The Rockliff Government must put volunteer firefighters’ safety first and outline when critical funding will be made available to community stations.
In May last year, Premier Jeremy Rockliff committed $10 million to boost capital investment at volunteer fire stations.
Other than saying $2 million of the $10 million will be allocated to replace ageing SES vehicles, fire brigades are still none the wiser or when they will receive funding of if they are even on the list.
This is making it extremely difficult to forward plan, especially for those stations whose volunteers continue to raise serious concerns about the conditions they are working under.
While we are fortunate to have had a quiet fire season to date, how are firefighters expected to do their jobs properly and protect communities when they continue to be let down?
Police, Fire and Emergency Management Minister Felix Ellis must provide clarity on which stations will receive funding and when those stations can expect to see this money and provide a timeline for its full delivery.
It is deeply concerning that this has been delayed and that we have found ourselves in a situation where we are under resourced during the fire season and still without a permanent fire chief more than six months after the Minister forced the resignation of well-respected fire chief Dermot Barry.
The inaction on both of these matters shows Minister Ellis is completely out of his depth and he must confirm that a permanent fire chief will be appointed immediately.
It’s time Minister Ellis got his priorities right and started putting the safety of our volunteers and communities first.
Michelle O’Byrne MP
Shadow Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management
