Tuesday, 10 September 2024

Northern Victoria Region

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (13:02): (1106) My question is for the Minister for Emergency Services. Minister, do you approve of the pumper platform fire truck that was destined for fire station 75 in Shepparton being redirected to Sunshine even though firefighters at Sunshine have not been trained to operate it? Fire Rescue Victoria’s own training requirements require that a minimum number of crew that hold the accreditation to operate a pumper platform must be on the truck before it can turn out. Every firefighter in Shepparton holds that accreditation, but not one firefighter in Sunshine has been trained; therefore Sunshine firefighters cannot operate the vehicle. In fact very few, if any, of the Sunshine firefighters would even hold the prerequisite accreditation to undertake pumper platform training, which is a Mills-Tui 2017 accreditation. This multimillion-dollar fire truck will sit idle for months while Sunshine firefighters are trained in the two necessary accreditations, whereas it could be operational today in Shepparton, which was its intended location.