Thursday, 29 August 2024

State Emergency Service volunteers

Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (10:03): We have indeed had wild and windy weather in the last couple of days. There have been dangerous conditions across the state and some tragedy in the last 24 hours. I just want to take this opportunity to extend my thanks to SES volunteers across the state but particularly in the Southern Metropolitan Region, who have been responding to hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of calls for assistance in dealing with broken branches, fallen trees and debris and helping those in need. The work that our SES volunteers do in metropolitan Melbourne and across regional Victoria is first-class. I had the opportunity on Monday night to head down to the Glen Eira SES facility. I had a chat to Danielle, the unit controller. I spoke to some of the volunteers and witnessed what they were doing in their training to prepare. The SES performs an incredibly important role here in the state of Victoria. Our recent inquiry into the 2022 flood event demonstrated just how important the SES volunteers are across our state. Given the weather we have had this week, I wanted to use this opportunity to thank all of them for the work that they continue to do to help all Victorians.