Friday, 28 August 2026

 Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (15:28): (2759) My matter is for the Minister for Emergency Services regarding the growing lack of fire and emergency response capacity across Melbourne’s western suburbs. The action I seek is for the minister to urgently review Fire Rescue Victoria’s resources in the western growth corridor and commit to additional stations, appliances and firefighters to ensure that my communities receive emergency response times they can rely on. Earlier this year the Werribee community was devastated by the tragic loss of a three-year-old child in a house fire. It was a heartbreaking incident that has shaken the community, and it serves as a reminder that when emergencies occur every minute counts. While firefighters work tirelessly to protect lives, local crews are warning that Melbourne’s west is becoming increasingly under-resourced and unable to keep pace with the rapid growth occurring across our region. The evidence is clear from Fire Rescue Victoria’s own response time data that between July and November 2025 Caroline Springs was recorded as the worst performing district in Victoria for code 1 structure fire response and the second worst for emergency medical response. Tarneit and Point Cook ranked among the poorest performing districts in the state for structure fire response times.

Tarneit, Derrimut and Sunbury were also among the lowest performing for emergency incident response. It is important to make clear that these figures are not a reflection on the dedication or capacity of the crews, rather they are the result of stations being expected to cover enormous response areas across some of Victoria’s fastest growing communities. In many cases firefighters are responding not only within their primary district but also into neighbouring growth areas because there are simply not enough resources available. In 2001 the combined population of Melton and Wyndham was around 130,000 people. Today the figure exceeds 560,000 and continues to grow, with the Melton and Wyndham LGAs being two of the fastest growing areas in Victoria. Yet despite a profound – more than fourfold – increase in population, there has been little corresponding growth in the professional firefighting structure since 2008. We are approaching summer. I ask the minister: what immediate action will the government take to improve Fire Rescue Victoria response times in Melbourne’s west and ensure growing communities like Wyndham and Melton in my electorate receive the emergency response investment they urgently need before another tragedy occurs?