The broadcast communications site in north-east Victoria that lost power during the most dangerous point of the summer bushfires did not have the same level of fire protection as other sites in more highly populated areas, a Senate inquiry has heard.
BAI Communications owns the site at Mount Elliot, near Corryong, which went offline for about eight hours at the end of December when power was lost, meaning residents could not get access to emergency broadcast radio.
Senator Tim Ayres asked Wednesday's "inquiry into lessons to be learned in relation to the Australian bushfire season" hearing about the level of "hardening" to protect broadcast sites.
"Is it for commercial reasons that there is a lower level of site hardening at Corryong?" he said.
"It puts people in rural and regional Australia at risk if there's not the right level of site hardening."
BAI chief executive Peter Lambourne said the company had to follow commercial needs of its clients, who chose where to invest their money to protect broadcast sites.
In its submission to the inquiry, BAI recommended the federal government invest money to protect communications sites, to ensure they can continue to broadcast during emergencies.
Recommendations included funding to clear fuel from around the sites, having backup power on standby, and having portable transmission equipment available to enable faster recovery of broadcast services.
Mr Lambourne said BAI also invested in some sites itself, including installing a Tesla Powerwall battery at Mount Elliot.
The bushfire risk at Corryong meant BAI was not able to get to Mount Elliot immediately when the site was damaged, but the battery provided 27 hours of standby power. It ran out eight hours before staff could get access with a portable generator.
"We make decisions as well to invest our infrastructure at times beyond what your customers require," Mr Lambourne said.
"The example I use at Mount Elliot at Corryong - that was an investment we made because we thought it was a good investment."
Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications deputy secretary Richard Windeyer also told the inquiry he agreed there were some broadcast sites that could be "hardened", but the government would look at its priorities.
"Government will make decisions on how best to fund and respond to that," he said.
"We do have a role and the government has taken steps in certain areas to harden the infrastructure in certain locations."
