Wednesday, 9 September 2026

 Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (10:08): I rise firstly as part of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, led by the chair, the member for Bellarine – I thank her for her work – on the inquiry into student pathways in in-demand industries. I note that in the house today we have a number of our youth associates, who have been a wonderful asset in helping us in this undertaking and in this inquiry. I know I cannot acknowledge them, so I will not do that. But what I will do is thank them for their insights, for sharing their lived experience and for helping us to understand as we undertook this inquiry how they feel as young people wanting to go into in-demand industries and what it means for us as legislators and as the government of the day to be able to shape and carve out pathways for students to go into in-demand industries in the workforce, particularly in an era when there is a changing workforce landscape with the rise of AI and many different things. It was all very interesting, and I thank them for their work and their contribution.

But I rise today to speak on the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee report on the 2026–27 budget estimates, specifically chapter 9, subsection 9.1, regarding the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action’s financial analysis and its explanation that the reduction in the department’s budgeted employee benefit was due to additional 2025–26 funding received for responding to emergencies, including bushfire, drought and biosecurity incidents. This report speaks to the funding that local emergency services receive, including our CFAs, and it is hard to read it without being reminded of the ageing emergency service vehicle fleet in my own electorate, which is in desperate need of both updates and upgrades. My electorate obviously is home to Warrandyte State Park. The bushfire risk is real in my community, and it was during the Black Summer fires where the risk came so perilously close that if it were not for the fact that the wind changed that day, we would have been swept up in that bushfire as well. It is something that is very real for my community and very real for the two local primary schools in particular, Anderson Creek Primary School and Warrandyte Primary School, and the local high school, Warrandyte High School, who often have to relocate given the bushfire risk in my community.

Warrandyte CFA’s pumper is now 22 years old. A vital piece of firefighting equipment, this vehicle has served Warrandyte CFA well over the years, but it was the best option back in 2004, not in 2026. In a high bushfire risk community like Warrandyte, minutes matter, equipment matters and crew safety matters. A modern appliance would lift pumping performance, reliability, communications and interoperability on the ground. Particularly with Victoria facing another hot and dry fire season, we need that replacement pumper as soon as possible. Our volunteers have done their part for 22 years and beyond, and it is time that the government does theirs also. The needs of Warrandyte CFA have been made clear to me by their outstanding captain Will Hodgson, who at the moment is travelling across Australia. It is the acting captain Aaron Dean who is now in charge of Warrandyte CFA and the many dedicated members who serve our community so selflessly, who then have to get on trucks and do local fundraising so that they can update and upgrade their equipment. When we look at the budget estimates and we look at what money has been allocated to these emergency services fleets, it really begs the question: should these selfless volunteers have to jump on trucks to go around the community to deliver letters to ask for money to fight these fires, which they are doing as volunteers? I think that is a really pertinent question that the government should answer.

Looking at the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee report on the 2025–26 budget estimates, chapter 2, subsection 2.4.1, regarding taxation and its discussion of the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund and its impact on CFA volunteers, I look at Wonga Park CFA, also in my electorate, entirely staffed by local volunteers who respond to around 60 emergency incidents each year, including house fires, motor vehicle accidents, hazmat incidents and grass and forest fires. I think of, in their brigade, John Greenwood-Smith, who was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, who has been a member of Wonga Park CFA for 50 years and devoted his life in service to his community.