Country Fire Authority
Annabelle CLEELAND (Euroa) (14:11): My question is to the Premier. Over summer the Premier repeatedly claimed that delays in tabling the CFA annual report were due to delays in the Auditor-General process, yet the Auditor-General issued a statement categorically disproving the Premier’s claims. Why did the Premier mislead members of the Avenel and Longwood CFA brigades in my electorate by blaming the independent umpire?
Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:11): In answering the question, I will correct the misinformation that is contained in the member for Euroa’s question. My answer to the tabling of the CFA’s annual report went to the auditing processes, and indeed there was some repeated back and forth between agencies and the Auditor-General’s office that enabled the final tabling of the report a couple of weeks ago. But the substance of the 2024–25 annual report shows that funding has increased to the CFA, so regardless of what date the annual report was tabled the facts that are contained in the annual report are that funding has increased to the CFA. For any member of this place to say otherwise would be deceiving those volunteers who over this summer have worked tirelessly to protect us and to protect our communities and do not deserve the misinformation and deception. There has only ever been a funding increase to the CFA that is shown in the 2024–25 annual report, and today the CFA is better funded, better supported and better resourced because we back them.
Annabelle CLEELAND (Euroa) (14:13): The Premier referred to cuts to CFA funding as a conspiracy theory, despite the independent budget watchdog confirming three consecutive years of cuts. Isn’t the Premier the only person peddling conspiracy theories in relation to CFA funding?
Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:13): I am pleased that the member for Euroa has given me an opportunity to comment on the process of how the Parliamentary Budget Office released this information to the opposition. When the fire struck on 7, 8 and 9 January, my focus was solely on supporting our emergency services and those fire-affected communities. The Leader of the Opposition’s focus was on soliciting false information from the Parliamentary Budget Office to then peddle to those very same communities.
James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, it is entirely out of order for the Premier to be reflecting on the independent Parliamentary Budget Office. That is exactly what you just did – shocking.
Jacinta ALLAN: On the point of order, Speaker, I will not allow the member for Brighton to verbal me by way of a point of order, because it would be nasty for the member for Brighton to do that. I want to be absolutely clear that my issue is with the Leader of the Opposition and the fact that her focus was on politicisation of funding to emergency services, not on supporting fire-affected communities.
Danny O’Brien: Further to the point of order, Speaker, the Premier seems to forget what she just said. She said soliciting a false report from the PBO.
Jacinta ALLAN: This behaviour and the response we are seeing in the house today demonstrate why we cannot take this Liberal leader or this Liberal–National coalition seriously. They are all about cuts, not about backing Victoria.
Annabelle Cleeland: On a point of order, the question is to you, Premier, not the Leader of the Opposition.
The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Euroa, through the Chair, and that is not a point of order. The Premier has concluded her answer.