Governments slammed on whereabouts of $25m Eurobodalla Regional Co-located Emergency Services Precinct

The whereabouts of a $25m emergency facility announced for a south coast region severely impacted by the Black Summer fires has been raised … and governments grilled over the issue. Here’s the latest.

Andrew Constance has questioned Labor on the whereabouts of the $25m facility. Picture: Tom McGann

A three-year-old commitment to construct an emergency services precinct in the Eurobodalla, after the NSW coastal region suffered through Black Summer fires, is back in the spotlight as questions cast doubt on whether the facility will ever be built.

The Black Summer Fires ripped through the region during the 2019/20 summer, highlighting the need for the precinct which would enable emergency services to work together under one roof. The region is one of the only areas in NSW lacking such a facility.

Liberal candidate for Gilmore and former Bega MP, Andrew Constance, has called out the federal and state governments for not delivering the “needed” facility.

“It’s not good enough,” Mr Constance told this publication.

“Where is it?”

A bushfire in the town of Moruya, south of Batemans Bay, in January 2020.

Anthony Albanese, Dr Michael Holland, Chris Minns and Fiona Phillips announcing the facility on January 27, 2022. Picture: Supplied

Retired SES volunteer Brett McKinney told this publication the Eurobodalla suffered during the horrific fires without such a facility.

“We had teams all over the place and it was hard to work with police, RFS – communication which is super important, was lacking,” he said.

Mr McKinney, who retired as a volunteer following Black Summer, said he was hopeful the facility would come to fruition.

“For the sake of this community, we need a facility where all teams can work together,” he said.

On January 27, 2022, then federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, then state opposition leader, Chris Minns, Gilmore MP Fiona Phillips and Bega MP Dr Michael Holland, announced a joint state and federally funded $25m ‘Eurobodalla Regional Co-located Emergency Services Precinct’.

“In remembering the horrific summer of 2019/2020, we owe it to this community to ensure all possible resilience and protection efforts are taken to prevent those same experiences ever tearing a community apart again,” Mr Minns said at the time.

The $25m facility was announced at the Eurobodalla RFS Control Centre. Picture: Tom McGann

Ms Phillips told this publication the federal portion of the funding, being $5m, was delivered in the 2022 federal budget.

“Following negotiations between the parties on how best to progress the Eurobodalla Regional Co-located Services Precinct, the $5m federal funding agreement for the Eurobodalla Regional Co-located Emergency Services Precinct was executed on August 13, 2024, enabling the project to proceed,” she said.

Ms Phillips’ office stated the remaining $20m would be provided by the NSW Government.

The NSW premier’s office has been contacted regarding whether its portion of the funding had been delivered.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said the facility, when built, would save lives.

The town of Mogo on the south coast was hit hard in Black Summer, with 17 businesses burning down. Picture: Tom McGann.

“Thousands of Australians who face bushfires, floods and cyclones every year deserve to be protected by a Federal Government who plans ahead and invests to keep them safe,” he said.

Dr Holland said he would continue working to see the precinct constructed.

“This precinct will be critical in providing support to emergency services and the community the next time natural disasters strike,” he said.

Mr Constance said the facility was important to him, having nearly lost his Malua Bay home in the 2019 fires.

“You can say you’ve put money toward it, but it’s been almost three years and we’re no where closer to having it built than before,” he said.

“This is a community who is frankly scared coming into another bushfire season and we don’t have the facility which was promised years ago.”

Mr Constance said nothing was constructed when he was in government due to the existing Eurobodalla RFS Control Centre in Moruya, but Black Summer revealed it wasn’t good enough.

“I will absolutely spearhead this if elected,” he said.

“We need it, and [Labor] know that, hence why they announced it, but now they just need to do it.”

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