Wednesday, 15 October 2025

 Nick McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:59): (2009) My matter is for the Minister for Emergency Services and relates to Fire Rescue Victoria, and it relates to their breathing apparatus. There has been recent coverage in respect of the fact that our firefighters each and every day have now been left without equipment that will not only protect them, but protect Victorians in the event of a fire in the event that they need to use their breathing apparatus. Each and every one of the breathing apparatus in Victoria is now past its use-by date. They expired in September of this year. That is despite the fact that the United Firefighters Union (UFU), that is the union in this case, actually advised the government that in order to ensure that their firefighters are kept safe and can enter and be on a scene of a fire safely themselves as the firefighters, much less those they are going to protect, be it property or person, that they must have breathing apparatus that are capable of performing the function.

Breathing apparatus come in two forms, essentially a short and a long form. The short form is half an hour; the long form is 4 hours. It is with some irony that recently the firefighters themselves and the union were forced to protest and make this point publicly when the Premier chose to open the new multibillion-dollar Metro Tunnel system, although we all know it is not open yet. What we also know, thanks to the union and the workers in this case, is that if there is a fire in the Metro, firefighters will be ill equipped to fight it. That is a devastating, tragic, alarming set of events, that our firefighters will not have the equipment they need to keep themselves safe, much less save anyone else, much less save these multibillion-dollar train stations. It is an absolute travesty. This is billions and billions of dollars we have spent on train stations, and yet we have not bothered to renew the equipment of our dedicated firefighters, men and women across this state. So not only do they not have the long-period oxygen breathing apparatus, we know that every single one of the apparatus we send our firefighters in each and every day of the week actually is not up to the task. This is gross incompetence by the minister responsible, the Minister for Emergency Services.

We also know thanks to a 2024 report that there is a six-month lag time when you do order the breathing apparatus. So best-case scenario, even if they were ordered tomorrow, it would not be until around mid next year that the fire services and firefighters themselves actually receive the equipment that keeps them safe, that keeps Victorians safe and that keeps the property of Victorians safe. It is scandalous. It is alarming. It is a level of incompetence I do not think anyone in this chamber has actually seen in our lifetime. So the action I seek from the minister is for her to immediately order the equipment that the UFU, our dedicated firefighters and our workers need to keep them safe, keep Victorians safe and keep the property of Victorians safe each and every day.