Victoria CFA chief slams plan to compensate volunteer firefighters

Victoria’s CFA chief has criticised the PM’s ‘fair dinkum’ scheme to compensate volunteers for income as SA, NSW announce deals.

Volunteer firefighters will be paid up to $300 a day to cover lost income while fighting fires. Pictured is RFS volunteer Ken Cameron Picture: News Corp

The head of Victoria’s rural fire service has criticised plans for a federal scheme to compensate volunteers for income lost while fighting fires, claiming it goes against the “spirit of volunteerism”.

Scott Morrison has announced a deal with NSW that would see Rural Fire Service NSW volunteers who are self-employed or work for small and medium businesses paid up to $300 a day — capped at $6000 per person — to cover lost income.

After Mr Morrison urged other states to consider signing on to the “fair dinkum” scheme, South Australia Emergency Services Minister Corey Wingard said SA volunteer firefighters would receive the same financial support as their NSW counterparts.

“We very much know and understand that the fires in NSW have been going for a lot longer,” he said.

“But our volunteers here have been doing an outstanding job ... so to have the same arrangements is a big positive for South Australia.” Mr Wingard said SA firefighters’ deployments to NSW would qualify to be counted for the payments, with payment details to be finalised in coming days.

The scheme comes in the wake of a series of long-running bushfires in NSW and parts of Victoria.

Announcing the deal, Mr Morrison said: “While I know RFS volunteers don’t seek payment for their service, I don’t want to see volunteers or their families unable to pay bills or struggle financially as a result of the selfless contribution they are making,” he said.

“This is not about paying volunteers. It is about sustaining our volunteer efforts by protecting them from financial loss.”

However, Country Fire Authority chief officer Steve Warrington dismissed the plan.

“We are always keen to explore opportunities to manage and reduce potential financial burdens on our members. However, it is my view and that of the CFA board that paying volunteers in general terms is not in the spirit of volunteerism,” he said.

“This is in line with what volunteers themselves and their representative body tell us.”

Victorian Police and Emer­gency Services Minister Lisa Neville agreed with Mr Warrington and also questioned the scope of the payments — whether they would also be available to other volunteers, including State Emergency Service volunteers who helped out with fires as well as those who worked in relief centres.

“I have committed to work with volunteer agencies about is there anything in the Prime Minister’s announcement that would be available for Victoria,” Ms Neville said.

“But they have made it absolutely clear to me they do not believe there should be payments to volunteers — that this is not their second job, it’s something they contribute their time and their energy to … and it’s not about payment.”

The scheme, unveiled on Sunday, follows the government’s announcement last week that commonwealth public service volunteers would get at least four weeks of paid leave to fight bushfires, which continue to rage across parts of NSW.

Fires this season have already claimed multiple lives, about 1000 homes and burned through millions of hectares of bushland. More than 80 fires continue to burn and weather conditions are set to worsen over the next 48 hours.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, who has called for volunteer firefighters to be compensated, criticised the federal government for restricting the payment to volunteers from NSW, saying it needed “a national approach”.

However, Mr Morrison said the government had entered into the arrangement with NSW, which would administer the ­payments on behalf of the commonwealth, on the expectation that other states would also sign up.

He stressed that decisions needed to be made by each of the states, which had jurisdiction over firefighting authorities.

Mr Morrison also pointed out that firefighters had not been asking for compensation.

“I haven’t had volunteer firefighters say they want to be paid,” he said.

“I do know … particularly for self-employed people (that) this is really starting to bite and really having an impact.

“We have carefully worked through how best to deal with the issue of income loss that has been suffered as a result of people ­stepping up to defend their communities.”

With AAP