Fire summit shuns Qld volunteers ahead of horror season

Queensland’s volunteer firefighters shunned from a national bushfire preparedness summit say the decision has caused an even bigger “disconnect” between the government fire department and rural brigades.

Queensland’s volunteer firefighters shunned from a national bushfire preparedness summit say the decision has caused an even bigger “disconnect” between the government fire department and rural brigades.

The first inaugural national bushfire preparedness summit was held in Canberra on Tuesday, however despite the summit hosting 250 attendees, invitations were not extended to volunteer service bosses in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia or Tasmania.

Instead, government-paid representatives went in their place, with Queensland Fire and Emergency Service Commissioner Greg Leach and deputy commissioners Michael Wassing and Joanne Greenfield representing Queensland’s volunteer force.

It comes after the Courier-Mail revealed deep concerns over Queensland‘s volunteer capacity this bushfire season, with an estimated 26,500 brigade members left to protect 93 per cent of the state under predicted catastrophic conditions.

Rural Fire Brigade Association Queensland (RFBAQ) general manager Justin Choveaux said the exclusion of volunteer firefighters at a bushfire summit reflected the government’s lack of respect towards the depleted service.

“Grocery suppliers are there but not the people who fight more fires than anyone else in this country,” he said.

“We’ve got over 200,000 members across Australia.

“None of them are represented, not the CFA, not New South Wales brigades, not Western Australia, not Queensland.”

But he said it was particularly offensive that the RFSQ was not able to attend to discuss their own volunteer shortages and issues, which had been caused by a “disconnect” between QFES and RFSQ.

“We’ve seen in the last 10 years, especially in Queensland, a disconnect between the fire department and fire services and rural fire brigades,” he said.

“This has caused a loss of brigade members and experience, we all know this is true.”

Ahead of the summit meeting Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt floated the idea of semi-professional seasonal firefighters to help alleviate volunteer pressures.

Senator Watt said the purpose of the summit was to ensure “all involved have a clear picture of the season ahead”.

When asked why volunteer heads weren’t invited to the summit, Senator Watt said only state and territory fire and disaster authorities who manage volunteer firefighter agencies had attended, while conceding that volunteer firefighters formed a vital part of Australia’s disaster response.

“Volunteer firefighters form a vital part of our disaster response and I know all Australians are grateful for their commitment,” he said.

Mr Watt said volunteer capabilities, both paid and volunteer, were currently being addressed through a public consultation process led by the Department of Home Affairs.

“I would welcome the Rural Fire Brigades Association Queensland putting forward their suggestions through that process,” he said.

Originally published as Fire summit shuns Qld volunteers ahead of horror season