By Jamie Salter
Pakenham firefighters and the community are at risk according to the United Firefighters Union (UFU) after no additional funding was allocated to Victoria’s fire services in the State Budget.
UFU secretary Peter Marshall said despite inflation being at an all-time high, the Victorian Government did not supply additional funding to improve training and equipment.
“There’s zero new money in this budget,“ Mr Marshall said.
He said Fire Rescue Victoria was falling behind international standards, with one truck crewed by four firefighters in Pakenham – an “unsafe response to fire incidents“.
“There’s enormous residential growth and only one full-time fire truck in Pakenham,“ Mr Marshall said.
“This fire truck normally requires a back-up firetruck with a minimum of seven people at a fire ground and they only have four people.
“FRV put in a request for more trucks and personnel and they’ve been completely ignored.“
FRV senior station officer Rick Read said over the past five years, the number of calls received has grown from 600 to 1000 calls annually.
“This is one of the busier growth corridors in Victoria and with increased growth is increased risk in the community,” Mr Read said.
“We’ve received an increase in calls over the past five years and the workload isn’t just fires, it includes accidents and medical responses.”
The two new FRV projects in the Victorian Budget 2022-23 are a $550,000 computer equipment and software upgrade and $310,000 for all remaining projects with a TEI less than $250,000.
These new projects are a continuations of projects allocated in the 2021-22 budget, with less funding attributed.
Mr Marshall said it was the union’s role to ensure safety of lives and property have been considered effectively in the budget.
“There’s no funding for firefighting services against a backdrop of trucks that have been in service for years and are past their extended use by date,“ he said.
“First home buyers are making a move towards the largest investment in their working life against the failure of the government to put fire protection in place to save life and property.
“Home buyers in these areas will be asking what they’re doing to protect their asset and family, given that they pay a fire levy.“
A State Government spokesperson said the Victoria spends more on fire services than any other state.
“Under our landmark Fire Services Reform, we invested $250 million into our fire services agencies, on top of operational funding provided to FRV and CFA every year,“ the spokesperson said.
“Victorians are well protected by our volunteer and career firefighters and should be in no doubt that this government will keep backing our brigades to continue this vital work.“
They said the 2022-23 Victorian Budget will invest $27.113m to uplift the skills of our volunteer firefighters to increase fire capability, implement female-friendly changing facilities at three training campuses and upgrade 40 CFA stations.
