Victoria State Emergency Service
Vicki WARD (Eltham – Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Natural Disaster Recovery, Minister for Equality) (10:03): I also want to send my congratulations and thankyou to VICSES on the celebration of their 50 years of service. 5 March marks the 50th anniversary of the inception of VICSES, coming out of the civil defence organisation. I thank them for their extraordinary work, and I want to give just one example of the crazy work that SES have to do. I have got a local story. Two members of my Nillumbik SES unit were in the Yarra Valley for something, and they heard the call for help on the radio to extract an injured person hiking in the Cathedral Ranges. Without a moment’s thought, off they went, climbing in their heavy workboots over difficult terrain to help this person out and bring them to safety.