Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I seconded the motion moved today by the member for Shortland and I did so because this is an issue which we, at a federal level, should look at for a number of reasons, not just in relation to the impact on New South Wales but as a guide to what is going to happen if there is a change of government on 14 September. The motion is specific to the member's electorate, but I want to read those parts of the motion that are generic:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges the outstanding contribution made by both full time, retained fire fighters and volunteer fire fighters within our community;

(2) notes with deep concern that:

…   …   …

(b) the practice of taking fire stations off line is wide spread throughout NSW as a result of cost cutting measures and staffing reallocations conducted by the NSW Government;

On 16 May 2013, I made a speech in this House in relation to this matter. I talked about a visit that the New South Wales opposition leader John Robertson made on 6 April to the Revesby fire station in my electorate of Banks. On that day the station was closed. I also noticed on 26 April that the fire station was closed and I have posted a photo of the sign on my Facebook page. To date, this has received the largest number of hits on anything I have posted a on my Facebook page. At the moment I think there are 7,000-plus interactions, which indicates that there is concern in the community about what the state government is doing. I also visited the Mortdale fire station on their open day on 18 May 2013. I have been doing that for a number of years. Mortdale fire station is also staffed by volunteers, among others. They all have a good reputation. The great tragedy is that that they should not be put in this position in terms of fire stations going off line with a question mark in relation to their jobs. The irony is that, in his first budget, the state Treasurer, Mr Baird, got his figures wrong, according to the Auditor-General, by a billion dollars. In other words, there was a billion dollars more in his budget than he thought. Sadly, that was the genesis of some of the cuts which have been foisted upon the state departments.

Unfortunately, the budget cuts have a disproportionate effect on our emergency services. Firefighting, like policing and ambulance services, is very labour-intensive. While across-the-board cuts to the public sector wages bill were to be 1.2 per cent, for some reason Fire and Rescue New South Wales was set at a 1.75 per cent target in relation to budget cuts. So employee related expenses were to be slashed by 7.6 million in 2012-13 and by a cumulative 64 million over the next four years. I know that members on the other side feel the same as us in relation to a lot of this. Let us be fair dinkum. At times we are putting in a position where we have to defend the governments which are on the same political persuasion as ourselves. I attacked some cuts that were made to the library and other services two budgets ago in relation to savings, because I believe some areas should be off-limits—and I believe our emergency services should be off-limits. These are essential services. They are vital to our community. And, in relation to the Rural Fire Service, there is no chance without volunteers. So it is a partnership between government and the local community, and that is true of a lot of other things. Cuts have already been made to the Rural Fire Service. In late 2012, it was revealed they were to be slashed by $12 million. Now, I argue, because it is a philosophy I hold, that these sorts of services should be quarantined; they should be protected. They should not be cut. If anything, the worst you should do is pause them, not cut them, and then you bring them back with growth figures in the good years.

That is why I lend my support to this motion. I know that on both sides of the House there is enormous warmth and support for the firies, as there should be, because they do a terrific job in our community. I commend the motion to the House.

See this speech in context