Mr  J. BULL (Sunbury) — I am very pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this important bill, the Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Bill 2017. This is a landmark bill. It will modernise, enhance and bring our firefighting services into the 21st century. This bill is fundamentally about safety and about security, and it is a bill that addresses the changing nature of our great state.

Before I go to the key changes in the legislation this afternoon I just want to put on the record my thanks and appreciation for the hard work, dedication and commitment of every one of Victoria’s hardworking firefighters. Our Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB), our Country Fire Authority (CFA) paid staff and our CFA volunteers all do an incredible job in serving and protecting our communities. These men and women run towards danger, not away from it, every single time that danger presents.

We have a very proud record in this state of some incredible firefighters. No matter the danger, no matter the risk, they turn up and do their job week in, week out. I want to particularly thank the Tullamarine MFB and the Sunbury, Diggers Rest, Bulla and Wildwood CFA brigades who all serve our community proudly. These brave men and women, many of whom I know, are there when our community needs them the most. I also want to put on the record my thanks to all of our emergency services, including Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and the State Emergency Service.

I have known Brian Scown of the Sunbury CFA for many years, and Brian is someone I respect immensely. He has served his community with passion and dedication for a number of years. I would also like to thank my great friend the member for Frankston, who I know has served his community for 18 years and has a great deal of knowledge in this area. He is a person of great integrity and a member who has been through a lot during his career.

Similarly I would also like to acknowledge the hard work of and my appreciation for the member for Yan Yean, who has served her community proudly as a volunteer for over 12 years. She has always passionately dedicated herself to her community.

The Andrews Labor government is committed to ensuring that all firefighters are protected and ensuring the safety of all Victorians. A number of members this afternoon have spoken of our significant population growth. We know that as our state evolves our fire risk increases and our environment changes. The safety of our people and our assets is paramount and this underpins everything that this government does. Even those opposite have to agree that a government’s first priority is the safety of its people.

Where this legislation is critical and so fundamentally important is that we know that world-class firefighters need a system of support around them that modernises the structures and that reflects the changing risks and the changing nature of our community. It is no secret that over the past 10 years there have been eight reviews into our firefighting services and that it has been made clear that our system needs to change. We know that a number of the mechanisms in relation to our firefighting services were set up in the 1950s. There are certainly some who think we are still there, but this is 2017, and with that comes much change in terms of technology. If we think of mobile phones, computers and all the things that we use each and every day, we know that we have experienced much change over this 67-year period.

One of the first things that struck me about the changes outlined in this bill is that both the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act and the Country Fire Authority Act are from 1958. In 1958 Henry Bolte was the Premier of Victoria, Dwight Eisenhower was the President of the United States and Harold Macmillan was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. We also know that Elvis Presley, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald were all outstanding singers of the time.

Mr Pearson interjected.

Mr J. BULL — The member for Essendon just said that they are all on his iPod and that he comes in each morning with those singers, ready to go. When you think about 1958, that is certainly something to think about. We know that the Vietnam War had just begun. Believe it or not, Melbourne Football Club was a powerhouse in the VFL in the 1950s.

If we fast forward to 2017, we see that Victoria’s population is growing faster than any other state or territory in the nation. Last year Victoria grew by 127 500 people in the year to 30 September and reached 6.1 million, as reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Critically the bulk of this population growth is within Melbourne and on the outer metropolitan fringes and growth corridors — Sunbury being one of those. We know that as our state grows and changes, the demands on our fire services will continue to mount. These challenges have been highlighted in the reviews that I mentioned earlier.

The changes in this bill will ensure that we build on the great strengths and expertise of Victoria’s firefighters and fill the gaps and fix the flaws that for too long have inhibited their work. Fundamentally these changes will better support the men and women, whether career or volunteer, who keep Victorian communities safe. Volunteers are, and will remain, vital to our response. Under these changes the Country Fire Authority will revert to a volunteer firefighter organisation.

We will also create Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV), bringing together Metropolitan Fire Brigade and CFA career firefighters from the existing 35 integrated stations. FRV will service metropolitan Melbourne and our major regional centres. For our career firefighters this reform will mean that resources, structures and working conditions do not depend upon an arbitrary distinction between city and country. My area and a number of other areas are reflective of this. This will mean that Victorians can rely on the best fire and emergency service response, regardless of where they live. In the future our firefighting services will be able to adapt as Victoria grows.

On top of this the bill delivers to career and volunteer firefighters who access claims for cancer compensation a legal presumption that the cause of their cancer was firefighting. These laws recognise the invaluable service provided by firefighters, which often require them to work in inherently dangerous situations. The program will be administered through WorkSafe. The new scheme will apply to career and volunteer firefighters who have served as firefighters for the relevant number of years, depending on the cancer type.

This is an incredibly important piece of legislation, one that goes to the safety, the protection and the inherent value of the critical work that our firefighters do right across the state, whether it is in the city, whether it is in the country or whether it is in the regions. I am incredibly proud to speak on this bill. It is an incredibly important piece of legislation.

The government will also create a dedicated assistance fund to support the very small number of people who may not fit the criteria of this scheme. These rights, as I just mentioned, have been long awaited, and I am incredibly pleased that they are being delivered in this bill this afternoon.

I do not want to spend too long talking about those opposite in my contribution because the changes in this bill are far more important than scoring political points. However, I think this needs to be said: those opposite should hang their heads in shame for the way they have politicised our fire services and filled people’s heads with fear and misinformation on this matter. Misinformation such as the false claim that this government is not supporting the CFA is fundamentally wrong, as is the misinformation put out by the member for Gembrook. This is increasingly erratic and desperate behaviour by the Leader of the Opposition, which is incredibly worrying to me, the people in my community and the people on this side of the house. We are starting to see a desperate Leader of the Opposition who is more than happy to attack our emergency services. In uncertain global times our community needs strong leadership and not reactionary and inflammatory language that only makes matters worse.

In my view, and certainly in the view of many on this side of the house, those members opposite need to discuss these statements with their leader. They need to discuss the things that he is saying that fundamentally go to the heart of our emergency services and the hard work that these men and women put in each and every day to keep us safe. It is incredibly disappointing to see a lack of leadership on that side of the house.

I commend the Premier and the Minister for Emergency Services for doing an outstanding job. This government gets on with the job. We are here for all Victorians. Our priority is to support the critical contribution of volunteers and to remove the barriers that inhibit the work of our firefighting services to date. Most importantly, this is a piece of legislation that will keep Victorians safe. This is a good bill, and I commend it to the house.