❓ Mr. Jacob raises concerns about insurance arrangements for volunteer marine rescue services. Minister Buswell acknowledges the issue, explains the historical context and current legal advice, and assures the House that the government will ensure continuity of insurance cover while a solution is found.
AnsweredQoN 381Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
VOLUNTEER MARINE RESCUE SERVICES —
INSURANCE
381. Mr A.P. JACOB to the Minister for Emergency Services:
I acknowledge in the Speaker's gallery today the
members of the Wanneroo Business Association from the electorate of the member
for Wanneroo.
It was revealed that there are issues with the insurance
arrangements for the three volunteer marine rescue services, including the
Whitfords Volunteer Sea Rescue Group, which operates out of my electorate of
Ocean Reef. Could the minister please update the house on what steps the
government is taking to quickly remedy this situation?
INSURANCE
381. Mr A.P. JACOB to the Minister for Emergency Services:
I acknowledge in the Speaker's gallery today the
members of the Wanneroo Business Association from the electorate of the member
for Wanneroo.
It was revealed that there are issues with the insurance
arrangements for the three volunteer marine rescue services, including the
Whitfords Volunteer Sea Rescue Group, which operates out of my electorate of
Ocean Reef. Could the minister please update the house on what steps the
government is taking to quickly remedy this situation?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Ocean Reef for his question and for
his longstanding interest in volunteer marine rescue organisations around the
state. I, too, have a VMRS, as distinct from his Whitfords group, in Busselton.
As a state, we are blessed with a wonderful marine and aquatic environment that
a lot of us enjoy. The extension to that is that we need a suitable marine
rescue service the length and breadth of the state to look after those of us,
as we both know, member for Ocean Reef, who occasionally need rescuing when out
at sea.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
You need rescuing on dry land!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
hope it is not by the member for Midland, who is dressed in orange. We could
sign her up with the State Emergency Service today!
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
Have you got something against orange?
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
No, not at all.
In the metropolitan area, the arrangements are somewhat
different from those in the rest of the state due to a range of historic
factors. There are essentially three marine rescue groups—Whitfords,
Cockburn and Fremantle. They operate under the umbrella of an incorporated
organisation known as the Metropolitan Volunteer Sea Rescue Group. As I said,
for a range of historic reasons, they operate at arm's length from the
Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and operate somewhat
differently from the VMRS units that sit around regional Western Australia. The
relationship between these organisations and FESA is generally described
through a memorandum of understanding. The original memorandum of understanding
was set up by the member for Midland in 2004 and was subsequently resigned in
2012, as I recollect. Under that memorandum of understanding, there are a range
of obligations on FESA and the organisations. One of the obligations on FESA is
to provide insurance for the organisations and their volunteers. That insurance
has traditionally been provided by FESA through RiskCover. We sought some advice
from RiskCover about a range of matters affecting volunteers, because we are
keen to make sure that we protect and assist our volunteers whenever we can.
The advice that we received from the State Solicitor's Office was
effectively that because of the arms-length nature of the arrangement between
the metropolitan groups and FESA, RiskCover could not provide insurance. That
advice was provided to those three groups yesterday.
Mr A.P. O'Gorman :
That was done in 2004 as well.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : So we got State Solicitor's advice in 2004 when we
were in opposition; is that what we did, member for Joondalup? The member would
not have a clue what we did in 2004. We were not in government in 2004.
Mr A.P. O'Gorman interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Joondalup!
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : We got legal advice that indicated that RiskCover could not
provide that insurance. My view on this is very straightforward. Firstly, if
those groups choose to remain independent of FESA, at arm's length, we
will support that; and, secondly, FESA has an obligation under that memorandum
of understanding to provide insurance. I expect it to resolve those issues over
the next day or two and I expect FESA to provide a solution to each of those
three groups either collectively or independently. In the interim, I can state,
and will communicate this to those groups this afternoon, that if issues arise
in what would traditionally be called insurance-related matters, the government
will stand behind each of those groups while we deal with this technicality.
Why? It is because we think it is very important that they have continuity of
insurance cover.
