Tuesday, 18 February 2025

Constituency questions

South-West Coast electorate

Roma BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (14:53): (980) My constituency question is to the Minister for Emergency Services, and I ask: how can it be that the new ultra heavy fire tanker delivered to Milltown CFA on 18 December is already out of action with defects? The volunteers drove it around for 10 days before it was taken for its final check at the district mechanics office. I am told the district mechanical officer found three pages of faults. The volunteers do not know what is wrong with it, when it will be fixed or when it will be returned to them. It is dangerous over the summer fire season to be without this truck. Victoria received 12 of these tankers. One wonders whether the other 11 also have the same defects. The Milltown CFA have training tomorrow, and there is no truck. The volunteers have made plans and brought in backup staff to attend this training. This is another fail from the Allan Labor government, which leaves rural areas with defective trucks, old trucks or insufficient trucks to defend themselves during the hot summer fire season.