More than three years after its COVID-19 disaster period ended, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is still closing the books on pandemic spending, including millions of dollars for the Los Angeles Opera Company that pays its top executive $1 million a year.

FEMA’s latest statement was provided in response to an investigation by The Center Square exposing $27 million worth of government grants and $33 million in executive compensation at the opera. 

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As Australia identifies national resilience and civil preparedness as key to national defense, it should learn from Norway, which has been living those concepts for decades.

For Norway, preparedness extends well beyond its armed forces. Civilian and military planning is connected. Municipalities and critical sectors prepare for crises, while households are advised to be able to manage for a week if essential services such as electricity, water, telecommunications or payment systems are disrupted.

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Twenty-five years after September 11^th, 2001, it is still difficult to contemplate what happened without first thinking about the people. The firefighters and police officers who ran toward the World Trade Center, the emergency managers and health professionals trying to make sense of an unconceivable situation, the transit workers helping people evacuate Lower Manhattan, and the countless New Yorkers who simply tried to help one another are part of the city’s history.

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