I also need to point out to the house that another issue
emerged in the advice provided to government by the State Solicitor's
Office, and it relates to the application of section 37 of the Fire and
Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia Act. Section 37 basically
deals with the provision of an immunity from civil liability to a range of
volunteer emergency service workers and employees of FESA across the state.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
Which I put in place.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
Which the member for Midland put in place and which is fantastic. The only
problem is that when the member put it in place, she excluded the members of
these three groups.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
No, I didn't.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
She most certainly did, and that is exactly what the State Solicitor's
advice has told us. The sad reality is that if the member for Midland had done
her job properly, we would not have to be fixing up the mess now.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
They had no protection—any of them—before I put that in place.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
The member for Midland provided no protection to these people. She is like an
umbrella made of air or glad wrap; she provided no protection.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
None of them in the State Emergency Service had protection. It was a first.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
The reality is that on the State Solicitor's advice these three groups
do not enjoy the immunity from civil liability that has been provided to other
volunteers and other employees of FESA across the state. That is a very serious
issue and it is complicated. W e will have to work through that with these groups. I think it is a separate but
related issue to the insurance issue. Work is also starting on that today because that advice was drawn to our
attention by the State Solicitor's Office. The government's
approach is that it has recognised the issue and it is resolving the issue
around insurance. We will stand
behind those organisations, as we should, until that insurance issue is dealt
with. However, we have also uncovered a long-term issue.
Thank heavens we did, member for Midland. Thank heavens we uncovered how lazy
the member for Midland was when she was in government, because if we had not,
this would have been uncovered at the sad end of a court case when a volunteer
in one of those three groups was left to hang out to dry by the former
government. That is what would have happened.
Before I conclude, I reflect on some comments from the member
for Girrawheen, the shadow Minister for Emergency Services. If she is going to
put out a press release full of ill-informed and sensationalist comments, she
should at least spell her name right! I do not think it is Q-U-E-I-K.
Mr J.N. Hyde : That's
the best you can do? Why don't you talk about policy? You're a
buffoon.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : No, it is not, member for Perth! I reflect on two of the
statements. She said —
''The withdrawal of
insurance cover is a standover tactic
The government has been provided with advice from RiskCover
and we have passed that advice on to the body, yet that is determined as a
standover tactic. Rubbish! It is an issue that the former government created
and that we are resolving. The second thing the member for Girrawheen, as a person
who attended the Margaret River fires public meeting and tried to stir the
crowds into a frenzy to demand the head of a volunteer, dare says is —
''It is clumsy and treats
volunteers with contempt.
How can it be clumsy and treat volunteers with contempt when in and around the issue of immunity
from civil liability we are
fixing a problem that the Labor government refused to deal with?
his longstanding interest in volunteer marine rescue organisations around the
state. I, too, have a VMRS, as distinct from his Whitfords group, in Busselton.
As a state, we are blessed with a wonderful marine and aquatic environment that
a lot of us enjoy. The extension to that is that we need a suitable marine
rescue service the length and breadth of the state to look after those of us,
as we both know, member for Ocean Reef, who occasionally need rescuing when out
at sea.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
You need rescuing on dry land!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
hope it is not by the member for Midland, who is dressed in orange. We could
sign her up with the State Emergency Service today!
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
Have you got something against orange?
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
No, not at all.
In the metropolitan area, the arrangements are somewhat
different from those in the rest of the state due to a range of historic
factors. There are essentially three marine rescue groups—Whitfords,
Cockburn and Fremantle. They operate under the umbrella of an incorporated
organisation known as the Metropolitan Volunteer Sea Rescue Group. As I said,
for a range of historic reasons, they operate at arm's length from the
Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and operate somewhat
differently from the VMRS units that sit around regional Western Australia. The
relationship between these organisations and FESA is generally described
through a memorandum of understanding. The original memorandum of understanding
was set up by the member for Midland in 2004 and was subsequently resigned in
2012, as I recollect. Under that memorandum of understanding, there are a range
of obligations on FESA and the organisations. One of the obligations on FESA is
to provide insurance for the organisations and their volunteers. That insurance
has traditionally been provided by FESA through RiskCover. We sought some advice
from RiskCover about a range of matters affecting volunteers, because we are
keen to make sure that we protect and assist our volunteers whenever we can.
