With Labor playing its numbers game, it fast-tracked the bill there late Thursday night, where Victoria’s 11 crossbenchers will almost certainly decide its fate.
Only one day of debate was allowed for the bill, which is set to strip the CFA of its paid staff, who train and support volunteers, and merge it with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade to form a new service, Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV).
While many staff will then be seconded back to the CFA, they will be bound by a new enterprise bargaining agreement handing the United Firefighters Union (UFU) control of resources and recruitment.
The bill will also allow the UFU to dominate a new Firefighters Registration Board which accredits anyone wishing to work for FRV, including those seconded to the CFA.
Finally, it promises presumptive rights to cancer compensation for career and volunteer firefighters – legislation Victorian firefighters have long battled for.
While the bill has been bitterly opposed by Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh and the Coalition, the government told the Riverine Herald it would modernise Victorian emergency services and “enshrine” the CFA as a truly community-based volunteer organisation.
‘‘Our firefighters currently operate under systems and structures that have not changed since the 1950s, and it’s clear these services need to be modernised,’’ Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said.
‘‘Our 1220 volunteer CFA brigades will be untouched, continuing to serve their communities day-to-day.’’
But many local CFA members are less convinced, concerned the changes could see them treated as second-class citizens or worse, cause volunteer firefighter numbers to plummet.
Echuca CFA captain Rob Amos had mixed feelings about the bill’s progress.
“Let’s say it does happen, there still seems to be so many unanswered questions,” he said.
“So far we’ve been told whoever is in a role will stay in that role. But in two or three years’ time, how will that secondment model work?
‘‘It’s said the chief officer will have the final say on who is, or isn’t, employed or seconded across but again, the chief officer has to be seconded across, so how are they chosen? What say does the actual CFA have?”
While the presumptive rights legislation is good news, Mr Amos argued it should not have been tied to the fire services reform.
“If someone from the crossbench says no to FRV, we once again don’t have presumptive legislation.
‘‘So the government is essentially saying, if you want presumptive legislation, you vote for our FRV,’’ he said.
But even if presumptive legislation is successful, it could come with a catch for CFA volunteers, according to Mr Walsh.
‘‘Paid firefighters will get compensation as a right. Whereas volunteer firefighters may still have to prove they attended enough fires. And that number of fires has not been defined yet.’’
While Mr Amos said most CFA members backed fire service reforms, he was disappointed further debate on the bill was blocked.
“We probably agree on about 80 per cent of it but it’s the 20 per cent we don’t seem to be able to get much conversation on,” he said.
He added many brigades were growing increasingly concerned for their futures as more than 3000 CFA volunteers hung up their boots over the drama of the past 18 months.
But as for Echuca CFA, Mr Amos said it would be a while before the local brigade was affected by the legislation.
“Initially it will mostly affect integrated stations such as Bendigo and Shepparton. Probably the biggest issue is who our staff will be into the future. We want to make sure the people looking after us are the best for the job.”
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