Wednesday, 16 October 2024

Statements on parliamentary committee reports

Public Accounts and Estimates Committee

Report on the 2021‒22 and 2022‒23 Financial and Performance Outcomes

Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (10:19): My contribution today is on the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee report on the 2021–22 and 2022–23 financial and performance outcomes, which was tabled in March this year, in particular chapter 9 on DEECA, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. I note that DEECA leads Victoria’s energy, environment, water, agriculture, forestry, resources, climate action and emergency management functions, and I will be focusing on emergency management functions. The department’s vision is a thriving, productive and sustainable Victorian community environment and industry, and one of the seven objectives listed is the reduced impact of major bushfires and other emergencies on people, property and the environment. This brings me to the Country Fire Authority, which has been desperately and chronically underfunded. The investment in this area has been very slow. Services and facilities are not being delivered on time, and the government has done very little in this space for small, regional fire brigades. Morale is very low, and we need to reverse this in our country areas where climate change is happening. We are heading into another drought at the moment. Things will be very dry, and we need investment in the CFA. We need the CFA to be fully trained, to have the best gear and to be responsive to protect our communities.

Despite that, we have a number of great things that have been happening at a number of CFAs in my area. Panton Hill CFA celebrated 85 years in mid-September at the Panton Hill memorial park. While this was a big day out for the kids to get to use hoses and check out the trucks, it was also about community awareness and a membership drive. One of the things that I was really impressed with there was that the cake cutting was by Toni Moller. Toni was the first female lieutenant within the CFA volunteers, and that is pretty extraordinary. Toni is getting on a little bit these days and is not actively involved, but it was really great to see her there. There was talk about a new station at Panton Hill, and it would be great if the minister could clarify that for me.

On the weekend Alexandra CFA celebrated their sesquicentenary: 150 years. There are a lot of changes that have happened in that period, but there are some things that have not changed. On Monday 2 February 1874 they conducted their first monthly meeting, and they had 20 members attending. To this day the Alexandra urban fire brigade conducts its meetings on the same day each month – the first Monday – and the monthly meetings have been conducted continuously since 1874. That is pretty remarkable. They had an event for the town during the day and a dinner at night. The day’s event was supported by the neighbouring brigades, and I thank them. We had a lot of life members and past and current members; captain Chris Lynch is at the helm at the moment. They have a fabulous history. There was a hook and ladder brigade that competed in championships from the late 1800s. In 1930 they won a marching event. The belltower next to the library was the way that they communicated with members about whether or not there was a fire and what they needed to do. They have had a brass band. Interestingly, a lot of the fires in the early days were to do with the train for the timber that was milled in the Rubicon bush. They used beaters, and at one point they had 150 beaters. It was only in 1947 that they got their first appliance, and there were lots of references to a merry-go-round.

Hoddles Creek CFA have been waiting for a new station for such a long time, and if the minister visited the brigade, she would see that the level of frustration now is very high. But they will not give up on their push, because of their former captain Leonie Turner, who lost her life last year. In an interview with the Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria magazine, Leonie said:

My number one highlight from 2020 was a phone call from North East Region Assistant Chief Fire Officer David Renkin, who told me the brigade would be receiving a new fire station through the CFA capability funding.

That was 2020. They are still no further. Leonie was district peer and captain, she led the juniors and set up the catering team. She is greatly missed. At the most recent dinner she received the CFA Outstanding Service Medal, which was a real coup for her. She got the National Emergency Medal in 2014 and again very recently, and she received CFA life membership for 30 years of service. Leonie did a remarkable job for her time.