Mayor Greg Williamson slams Minister Mark Ryan’s delay of SES report release

Pressure is reaching boiling point over the refusal to publicly release the SES review gathering dust on a shelf with one mayor saying it ‘smacks of everything that is anti-democracy’.

A Mackay civic leader has slammed the SES report’s delayed release as “audacious” and “smack(ing) of everything that is anti-democracy”.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said the Darby SES report was presented to the state government in 2020 but has never “seen the light of day”.

“That was a huge report about the SES in Queensland, its effectiveness and what needs to be done to make it more effective,” Cr Williamson said.

“It’s a little bit audacious by the government to say, ‘Well we’ve got this report and we’re not going to tell you’.

“We have no idea (why).”

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson. Picture: Duncan Evans

Cr Williamson brought his concerns to the recent sitting of the Regional Queensland Council of Mayors with mayors across the state discussing how they could pressure on the government for its release.

“(It’s) just not the way that government should treat its constituents,” Cr Williamson said.

Independent consultant Campbell Darby and SES Director Brian Cox conducted the report back in 2019, which included interviews with 51 councils and 32 SES groups, as well as a whopping 488 submissions.

Fire and Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan at a press conference in South Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan, who received the report on July 1, 2020, is yet to confirm when it will be made public.

“There’s been very little put out at all by the Minister or any of the departmental representatives,” Cr Williamson said.

“There’s nothing you can do in terms of making solutions in a democracy, unless you uncover the problems.

“It just smacks of everything that’s anti-democracy.”

Minister for Fire and Emergency Services Mark Ryan, despite being asked multiple times, has not announced a date for when the SES report will be released to the public.

When asked for an update, Mr Ryan responded the state government was also considering a separate review.

“This government values the role of the thousands of SES volunteers who keep communities safe,” Mr Ryan said.

“That’s why a broader independent review of Queensland Fire and Emergency Services has been conducted.”

It is understood SES members are dissatisfied with how the state government has treated them since the amalgamation with QFES.

There are reports the volunteer association has reached a crisis point in underfunding and low membership levels.

SES Mackay local controller Alex McPhee. Picture: Tara Miko

The QLD SES Volunteers Association has now given its support to the RQCOM in a bid for Mr Ryan to finally release the report.

SES Mackay controller Alex McPhee said they eagerly awaited the findings of both the SES and QFES reviews.

But Cr Williamson said he had “very little faith” the public would ever see the SES report.

“Because if they haven’t done it in a couple of years, it’s unlikely they’re going to do it before the end of this term of government,” he said.