Friday, 28 August 2026

 Nick McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (15:34): (2762) It has been a month now since those opposite toppled their party’s second-ever female Premier. That is right; it has been a month. Doesn’t a month go very quickly for those opposite? A month ago I wrote to the new minister under the new – male – Premier Ben Carroll, and I wrote to that minister because I was most concerned about the state of affairs under Fire Rescue Victoria. Those in this place might recall that the previous minister, Minister Ward, was renowned in this place because, throughout her entire tenure as minister, not once did she manage to attend a graduation ceremony for a single firefighter – a disgraceful effort. That will be an effort that will go down in the history books and the annals of this place, including of course Hansard in which it is now recorded, very sadly. Not one graduation ceremony did the last minister ever attend, much to her shame. Nonetheless, in addition to that, to the best of my recollection and knowledge not once did she ever visit a dedicated FRV fire station. From time to time she might have brought it upon herself to go to a CFA station, and it was all good and well, but nonetheless, unfortunately not once were our dedicated professional firefighters visited by the previous minister in their workplace to hear for herself their concerns, including the fact that for five years now they have not received a single cent of pay rise. It is a shameful situation for those opposite.

To think that they are called a labour – with an ‘our’ – party. Of course they took the ‘u’ out of that, and that is very wise of those opposite, because it has been a long time since they have represented workers in this state. Very sadly, they certainly do not represent professional firefighters, having not paid them a cent of pay rise for the better part of five years in terms of the firefighters and six years in terms of corporate staff. They have let them languish. They have done so knowingly. In addition to that, they have deprived the entire service of the equipment they need to fight fires, including their fleet. We know that 65 per cent of the firefighting fleet of Fire Rescue Victoria is past its service date. That means firefighters can have no assurance that they will actually get to a fire in a timely manner – or that they will get there at all, frankly – because that fleet is so unreliable.

I wrote to the new minister. I thought we might be off to a better start. Well, unfortunately and sadly, I wrote on 4 August and on 25 August I had a response. It took the new minister just 21 days. In other words, 21 days is probably an eighth of his entire tenure, because we will soon go into caretaker mode. It took him the better part of 21 days to respond and simply say ‘No’ – convention out the window; parliamentary courtesy out the window – ‘we’re refusing to give the shadow minister a meeting with the minister to discuss these urgent matters about the firefighting service in Victoria, Fire Rescue Victoria.’ Therefore, I ask the minister not to be as delinquent as the last minister and to at least front a meeting with me to discuss the urgent need to pay our firefighters the five years back pay they are owed, including the corporate staff, and to address urgently the fire truck crisis in this state.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Michael Galea): That was to the Minister for Emergency Services?

Nick McGOWAN: That is correct.