Wednesday, 4 October 2023

 Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (09:40): CFA volunteers are an important, highly valued and vital part of our rural communities, but maintaining the numbers is becoming a real challenge for rural brigades. The Labor government needs to show some real leadership here and stop slashing the funding to the CFA and brigade resources. It is time to respect, support and invest in the CFA – invest in services they need to ensure they can maintain their capability – and for everyone to get behind the recruitment of new members. It is well documented that volunteer numbers have dropped by the thousands in the last few years, and the upcoming fire season is predicted to be one of the most dangerous ever and is already threatening us. We need to do something more than rely on existing volunteers to recruit into the fold, and the government needs to help in support.