Country Fire Authority expenditure
Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (12:11): My question is for the minister representing the Minister for Emergency Services. I have been contacted by CFA members with concerns about CFA spending priorities. Assessing vegetation for controlled burning is a significant responsibility. I was told some CFA districts can only fund this role one day a week, only a small fraction of the time necessary to do it properly. Despite loads of unpaid overtime, the job is still not getting done properly. At the same time, paid management coordination roles are being expanded and split. It seems there is plenty of money to expand the full-time bureaucracy but not to fund actual essential on-the-ground fire prevention activity. The CFA is not a wealthy organisation. It runs largely on volunteers and needs to ensure its funds are spent wisely. They need to use this funding to fill critical roles and buy essential equipment that allows them to do their job. Minister, why does the CFA prioritise funding full-time office staff over the ground staff to assess the need for hazard reduction burning?
Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (12:12): I thank Mr Quilty for his question. Again it is a very loaded question, and I have no way of believing the assumptions of his question. It will be referred to the Minister for Emergency Services for a response, and I am sure that she will provide a detailed response to you, Mr Quilty.
Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (12:13): Thank you, Minister. I was also told about a recent small change made to CFA uniforms. It was decided to add a different patch to the uniforms, and volunteers were asked to send in their old uniforms. Many uniforms sent in were still brand new in packaging. Instead of altering the uniforms, I am told the old uniforms were thrown away and new ones sent out. These changes were requested by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, I am told, but it is not clear how these patches improve performance. It is an example of how central management can make inefficient decisions. CFA volunteers could have affixed their own patches and saved a lot of money. In the past that is exactly what would have happened, or they could have waited to replace them with uniforms with the new insignia as they wore out. In my personal experience many volunteers laugh at the senior leadership and their obsession with pretty uniforms and box-ticking exercises rather than prioritising the fighting of fires. Minister, how does this kind of spending prioritisation help put out fires and keep Victorians safe?
Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (12:14): I thank Mr Quilty for his question. As he well knows, there have been a number of reviews, and they have all dealt with this issue. But again this is a question that is highly, highly operational. Nevertheless I will refer it to the minister.