A NEW report has revealed the number of volunteer firefighters in Victoria has dropped by more than 20 per cent in the last decade while the cost of firefighting services for Victorians has doubled during the same time period.
Shadow minister for emergency services and Nationals leader Danny O’Brien said the government was disrespecting the state’s volunteers and had ‘gutted’ the CFA.
“We are less safe with less firefighters and it is costing us more,” Mr O’Brien said.
“While the CFA has lost its autonomy and volunteers are driving around in 30-year-old trucks, we are paying double what we were.
“We are seeing more and more money going into Fire Rescue Victoria without a commensurate improvement in response times.”
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Victoria has just 28,906 operational CFA volunteers – less than half New South Wales’ volunteer force of 67,569, a comparison Mr O’Brien said was ‘damning’.
“It is hard to comprehend we can have less than half the number of volunteers New South Wales does, when it is not remotely compatible with our respective populations," he said.
“Volunteers are the backbone of firefighting.
"They are the ones that turn out, particularly in rural and regional areas.”
Mr O'Brien said the financial strain would only get worse if the state government pushed ahead with plans to replace the Fire Services Property Levy with a new Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund from Tuesday, 1 July.
“For the first time, we are going to be paying a levy for core government services like triple zero and Emergency Management Victoria and that is because Labor can’t manage money and can’t manage our fire services."
