Mr. Maurice Mullen:

That is international best practice. Other countries bulk up in their centres so that the type of expertise required is available in them. Second, this is exactly what the Fisher report meant in recommending the three versus two model. It argues that if we operate two centres instead of three, the second centre will have a critical mass of people. At least four desks would be operated on a daily basis. That critical mass makes the service more robust and, therefore, best for coast guard operations. That is the critical point. It is not a geography lesson - I apologise to the Senator - it is what is important to the operation in terms of the strength of resources available to deal with critical incidents.