Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question. I remember well the visit my wife and I made to Wye River, where we saw the extraordinary work done by the volunteers of the Country Fire Authority to protect their community, where—under the leadership of the captain of their brigade—they done the planning, they had done the community outreach and they had set the measures in place that ensured that, when the inferno came, no lives were lost.

Those are the volunteers that stand between Victorians and the worst that nature can throw at them. We defend them. The Leader of the Opposition and his party are tied up with another militant union that is seeking to undermine the independence of the volunteers, to disrespect them, to remove their autonomy, to undermine their interdependence and, in doing so, to undermine their very ability to recruit. Who do they think stands between them and their home this summer? Who will it be? It will be the volunteer firefighters of Victoria. The volunteers are that great, selfless Australian tradition of courage and sacrifice. We stand for them; Labor abandoned them.

See this speech in context