A couple of years ago, a hot topic across Victoria was the CFA restructuring situation, which became a touchy political issue and caused a lot of angst and resignations.
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Sadly, as happens, life got in the way and I lost sight of what was happening in what was growing into a fiercely contentious problem. Until a few weeks ago, when Premier Daniel Andrews announced a new deal struck with the firefighters union. The range of opinions voiced over talkback radio was staggering and indicated we have here a problem without a universally acceptable solution.
It also revealed how out of touch with the issues involved I had become. However, as a resident of rural Victoria, the CFA is an organisation close to my heart, although the way it is structured is a mystery to me. At the risk of exposing my ignorance, I'd like to share thoughts that came to mind while listening to talkback contributors voicing the widest range of opinions I have heard on any topic in Australia in decades.
I first became aware of the CFA in 1983, during the Ash Wednesday fires. I had family in living in the Dandenongs, and an uncle who was a volunteer CFA fighter. It was then that I became aware that in rural Victoria the firefighters were volunteers, and in urban areas, paid employees. This has always puzzled me, as surely the importance of both are equal, and there is a lot of overlapping in the skill sets needed by each.
Especially today, as once rural areas such as Dandenong and Werribee have become extensions of the suburban sprawl, where is the line between CFA and metropolitan brigades drawn? So many Victorians owe their lives and the existence of their towns and properties to CFA volunteers. It is an extremely important role, so why do these brigades need to hold raffles and sausage sizzles, and rely on donations from organisations such as Rotary to buy the bulk of their equipment? These volunteers give up so much time to train. And when there is a fire, rather than defend their own homes, they are out there protecting everyone else's.
The new deal for Metropolitan Fire Brigade employees ensures those men and women who protect the urban regions – which really should, in my mind, include places the size of Ballan – are well paid, rested and trained. For these people, it’s a dangerous career they have chosen, one which ensures public safety and excellent working conditions. But aren't volunteers performing the same function?
Before the Ash Wednesday fires I naively, in my teenaged way, believed the CFA was something like a bunch who hung out together and played at being firefighters. My eyes were opened during those fires, as I saw a group of well-trained locals defending their communities selflessly and without hesitation. What they did was highly skilled and risky work, and too many paid for their dedication and selflessness with their lives.
In so many fairly large communities, and even here in Hepburn Shire, your neighbour in the CFA could well be saving your life in a fire. When they aren't doing that, they educating locals how to maintain their properties. I challenge readers to contact their local CFA and find out what other services they perform, all for nothing. What they do is on a par with the professional firefighters.
I once heard it said, back in the 1980s, that fire defense in rural areas was left to volunteers because it wasn't as vital or as difficult as in Melbourne. What a load of rubbish. The way the CFA has been treated and regarded recently suggests those wishing to make changes haven't spent much time with the men and women of the CFA, whose skills and knowledge are equal to professionals.
As the suburbs spread ever further, and as these places are left in the capable hands of local CFA brigades, their importance in the role of saving lives increases. Victoria is a state highly prone to fire, fire which can break out anywhere. The government has, rightly, invested a fortune in raising the standard of working conditions in Metropolitan Fire Brigades. What about the CFA? The men and women in these brigades know their business better than anyone. Where is their recognition and support?