Wednesday, 13 November 2024

 Tim BULL (Gippsland East) (09:57): On the cusp of what is forecast to be another very, very troublesome fire season, here is what our local CFA captains have been told by their local office. They all got this local email:

… be aware that due to further ongoing staffing issues the District Office may be closed temporarily at times over the next few weeks.

This is on the verge of summer.

The phones may also be diverted to another District …

And it goes on to say:

… the front door may be locked.

This is in a period when CFA operational volunteers have dropped by around 2000 over the past five years, leaving it unable to gain the strike teams it needs to fight a campaign fire. All this is while bushfire loads in East Gippsland have been allowed to again build up to an all-time high through lack of fuel reduction burning. So we have seen a massive reduction in volunteers and allowed fuel loads to increase, and now we are keeping the doors shut on the local CFA office. This is only going to end one way, and that is in another massive fire, and this government will have to take some responsibility for it.

The Australian Workers’ Union and the Community and Public Sector Union have stated they are considering taking the government to Fair Work over the loss of 208 Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action jobs – 118 in forest fire management. All this is while we are about to commence another round of costly brumby shooting in East Gippsland, which the majority of locals are opposed to. How did we ever arrive at a point in time where shooting brumbies is more important than funding our fire defences?