Thursday, 13 August 2026

 Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:52): (2511) My question is to the Minister for Emergency Services. The Skye CFA brigade plays a critical role in keeping the community safe, but it is being forced to respond with dangerously unsafe and outdated tankers and equipment. In a recent visit with our wonderful Liberal candidate for Carrum Jeff Shelley, we sat outside on the back of a tanker and we saw that firefighters have tankers that are more than 24 years old, very slow, lacking basic equipment and producing large amounts of diesel fumes, which firefighters breathe in while sitting in the open-air cabins, with only a noncompliant seatbelt for their protection. These unsafe tankers were designed for rural towns more than two decades ago, with 20 to 30 fire call-outs a year. Skye is on track to respond to 280 calls this year and is the closest fire station to major housing estates being built, like that on Wedge Road, Skye, with further factories being built in this rapidly growing area. Minister, you promised new trucks and tankers, but where are they and when are you going to provide Skye fire brigade with new tankers and updated equipment so the brigade can continue its critical work in protecting the community?