Thursday, 13 November 2025

 Danny O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (14:38): My question is to the Minister for Environment. It has been revealed today that the government has asked to borrow old decommissioned fire trucks from interstate to cover the 350 forest fire management appliances that have been taken offline due to faults. Will the interstate appliances being borrowed fully cover those that are off line?

 Steve DIMOPOULOS (Oakleigh – Minister for Environment, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Minister for Outdoor Recreation) (14:39): I thank the Leader of the Nationals for his question. I will get to his question. His question is consistent with the fearmongering that we have seen from the Leader of the Nationals in his last few questions. However, I will make a couple of points in relation to the fleet. The first point is that no government has invested more in the fleet, and not just this fleet; under the Minister for Emergency Services, in the rest of the firefighting fleet no government has invested more. Do you know why – because we understand that to keep the extraordinary men and women of FFMVic safe, we need to keep the fleet safe. We maintain the fleet all year round – not just during bushfire season, all year round.

My second point on the fleet is that I do not know where the Leader of the Nationals is going with these questions. I feel like he is talking down the place –

Danny O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, on the question of relevance, I am not going anywhere; I just want an answer to the question.

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister to come back to the question.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: There is a real-world impact when you talk down our emergency services. You pick apart the CFA. You pick apart the FFMVic. You pick them apart –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, the minister is defying your ruling.

The SPEAKER: That is not a point of order.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: Underlying the question from the Leader of the Nationals is –

Danny O’Brien interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order! Through the Chair, Minister. The Leader of the Nationals to come to order.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: Underlying the question by the Leader of the Nationals is a gross misunderstanding of how firefighting happens in the state of Victoria and in fact the whole east coast. Can I remind the Leader of the Nationals – do you want me to finish the point?

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Environment will resume his seat. Minister for Environment, you need to address your comments through the Chair.

Danny O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, on the question of relevance, could you please bring the minister back to answering the question: will these replacements actually cover those they have taken off line?

The SPEAKER: Order! I ask you to resume your seat. I cannot tell the minister how to answer the question. The minister was being relevant as he was talking about appliances with the emergency services.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: For the avoidance of doubt, all the fire services in Victoria have attested that they are ready to fight fires in Victoria, okay – point number one – and everybody who actually is interested in this space for reasons that are not political understands that. But I need to make a point, because it is important for the house to understand: we have just received assistance from the east coast. We have just sent assistance to other states. In January this year we sent personnel to New South Wales to fight not Victorian bushfires, New South Wales fires. You cannot send any more important resource than your staff. We have had staff come back from Canada just a few months ago, New South Wales in January. The fact that you do not understand –

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, the minister is debating the question. This was about fleet management. I ask you to ask him to come back to the question.

The SPEAKER: The minister to come back to the question.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: We share resources all the time. It is not unusual. In fact it is how we survive bushfires right through the east coast – Canada, Greece, every other impacted place around the world. And Victoria is always at the forefront of lending personnel to every other place. The Premier and I were at the Ballarat aerodrome announcing that we are putting aircraft a month early into the regions to protect Victorians. We are bushfire ready. FFMVic are bushfire ready from today, every single day of the year.

 Danny O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (14:43): On what date will the full Victorian-owned FFMV fire fleet return to operational service?

James Newbury interjected.

The SPEAKER: Member for Brighton, would you like to leave the chamber again? I would ask you to cease interjecting.

 Steve DIMOPOULOS (Oakleigh – Minister for Environment, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Minister for Outdoor Recreation) (14:44): The member’s question seems to labour under the misapprehension that the fleet is always available in its entirety all year round. Fleet requires –

Danny O’Brien interjected.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: Let me finish answering the question. Fleet requires maintenance all year round, so at every point in the cycle there are some fleet that are in service and there are some fleet that are actually in operational capacity. In fact –

Danny O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, on the question of relevance, this was an extremely straightforward question: what date will the full fleet return to service? We know about ongoing maintenance. What date?

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

Steve DIMOPOULOS: Just to be abundantly clear, not only have all the fire services attested that they are ready for bushfire, FFMVic –

Members interjecting.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: No, it is absolutely the question – through you, Speaker – because you cannot be fire ready if you do not have a fleet. The Premier and I were at the Ballarat aerodrome announcing, a month early, aviation aircraft with water-bombing capacity. That fleet is ready now. FFMVic are ready now.