Fire services
Mr GUY (Bulleen—Leader of the Opposition) (11:17): My question is to the Premier. More than three years ago you said that the Country Fire Authority (CFA) dispute had to be ended and ‘I ended it’. Three years on and our fire services remain a mess. We face one of the highest fire risks since 2009. Because of you, hundreds of years of firefighting experience have been lost and Victoria now has 3000 fewer volunteers than when you came to government. Premier, after all the turmoil, after all the fire services careers you trashed, after all the people you bullied, abused and disrespected in order to do the bidding of the United Firefighters Union, has it all been worth it? Has it all been worth trashing our proud CFA?
Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (11:18): Here I was, thinking that the Leader of the Opposition might get some new material for today; it would seem not. A question littered with errors, littered with inaccurate and, quite frankly, shameful statements as we head into what will be a long, hot, dry and dangerous summer. Rather than reflecting so very poorly on our firefighters, I will put on record on behalf of every member of this government that we are proud of our firefighters, career and volunteer, and that is why we have not cut $66 million from their budget as others did. We have instead invested more than $100 million in additional equipment and resources so that those dedicated and brave men and women of our career and volunteer firefighting services can protect life and property in the coming fire season, just as they do every fire season. The Leader of the Opposition has put to me a whole range of completely inaccurate statements. There is one statement that is wholly accurate, and that is that we invest in our fire services and those opposite cut them.
Mr GUY (Bulleen—Leader of the Opposition) (11:19): Lucinda Nolan, the CFA CEO; Joe Buffone, the CFA chief officer; Peter Rau, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) chief officer; the MFB assistant chief officer; the MFB deputy chief officer; the CFA deputy chief officer; Paul Stacchino, the MFB acting chief officer; Jim Higgins, the MFB CEO; Andi Diamond; the entire board of the CFA; and your own minister — Premier, with all these people, all this lost experience, how can you sit there with that smug look on your face and explain to Victorians and justify that this was actually the right thing to do — to smash up the CFA — all for nothing?