accommodation, the evacuation centres, all of this becomes more and more required as these fires get larger and larger."
Mr Albanese called on the federal government to be more "proactive" and mobilise all military assets immediately.
"My only concern here is that there seems to be an approach which is that people have to ask for support," Mr Albanese said.
"Certainly I think defence assets, every one of them, at this time should be available.
"This is the scale of what is occurring here, of a mass evacuation. Not from a town, from a region that is bigger than most countries in Europe.
"The scale of this requires a national response, requires national leadership."
But Mr Morrison said the military and other agencies weren't just waiting for requests, "they are seeking to pre-position before receiving them".
Australian Associated Press