The advice that we received from the State Solicitor's Office was
effectively that because of the arms-length nature of the arrangement between
the metropolitan groups and FESA, RiskCover could not provide insurance. That
advice was provided to those three groups yesterday.
Mr A.P. O'Gorman :
That was done in 2004 as well.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : So we got State Solicitor's advice in 2004 when we
were in opposition; is that what we did, member for Joondalup? The member would
not have a clue what we did in 2004. We were not in government in 2004.
Mr A.P. O'Gorman interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Joondalup!
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : We got legal advice that indicated that RiskCover could not
provide that insurance. My view on this is very straightforward. Firstly, if
those groups choose to remain independent of FESA, at arm's length, we
will support that; and, secondly, FESA has an obligation under that memorandum
of understanding to provide insurance. I expect it to resolve those issues over
the next day or two and I expect FESA to provide a solution to each of those
three groups either collectively or independently. In the interim, I can state,
and will communicate this to those groups this afternoon, that if issues arise
in what would traditionally be called insurance-related matters, the government
will stand behind each of those groups while we deal with this technicality.
Why? It is because we think it is very important that they have continuity of
insurance cover.
I also need to point out to the house that another issue
emerged in the advice provided to government by the State Solicitor's
Office, and it relates to the application of section 37 of the Fire and
Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia Act. Section 37 basically
deals with the provision of an immunity from civil liability to a range of
volunteer emergency service workers and employees of FESA across the state.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
Which I put in place.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
Which the member for Midland put in place and which is fantastic. The only
problem is that when the member put it in place, she excluded the members of
these three groups.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
No, I didn't.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
She most certainly did, and that is exactly what the State Solicitor's
advice has told us. The sad reality is that if the member for Midland had done
her job properly, we would not have to be fixing up the mess now.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
They had no protection—any of them—before I put that in place.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
The member for Midland provided no protection to these people. She is like an
umbrella made of air or glad wrap; she provided no protection.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
None of them in the State Emergency Service had protection. It was a first.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
The reality is that on the State Solicitor's advice these three groups
do not enjoy the immunity from civil liability that has been provided to other
volunteers and other employees of FESA across the state. That is a very serious
issue and it is complicated. W e will have to work through that with these groups. I think it is a separate but
related issue to the insurance issue. Work is also starting on that today because that advice was drawn to our
attention by the State Solicitor's Office. The government's
approach is that it has recognised the issue and it is resolving the issue
around insurance. We will stand
behind those organisations, as we should, until that insurance issue is dealt
with. However, we have also uncovered a long-term issue.
Thank heavens we did, member for Midland. Thank heavens we uncovered how lazy
the member for Midland was when she was in government, because if we had not,
this would have been uncovered at the sad end of a court case when a volunteer
in one of those three groups was left to hang out to dry by the former
government. That is what would have happened.
Before I conclude, I reflect on some comments from the member
for Girrawheen, the shadow Minister for Emergency Services. If she is going to
put out a press release full of ill-informed and sensationalist comments, she
should at least spell her name right! I do not think it is Q-U-E-I-K.
Mr J.N. Hyde : That's
the best you can do? Why don't you talk about policy? You're a
buffoon.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : No, it is not, member for Perth! I reflect on two of the
statements. She said —
''The withdrawal of
insurance cover is a standover tactic
The government has been provided with advice from RiskCover
and we have passed that advice on to the body, yet that is determined as a
standover tactic. Rubbish! It is an issue that the former government created
and that we are resolving. The second thing the member for Girrawheen, as a person
who attended the Margaret River fires public meeting and tried to stir the
crowds into a frenzy to demand the head of a volunteer, dare says is —
''It is clumsy and treats
volunteers with contempt.
How can it be clumsy and treat volunteers with contempt when in and around the issue of immunity
from civil liability we are
fixing a problem that the Labor government refused to deal with?
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