Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Earlier today the Tax Laws Amendment (2010 Measures No. 4) Bill proceeded through this House. Schedule 7, which extends gift deductibility to volunteer fire brigades, is something that I wish to further endorse. Schedule 7 of the bill adds three new general deductible gift recipient categories into the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997. The measure will enable tax deductible donations to all entities providing volunteer based emergency services, including volunteer fire brigades—in my electorate, volunteer bush fire brigades. This measure also extends deductible gift recipient status to all state and territory government bodies that coordinate volunteer fire brigades.

I support this bill because I believe the amendments in schedule 7 will encourage monetary donations to be provided to volunteer fire brigades. This provides an incentive for businesses and individuals to donate to a valuable cause, which is of course a really good thing. It will also relieve pressure on gaining funding through other avenues.

Within my electorate of Canning there are 23 volunteer fire brigades in total. There are three within the City of Armadale: Roleystone, which is headed by Robbie Van Uden; Bedfordale, which is headed by Gavin Fancote; and the WA Fire and Rescue Service in Armadale, headed by Brian Watkins.

There are six in the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale: Byford, which is headed by Terry Mallon; Jarrahdale, headed by Paul Brodie; Keysbrook, headed by Scott Hambley; Mundijong, headed by Barry Mort; Oakford, headed by Don Wright; and Serpentine, headed by Ray Elliott.

There is only one in the City of Mandurah, mainly because it is a city, and that is headed by Jeff Stewart.

There are four in the Shire of Waroona: Waroona, headed by John Twaddle; Lake Clifton, headed by Gareth Davies; Waroona West, headed by Greg Lewis; and Preston Beach, headed by Ian Boardman.

There are four in the Shire of Boddington: Boddington Bush Fire Brigade, headed by William Batt; Marradong, which is also headed by William Batt; Quindaring, which is headed by Wayne Littleton; and Crossman, which is headed by Peter Dawson.

There are five in the Shire of Murray: Coolup, which is headed by Jim Newman; Dwellingup, where I recently attended the opening of their brand-new facilities, headed by Councillor Tim Birmingham; North Dandalup, which is headed by Lorraine Webster and captained by Michael Webster; West Murray, headed by Shane Woods; and South Yunderup-Ravenswood, headed by Jamie McBride.

My electorate has many close-knit communities along with rural areas containing farms and a number of Bush Forever and environmental tourist sites, all of which are highly deserving of the best possible fire protection. In fact, the scarp surrounding the electorate of Canning has had a sad history, unfortunately, of many bushfires through the jarrah and marri forests, none worse than the fire which almost destroyed the town of Dwellingup some 20-odd years ago. Today, we now see the magnificent volunteers who, as I said, have been resurrected in a brand-new facility, with the Shire of Murray providing the infrastructure of water tankers, trucks and all the necessities to fight large-scale bushfires in that area.

More money for volunteer fire brigades quite simply equals more infrastructure, more facilities and better provision of services. In turn, this equals a safer community in bushfire-prone areas. I want to take my hat off to the many volunteer bushfire brigade people who give of their own time, many of them for years—in fact, recently at Dwellingup they gave out lifetime membership awards to those who had done 20 or more years in the service.

In very dry, drought-prone Western Australia, unlike the well-watered eastern states at the moment, we are expecting a very, very savage bushfire season. As I said, fire brigade volunteers are to be acknowledged and congratulated because their expertise to help their communities is something that should be applauded. They get paid nothing. They are volunteers for the cause, and I want to say that I applaud their efforts to make our community safer. This measure in this bill will allow greater moneys to flow to them for infrastructure and all they require to do their job properly.