Outcome: 1. Australia benefits from meteorological	Question No: 29
	and related science and services.
Division/Agency:	Bureau of Meteorology
Topic:	Perth Mini-Tornado
Hansard Page ECITA:	22

Senator Webber asked:
Regarding the recent weather event in the southern suburbs of Perth that occurred on Tuesday 23 May, the reports in the local media suggested the possibility that it was a mini tornado taking place in those areas; would that be the bureau’s view?

Answer:
Evidence from damage patterns, weather radar displays and the structure of the atmosphere in the vicinity indicate a downburst as the most likely explanation. Some wind damage in a nearby suburb was clearly downburst related. Eyewitness reports suggested a poorly organised short-lived vortex of some kind but there was no credible description of a coherent well-organised tornado funnel. Wind speeds, as indicated by the damage caused, were not very high.

Outcome: 1. Australia benefits from meteorological	Question No: 30
	and related science and services.
Division/Agency:	Bureau of Meteorology
Topic:	Tsunami Warning System
Hansard Page ECITA:	23

Senator Webber asked:
How many countries in the south-west Pacific are still to join the Pacific tsunami warning system? 

Answer:
The sixteen (16) Pacific Island Countries (PICs) with a declared interest in the Pacific Tsunami Warning System are: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. This list excludes the French Pacific Territories of French Polynesia and New Caledonia.

Of the sixteen countries listed, five (5) are Member States of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission  and of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/PTWS). These are: Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga.

The eleven (11) remaining nations are yet to join the ICG/PTWS.

Outcome: 1. Australia benefits from meteorological	Question No: 31
	and related science and services.
Division/Agency:	Bureau of Meteorology
Topic:	VHF Broadcasts
Hansard Page ECITA:	26

Senator McLucas asked:
Will the twice-daily broadcasts on VHF cease from Channel 61, out of Cooktown; Lockhart River, channels 28 and 86; Torres Strait, channels 60, 20 and 66; and Weipa, channel 3?

Answer:
Not immediately. Broadcasts of coastal weather forecasts via Telstra's Seaphone service from these locations and on these channels will continue until November 2006.

Outcome: 1. Australia benefits from meteorological	Question No: 32
	and related science and services.
Division/Agency:	Bureau of Meteorology
Topic:	VHF Broadcasts
Hansard Page ECITA:    29

Senator McLucas asked:
I return to VHF radio broadcasts. Your website states: The Bureau of Meteorology advises that as of 3 am Eastern Standard Time 31 May 2006 the bureau will no longer be using the Telstra Seaphone service to broadcast coastal weather forecasts twice daily. I asked you if you were to cease to broadcast VHF radio marine broadcasts from a range of channels. I do not know how you said ‘no’. Maybe a little chronology might be helpful for me as well. 

Answer:
As of 3am Eastern Standard Time 31 May 2006, the Bureau ceased using the Telstra Seaphone service to broadcast coastal weather forecasts twice daily around the Australian coastline, apart from the region in the far northeast including the region from Cairns to the Torres Strait.

For this northeast coastal region, the Bureau formally requested that Telstra extend by 6 months the operation of the service providing broadcasts of Bureau coastal weather forecasts via the Seaphone VHF radio network. Written confirmation of Telstra’s agreement was received at 4.16pm on Thursday 25 May. 
 
On receipt of approval, changes to the public advice provided via the radio broadcasts and the Bureau's web site were initiated, to take into account the extension of services. 
 
Telstra commenced broadcasting the new advice in Queensland as part of the morning Seaphone transmissions of Friday 26 May.
 
The new advice was placed on the Bureau's web site on the morning of Friday 26 May.