Peter Gleeson: Fireys under assault as Palaszczuk caves to union

The Palaszczuk Government is about to cave in to the powerful firefighters union by ditching emergency services and disaster management from the fire department, writes Peter Gleeson.

The Palaszczuk Government is about to cave in to the powerful firefighters union by ditching emergency services and disaster management from the fire department - a move the rank and file says will endanger lives.

Queensland’s Fire and Emergency Services would be merged with the rural fire brigade to form a mega department with its own Commissioner.

Emergency services and disaster management would go to the embattled police department.

Critics say the government move is to appease the United Firefighters Union and is in direct contravention of warnings from public service reviewer Peter Coaldrake.

Professor Coaldrake referred to the expensive practice of splitting government departments and functions as being “mogged’’.

A highly placed source said: “The first question to ask is has QFES failed since its inception in 2014? Has it in all those events (flood, fire, cyclone) across these years ever failed to protect Queenslanders? (The) Answer of course is no.

Queensland’s Fire and Emergency Services may be merged with the rural fire brigade to form a mega department with its own Commissioner. Picture: Zizi Averill

“Other states look at Queensland with envy about how we have joined up a coalition of emergency services, unlike the separate agencies that exist in other states.

“The recent NSW floods and the problems that impacted those communities during their time of need speak volumes for the need to have emergency services joined up.

“It’s happening only because the UFU want it to happen, as they don’t like being associated with other emergency services, simply because they have big egos and consider themselves as special and above all others. They also want their own Commissioner.

“The change will simply reduce community safety and as outlined by Coaldrake it will cost a lot of dollars for a negative impact.

“Additionally, the UFU is also now seeking to be the ones who select Deputy and Assistant Commissioners.

“The preference and encouragement message gets passed on by the Minister’s office.

“This is very similar to what happens in Victoria where the UFU dominate the sector entirely.

“They also don’t like females in senior roles and are actively character assassinating a number of female leaders.’’

Fire and Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan said it was “well known” that the Government has been considering a number of reviews in relation to Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.

“This includes the SES review, the QFES Independent Review and the IGEM review into the South East Queensland Rainfall and Flooding Event,” he said.

“As publicly stated by the Minister on a number of occasions, including at Estimates, all of these reviews are under consideration by Government and no decisions have been made.

“Government continues to engage with the relevant stakeholders involved, including the Rural Fire Brigades Association Queensland and the SES Volunteer Association, in relation to these matters.”

Critics are fearful that potential changes to the Queensland fire department will reduce community safety. Picture: Zizi Averill

In Prof Coaldrake’s report he talks of the impact of Machinery of Government (MOG) changes.

“MOG changes mostly do not register on the public radar. But they do matter within government,” he said.

They also matter to the community because they tend to affect those agencies whose role it is to deliver services on the ground to communities.

“MOG changes can be very expensive and disruptive, with one adviser suggesting that something as simple as an agency name change can cost in the vicinity of $5 million to rollout across the State.

“They also can be associated with ongoing turf wars, and can impede the building or maintenance of esprit de corps.

“Some MOG changes have become so predictable with shifting political winds that they have become cynically known as ‘plug and play’ arrangements, and the process of being regularly shifted around referred to as ‘being MOGGED’.

“Successive waves of MOG changes in Queensland over the last 10 years have led to the creation or dissolution of mega-departments, sometimes in short succession.

“MOG movements obviously affect the number of ministers and reporting departments as well as the relationships among them.

“MOG changes also tend not to affect the core central agencies of Premier and Treasurer, nor the largest agencies like Health and Education, though these may undergo their own internal seismic movements.’’