An emergency warning system for the whole of Australia should be set up before the next fire season, Victorian Emergency Services Commissioner Bruce Esplin has said, Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported on Thursday.

Esplin said the system could be used for a range of emergencies, including bushfires, floods, a terrorist attack or a tsunami, AAP reported.

The commissioner said he was frustrated by the delays in establishing a system that would send a message to phones during an emergency, and blamed this on bickering between the states and territories about how it would operate.

He appealed for this to end and for a national system to be setup. "We must agree on a system and put it in place before the next season," Esplin was cited by AAP.

"I think it's taken too long and I think we need to work as a country, not as separate states and territories, and it's time we did that and protected our community," he added.

Referred to as "electronic door knocks", the system could send a text or voice message to land lines and mobile telephones, he said.

A landline system has been tested in Victoria and Western Australia which would involve people volunteering to place themselves on a register to receive calls.

For the first day since Saturday's inferno, the official death toll of the worst bushfire in Australian history did not rise. It stood at 181, though officials said it would exceed 200.

(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2009)