❓ Mr Cowper asks about new initiatives announced at the WA Fire and Emergency Services conference. The Minister details crew protection upgrades, a volunteer hardship fund, and expansion of the volunteer fuel card program to include all brigades, groups, and units across the state.
AnsweredQoN 766Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES CONFERENCE
766. Mr M.J. COWPER to the
Minister for Emergency Services:
I understand the Western Australian Fire and Emergency
Services conference was held on the weekend and some important new initiatives
were announced. Can the minister please advise the house what specifically he
has got for our emergency services portfolio?
Ms
M.M. Quirk interjected.
The SPEAKER : Finished? I call
you to order for the first time.
766. Mr M.J. COWPER to the
Minister for Emergency Services:
I understand the Western Australian Fire and Emergency
Services conference was held on the weekend and some important new initiatives
were announced. Can the minister please advise the house what specifically he
has got for our emergency services portfolio?
Ms
M.M. Quirk interjected.
The SPEAKER : Finished? I call
you to order for the first time.
AnswerView source ↗
I have not even started. It is one
of those days.
I thank the member for his question
and for his continued support for emergency services volunteers in his
electorate. At the start of this year they had a pretty tough time with some
bushfires out there. I know the member was a great support to not just his
community —
Mr
M.J. Cowper interjected.
Mr
J.M. FRANCIS : That is right; I went to Waroona with him. He was a great
support to not only the community but also those volunteers. Well done.
Last
weekend just gone was the fifth annual volunteer emergency services conference
hosted by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services—the fifth one
in a row. Over 700 volunteers from across the state attended. I particularly
acknowledge those who travelled significant distance to attend from all
branches—marine sea rescue, volunteer bush fire brigades and volunteer
emergency services across the state. They all came together in Perth over the
weekend to get together to learn some practical skills and to share
experiences, both good and bad, to teach each other what they had learnt, both
right and wrong. It was also an opportunity for us to talk about the future. In
particular, we were proud to announce the next stage of the crew protection
rollout, which includes not only the water deluge system—the spray bars
around the truck—and the critical component heat lagging for fuel and
oil lines underneath it, but also the replacement of almost everything plastic
on the outside and underneath the truck, such as the rubber mudguards, remade
into aluminium. In fact, the plastic mouldings on the doors have been all
remade into aluminium panels so that things cannot melt or burn, because we are
absolutely committed to implementing our $15.4 million program to make our fire
trucks as modern as possible and as safe as possible to protect the lives of
the volunteers who put their life on the line on behalf of the community.
Additionally, we kicked off the $1
million volunteer hardship fund so that when volunteers from any of the
branches of emergency services are doing it a bit tough, they can put up their
hand and, hopefully, we can help them out as they help out their community when
the rest of the community does it tough. Lastly, we looked at the volunteer
fuel card announced last week. Obviously, there are over 850 brigades, groups
and units—BGUs—outside the Perth metropolitan fire district and
outside the metropolitan area. Unfortunately, on the initial planning, 41-odd
brigades, groups and units, including volunteer sea rescue up in Whitfords,
down at Rockingham and up at Hillarys, including all the brigades within the
Perth metropolitan area, would have missed out—41 of them. I am glad to
announce that we will now include every single brigade, group and unit across
the state as part of that $2 000 volunteer fuel card rollout, so we can
acknowledge the contribution volunteers make, the cost of training them, the
cost of being part of a particular unit and, hopefully, in a small way,
acknowledging their particular contribution.
of those days.
I thank the member for his question
and for his continued support for emergency services volunteers in his
electorate. At the start of this year they had a pretty tough time with some
bushfires out there. I know the member was a great support to not just his
community —
Mr
M.J. Cowper interjected.
Mr
J.M. FRANCIS : That is right; I went to Waroona with him. He was a great
support to not only the community but also those volunteers. Well done.
Last
weekend just gone was the fifth annual volunteer emergency services conference
hosted by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services—the fifth one
in a row. Over 700 volunteers from across the state attended. I particularly
acknowledge those who travelled significant distance to attend from all
branches—marine sea rescue, volunteer bush fire brigades and volunteer
emergency services across the state. They all came together in Perth over the
weekend to get together to learn some practical skills and to share
experiences, both good and bad, to teach each other what they had learnt, both
right and wrong. It was also an opportunity for us to talk about the future. In
particular, we were proud to announce the next stage of the crew protection
rollout, which includes not only the water deluge system—the spray bars
around the truck—and the critical component heat lagging for fuel and
oil lines underneath it, but also the replacement of almost everything plastic
on the outside and underneath the truck, such as the rubber mudguards, remade
into aluminium. In fact, the plastic mouldings on the doors have been all
remade into aluminium panels so that things cannot melt or burn, because we are
absolutely committed to implementing our $15.4 million program to make our fire
trucks as modern as possible and as safe as possible to protect the lives of
the volunteers who put their life on the line on behalf of the community.
Additionally, we kicked off the $1
million volunteer hardship fund so that when volunteers from any of the
branches of emergency services are doing it a bit tough, they can put up their
hand and, hopefully, we can help them out as they help out their community when
the rest of the community does it tough. Lastly, we looked at the volunteer
fuel card announced last week. Obviously, there are over 850 brigades, groups
and units—BGUs—outside the Perth metropolitan fire district and
outside the metropolitan area. Unfortunately, on the initial planning, 41-odd
brigades, groups and units, including volunteer sea rescue up in Whitfords,
down at Rockingham and up at Hillarys, including all the brigades within the
Perth metropolitan area, would have missed out—41 of them. I am glad to
announce that we will now include every single brigade, group and unit across
the state as part of that $2 000 volunteer fuel card rollout, so we can
acknowledge the contribution volunteers make, the cost of training them, the
cost of being part of a particular unit and, hopefully, in a small way,
acknowledging their particular contribution.
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