View the recording of this speech here.
Record of Proceedings, 1 May 2024
Emergency Services Reform Amendment Bill; State Emergency Service Bill; Marine Rescue Queensland Bill; Disaster Management and Other Legislation Amendment Bill Second Reading (Cognate Debate)
During my contribution I will confine my comments to the Disaster Management and Other Legislation Amendment Bill as it relates to fire services. I declare, as I have in the committee process, that I am a member of a rural fire brigade—my volunteer ID is 195990—but I do not think it impacts my ability to contribute to this debate.
Mr Stevens: It enhances it.
I will take that interjection from the member for Mermaid Beach. The fact is that this bill, as it relates to rural firies, at best shows a lack of respect for volunteers and at worst is a full-on attack on volunteers. As the shadow minister said yesterday, that is why the LNP is opposing clause 31 of the bill, which is about the creation of two separate entities. We will be voting against it in consideration in detail because the basis on which that is done is not good for volunteers, it is not good for rural firies and it is not good for rural and regional Queensland, where they rely on rural firefighters protecting upwards of some 90 per cent of the land in Queensland.
I want to acknowledge the member for Theodore, Mr Boothman—who was the deputy chair of the committee—for his work in consulting with rural firies throughout this process. He did a lot of work in that respect and brought a lot of knowledge to the committee process. I know that in his contribution he said he was a former SES member—a class 3 chainsaw operator, I understand. That shows the difference between members on this side of the House and members on that side of the House. We go out and get our hands dirty as volunteers in these organisations and build links in those communities to represent them in this place and express their concerns about this bill.
One of the issues that has come up is concerns about who will control rural bushfires, and the member for Theodore spoke about that. There is confusion in the bill about who will do that, especially where the first officer is not available. What we need to remember, and what is not reflected in this bill, as I understand it, is that to the maximum extent possible there should always be local control when it comes to rural bushfires. The electorate I represent has been through some horrific bushfire events in the past few years, especially in 2019. I know for a fact that local knowledge was key to combating those fires, especially the ones we saw at Canungra, Sarabah, Tarome, Maroon, Carney’s Creek, Rathdowney and Mount Barney. There were significant fire issues, and there is no possibility that people who do not live in that community truly understand the lay of the land when it comes to bushfires. That is why local control is so important, but that does not seem to be reinforced by the provisions of this bill.
After those disasters in 2019 I spoke with a lot of local volunteers. I heard their voices and the frustration they felt when people from head office in Kedron, people who are in the employ of QFES, overrode their local knowledge in the management of those bushfires to the detriment of the overall management of those fires. A lot of people think those fires ran for a lot longer and did a lot more damage than they should have because local knowledge was not heeded. This bill does not do anything to improve that situation. One of the reasons we are opposing clause 31 is because it is informed on the wrong basis altogether.
The other point which has been highlighted by many people is the lack of consultation. The seven-day submission period during the committee process was far too short for people to put together a formal submission. We know there has been talk about changes to the structure of QFES over the last several years, but none of that was conducted on the basis of what is in this bill. It was conducted on a different basis altogether, and that is why people feel cheated. Volunteers feel cheated. They feel like they have been given the cold shoulder by the government in terms of what has come into this bill because it has not been properly consulted on across all Rural Fire Service volunteers in Queensland.
Brigade finances are another hot-button issue for local rural fire brigades not only in my electorate but across the state. There is one question people want answered: after 30 June will brigade money become state money?
Mr Last: Hear, hear!
I will take that interjection. During the committee hearing I asked this question of departmental officials who were there, and they gave a not very clear answer at all. The minister should give a clear answer. They said that brigades will have access to their money, but under a delegation. A delegation from whom? A delegation from the commissioner? A delegation from the minister? A delegation from someone in the state? That means that after 30 June brigade money is state money, and that is an absolutely disgraceful state of affairs because a lot of that money has been fundraised by communities.
A lot of fundraising activity will continue after 1 July because people are community spirited when it comes to rural fire services. The people I represent are proud to be self-reliant, to look after their own communities and to take care of their own country. Why should communities fundraise after 1 July when those funds are going to become state money and available only under a delegation from the commissioner, the minister or another person within the bureaucracy? That is not right, because delegations can be taken away at the stroke of a pen. This will disempower communities, volunteers and the people who fundraise for them.
We all have examples of this in our local communities. Every second Friday night, or thereabouts, at the local pub in Boonah, people sell raffle tickets for meat trays to raise money for the brigade I am a part of. It is hard work for communities. What incentive will they have to do that when brigade money becomes state money? These questions need to be answered.
The other issue that arose was about the loss of the current status of brigades as independent bodies and whether that will affect the donations that people make to them. Also, how will government regulations impact rural fire stations and the standards that they need to adhere to given the bureaucracy and regulations that come with becoming a government body? There are questions about that, how much it will cost and who will pay for it, and the impact it will have on the brigades that, until this point, have been proud, independent, community-based organisations. Their independence certainly seems to be under threat from this bill because they are becoming part of the state apparatus both financially and operationally.
The member for Theodore spoke about the lack of training for level 2 and level 3 incident controllers and whether training opportunities will be available for volunteers within rural fire brigades. That is where the bar has been raised to in terms of having control over events. There are very few level 3 incident controllers around the state at the moment. If more are not trained and put into volunteer organisations, when we have another bushfire like we saw in the Scenic Rim in 2019 when the fire blazed for weeks, the event will be controlled by people from outside the community. That is not right. Those sitting in Kedron, in Brisbane or outside of the country areas do not have enough local knowledge to control such fires. This bill does not recognise that fact. At the very least, there should be a requirement for a dual operating status so that, if there is to be input from Kedron or from Brisbane, then a local volunteer is in place as well to help direct the management of that fire. As we all know, especially members in this House who represent rural and regional Queensland, no-one knows the backblocks in the Main Range or south of Rathdowney like the people who live and work there every day, who run their cattle there, who get up in the corners of their properties and know where to put in firebreaks to control fires.
A great story came out of Canungra in 2019. The spread of the fire was prevented only by the knowledge of a local person who managed to get a dozer down a very steep embankment to put in a firebreak, which prevented the fire getting any closer to the town. We were very lucky in Canungra in 2019, but that came down to local knowledge and input. I have grave fears about the impact of this bill on that process.
(Time expired)