Thursday, 15 August 2024

 Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (10:08): It was great to be in Moorooduc last week to join acting assistant chief fire officer Sean Kerr, ex-captain Nev Jones, first lieutenant Justin Newson, Geoff Goding, Megan McDonald, who I have not seen for a lot of years, and big Tom Winkles to officially hand over two brand new tankers to Moorooduc CFA. Their new heavy tanker is safer and easier to operate. It includes new rollover and burn protection to keep volunteers safe in extreme heat, brand new electronic monitoring and an electric rewind hose. Their new ultra-heavy tanker has a 10,000-litre water tank, better equipping them to deal with grassfires, a key concern on the peninsula. These tankers are just two of over 75 tankers we are rolling out across the state as part of a $35.5 million investment in heavy and ultra-heavy tankers for CFAs. This will allow them to continue doing the great work that they do. In Moorooduc the CFA has been a key pillar of the local community for more than 80 years, with 64 members, including 44 operational members, and the brigade responds to around 100 call-outs each year. Thanks to the team for showing me around, and thanks to Nev for the history of the shed and talking about the community and all manner of other things. Congratulations to everyone involved in getting these new tankers. It is a testament to the hard work of all the volunteers. As the fire season approaches, I am proud that we are giving our volunteers the equipment they need to keep themselves and our community safe.