Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday night I had the pleasure of attending the Belgrave Fire Brigade's 100th birthday celebration. It was a wonderful night—an amazing opportunity to hear about the work that the Belgrave CFA have done in our community. All life members and all current members were given commemorative medals. It was great to see the pride and the energy in the room. The CFA plays such an important role in my electorate of Casey. They're there when we need them during emergencies. Traditionally it has been with bushfires, but the Belgrave CFA have been innovative. The June storms of 2021 impacted our communities greatly. They've now got a specialised strike team, all chainsaw trained, so they can get up into the Dandenongs and get into residences to help residents. It's just one example of the amazing work of the Belgrave CFA, volunteering their time to protect our community.

It was also great to see many other CFAs, including Silvan, Monbulk and Selby, there as well to celebrate and support them, because they know, in an emergency, they rely on each other to come and help their towns. The CFAs in Victoria play such a vital role in providing surge capacity. I was talking to Nick from the Belgrave CFA on Saturday night. He was talking about his time up in Flowerdale, assisting the communities there. It's such vital work that they do in Casey, in Victoria and across the nation. It was an honour to be there to celebrate with them, and I thank them for all for their service to our country.