But we have also seen, some of us in person but most of us through ABC television news, many other examples of public leadership on display. Most of that leadership has been public sector leadership, from Rural Fire Service leaders and other emergency services officials, including the police and the Australian Defence Force, local elected representatives like mayors and shire presidents, state and federal MPs and especially state premiers.

The most common image has been a state premier, like Gladys Berejiklian of NSW or Daniel Andrews of Victoria, surrounded by a bevy of state officials, like Shane Fitzsimmons, the NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner. The premier gives a general overview and a statement of government resolve and purpose before handing over to the fire chiefs to speak authoritatively about the fire situation and what is being done to contain it.

Berejiklian and Andrews have received good press for their calm demeanour and undemonstrative and compassionate leadership. The fire chiefs, like Fitzsimmons, have been universally praised for their competence and authoritativeness, and some in the community regret that such people don't hold political roles.

At the local level up and down the coast and inland the community spokespeople have often been local mayors. Here too the community has been well-served in the crisis by these composed, caring and articulate individuals.

Sometimes state MPs, such as Andrew Constance, the NSW state member for Bega whose own home was under threat, have played a leading role. Constance has been an effective and persistent voice for his community, even to the extent of standing up for his constituents from Cobargo who were so critical of his fellow Liberal Morrison.

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Seeing all these leaders on stage together demonstrates that there is a deeper pool of leadership talent in the community than is often deemed to be the case when the state of political leadership in Australia is discussed. The question should be asked why more of this community talent and experience is not drawn upon by federal and state parliaments. Our major political parties certainly aren't capturing enough of it. Perhaps many community leaders are put off by the major party politics which dominates political life.

The crisis also challenges an unspoken truism of our political life: that in our federal system the cream rises to the top, meaning that the most competent people are to be found in federal politics, where the job is bigger and the talent needed for success is greater. In this image local and state politics are a feeder system, a training ground, dealing with lesser issues like local and state administration, with the best and the brightest finding their way onto the national stage. We should rethink that prevailing assumption.

Local mayors are often sucked up into state politics and successful state ministers and premiers are touted as potential candidates for higher federal office. But this doesn't mean that this reflects a higher calling. Talent is distributed throughout the levels of government and natural leaders find a place where they can do the most good for their communities, while leading balanced family and professional lives. It may be personal ambition rather than talent which drives people into the top jobs at the higher level.

Having said that talent is widespread, we should be careful about jumping to conclusions about the performance of those leaders on display and about whether their abilities are transferable from one job to another. Firstly, the various leadership roles involve very different types of work, and secondly, we are only seeing a televised snapshot of the performance of individual leaders anyway.

Representative leadership through electoral politics is very different from the highly skilled professional and public service leadership which has dominated the bushfire response. It is also very different from corporate leadership.

The job that the emergency services professional does, though extremely difficult, is clearly defined, and they all appear to have been performing well - some outstandingly well as far as we can tell.

The job of the political leader in these circumstances is less well-defined, and harder to measure. There are many aspects to the political role, including provision of financial and material resources, co-ordination of activities within and between governments, communication with the general public and, perhaps hardest to perform well, empathising with those who have suffered loss and damage.

Some leaders hit the spot with seemingly effortless ease, but others struggle. The New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden won many admirers for her leadership style after the Christchurch massacre. Berejiklian and Andrews have not been accorded the same level of admiration but have been widely praised for their quietly unassuming competence.

Leaders who are successful in a crisis like the bushfires may not be as successful in other aspects of their role. While we may feel we can judge their character and competence through television appearances, that is just as unreliable as judging candidates through their election campaigning. It is never a rounded picture nor a full insight into leadership capacities.

With these reservations my conclusion is that whatever our personal judgment of individual leaders throughout this crisis, the whole period has revealed a welcome depth of leadership talent within the wider community across many spheres and tiers of government.