Michaelia Cash demands Labor rein in firefighters’ union bullies

Workplace minister Michaelia Cash has demanded Labor leader Bill Shorten rein in the firefighting union bullies.

Workplace minister Michaelia Cash. Picture: Shae Beplate

Workplace minister Michaelia Cash has demanded Labor leader Bill Shorten and the Victorian government rein in the firefighters union following allegations that its members had bullied 10 senior firefighters into early retirement during a 15-year campaign of intimidation.

“The UFU has a disgraceful history of bullying that should have been addressed long ago,” she told The Australian last night.

“The silence from Labor leaders Bill Shorten and Daniel Andrews on the militant union’s behaviour has been deafening.”

The allegations of systemic bullying were revealed after The Weekend Australian obtained documents that highlighted astonishing claims of harassment, including one case of a senior commander being sent a bullet in the mail after seeking a promotion without the union’s approval. Other claimants in the potential multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the Victorian government say they received anonymous phone calls accusing them of being “scabs”.

Yesterday, Victoria’s Minister for Emergency Services, James Merlino, said the government was waiting for court proceedings to be finalised before it would respond to a report into the alleged bullying culture within the state’s fire services.

The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission has completed a review into reports of sexism and bullying at the Country Fire Authority and Metropolitan Fire Brigade, but its release has been delayed because of court action.

The United Firefighters Union launched a court bid in June to stop the commission’s review being ­released, weeks before the findings were due, alleging that its methodology was “seriously flawed”.

Yesterday, Mr Merlino said it would not respond to specific details of bullying until the report was released. “We look forward to the report from VEOHRC but ultimately that’s a matter for the court and the parties on that report — but we asked for it, we want to see it and we will respond to it,” Mr Merlino said.

“We’ve got deep-seated cultural issues within our fire services that date back decades. We’re already doing some things — we’re not waiting for the report, we’ve made some strong commitments, heavy investments in tackling culture and diversity.”

Opposition spokesman for emergency services Brad Battin said the report needed to be released immediately. “The allegations from senior firefighters match the ongoing bullying we’ve seen from the fire services for the last few years,” he said. “It’s time Daniel Andrews works with (UFU state secretary) Peter Marshall and makes sure the VEOHRC report is out.”