Thursday, 16 October 2025

 Danny O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (14:31): My question is to the Minister for Environment. All forest fire management G-Wagon vehicles and a number of Unimog firefighting appliances have been taken offline due to faults, just weeks ahead of what the Premier has said will be a high-risk fire season.

Jacinta Allan interjected.

The SPEAKER: Premier! I ask the Premier to come to order.

Danny O’BRIEN: CFA and SES appliances have been called upon to back up the missing vehicles. How many communities have had their local firefighting capacity reduced to cover this failure?

 Steve DIMOPOULOS (Oakleigh – Minister for Environment, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Minister for Outdoor Recreation) (14:32): I want to start by saying I have profound respect for the work of Forest Fire Management Victoria. They keep us safe. It is interesting how the other side just become interested in this extraordinary work at bushfire time. We do not just operate at bushfire time; we operate the whole year. This incredible organisation –

Danny O’Brien: On a point of order: the question of relevance, Speaker.

Mary-Anne Thomas: On the point of order, Speaker, the minister on his feet was being entirely relevant to the question. I ask that you rule the point of order out of order. It is simply an opportunity to interrupt the minister on his feet.

The SPEAKER: The minister has only been on his feet for a short time.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: I think that the member on the other side needs to understand that the work of Forest Fire Management Victoria, including the fleet they use, is not work that is only undertaken at bushfire season time. It is undertaken –

Danny O’Brien interjected.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: Well, you mentioned that when you said about the Premier mentioning –

The SPEAKER: Minister, through the Chair.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: Apologies, Speaker. The member referenced the bushfire season, which we all know from the advice we all get from the chief fire officer is going to be very difficult. In relation to that, FFMVic have all the resources they need to fight those fires – all the resources they need – because this government has backed them and continues to back them. That is where my comments are relevant about the backing. The backing does not just apply when everybody wakes up and says, ‘Oh, it’s bushfire season.’ It applies all year round, including the fact that this year alone they have maintained over a thousand kilometres of strategic fuel breaks. They have done a power of work to keep us safe.

Danny O’Brien: I renew the point of order on relevance, Speaker. The question actually goes to the CFA and SES vehicles being used to back up these ones and the communities who have less firefighting appliances.

The SPEAKER: The minister was being relevant. I cannot tell the minister how to answer the question.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: I will get straight to that aspect of the question. That shows such ignorance in how firefighting works in Victoria. We have learned from really difficult fires in the past, including Black Saturday and every other fire since then, that we do not work based on what colour your uniform is. We do not work based on the tenure of the land. It could be private land.

Danny O’Brien interjected.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: No, we do not. It could be land managed by councils, managed by the state government, state forest, national parks. We work across land. Fires know no boundary, and therefore our bushfire management strategy knows no boundary, so we all collaborate. The fact that the member thinks it is newsworthy that agencies share resources – it is not newsworthy. Can I tell the member what else is not newsworthy? That we share resources across the country. In fact we share resources internationally. Our good people at FFMVic came back from Canada recently. We share resources. In terms of our investments, we back our FFMVic staff, and by backing them we invest in their fleet, because we know the fleet keeps them safe but also keeps the Victorian community safe. I will not have this fearmongering.

Members interjecting.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: No, it is fearmongering. FFMVic have all the resources they need to fight fires right now. The acting chief fire officer has assured the government of that. We continue to back them, and that applies today.

 Danny O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (14:36): Concerns about these vehicles were first raised in 2017. Why is it only being addressed eight years later?

 Steve DIMOPOULOS (Oakleigh – Minister for Environment, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Minister for Outdoor Recreation) (14:36): This is what I mean about the fearmongering. Under this government we have invested more in our firefighting services across all disciplines and across all uniforms. It is reckless to suggest otherwise. I have respect for the Leader of the Nationals, but he lacks understanding of how we operationalise firefighting, including fleet maintenance. Fleet maintenance is not a once-in-five-years experience. We maintain our fleet throughout the year, and that includes significant investments every single day.

Danny O’Brien: On a point of order, I am trying really hard, Speaker, but I do not understand how this answer is relevant at all to the question I asked.

The SPEAKER: The question was about the fleet. The minister was being relevant.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: Just to help the member who asked the question, the question was: are some communities left without their fleet – CFA and others – because they have had to loan them out to FFMVic? That is not true.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Tarneit can leave the chamber for an hour. The member for Narre Warren North is warned.

Member for Tarneit withdrew from chamber.

Sam Groth: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, I actually think the minister on his feet does not understand the question. He was referring to the substantive question.

The SPEAKER: The minister was being relevant.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: The fundamental point here is that no government has invested more in our firefighting services, including FFMVic, than this Allan Labor government.