The federal government has sat on a business case for a boosted national aerial firefighting fleet for 18 months, NSW's rural fire chief says.
While there had been one-off cash payments, there had been no locked-in budget for a fleet, Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said on Saturday.
"We need to ensure that we have a locked-in budget so we can secure more long-term arrangements around funding and leasing," he told reporters in Sydney.
He said the business case with the Commonwealth proposed an increase in funding which would be matched by the states and territories.
An aircrew member makes final checks on a NSW Rural Fire Service Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT) prior to departing for a water drop test. Source: AAP
"We haven't seen a positive response to that business case," Mr Fitzsimmons said.
"The business case has been with the federal government for 18 months at least."
"What we have seen is the equivalent of annual injections of funding over the last two seasons."
The federal government gave Australia's aerial firefighting centre a one-off $11 million boost in December.
Mr Fitzsimmons said NSW had secured its own large aerial firefighting craft since putting the business case to the Commonwealth.
Liberal senator Eric Abetz said the federal government had "come to the party" and cool heads needed to prevail over partisan politics.
"Primary responsibility for firefighting and management of our forests and the fuel load lies with the state governments," he told the ABC.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said it wasn't time to count pennies and governments had to make sure people were getting all the help they needed.
"What we need is a national response and a co-ordination that is not just between an individual state and the Commonwealth," Mr Albanese told media in Adelaide on Saturday.
Aerial fire bombing aircraft are seen to control spot fires over Barden Ridge in Sydney. Source: AAP
He repeated his calls to bring forward a meeting of state and territory governments in order to discuss the bushfires.
Asked about Prime Minister Scott Morrison's encounter with a bushfire-affected woman, Mr Albanese said the footage spoke for itself.
Mr Morrison was filmed grabbing the hand of Cobargo woman Zoe Salucci-McDermott despite her refusal to shake his hand.
"My concern isn't for Scott Morrison, my concern is for those people whose lives are in danger today," Mr Albanese said.
The prime minister has faced criticism for his handling of the bushfire crisis, including from celebrities like singer Tina Arena.
In a comment on one of Mr Morrison's Instagram posts, Arena told him to stop opening coal mines and "drastic changes are required ... and now."
