By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
EMERGENCY Services Minister James Merlino has called the formal sacking of the CFA board a fresh start in the long-term dispute, but a Cranbourne firey says the situation is like a severe case of fatigue.
Mr Merlino announced the new board, chaired by Mr Greg Smith AM at the Cranbourne CFA station on Friday 17 June.
Ms Michelle McLean will serve as deputy chair with former chief executive of the bushfire recovery authority Pam White also on the board, alongside Dr Gillian Sparkes, and Mr Simon Weir.
The board’s first priority is to resolve the three-year dispute between the Victorian Government, the CFA and the United Firefighters Union (UFU), which reached tipping point last week when the CFA board refused to sign the agreement.
Mr Merlino said the new arrangement would drive “cultural change in the CFA”.
He added there would be a focus on “lifting morale and ending the deep divide between senior management and firefighters that was identified in the Fire Services Review.”
Station officer at Cranbourne CFA Station, Tony Ford told The News he was happy with the opportunity for a new start, but that there was a long road ahead to heal “unintended consequences”.
“We need to get back to a stage where staff and volunteers are seen to be one,” Mr Ford said.
“There has been some volatility between volunteers and staff but I haven’t seen that at Cranbourne.”
In response to Cranbourne career firefighter and UFU delegate Geoff Barker, shining a light on fireys’ mental health as a direct consequence of the dispute, Mr Ford said anything that signalled an end would help.
“Whether the board directly addresses the mental health issues or not, anything that signals a potential end to this dispute will alleviate a lot of concerns that we have with perceptions held in the community,” Mr Ford said.
“We’ve rarely been the enemy of the public, no-one expected it to get to this and social media posts have been extremely hurtful and disgraceful – it hurts when your profession is painted as lazy and overcompensated.”
As part of the CFA Act the board should be made up of nine people, four of whom are volunteer representatives.
Mr Merlino said the new board was already operational, however the four volunteers were yet to be selected.
Shadow Emergency Services Minister and Liberal Member for Gembrook, Brad Battin, responded to the announcement, saying that if elected in 2018, his government would sack the board if they endorsed the deal.
“If this board of Daniel Andrews stooges accepts the EBA, then an elected Liberal Nationals Government will sack this board after the next election,” Mr Battin said.
“This is not a fresh start, this is a political stitch-up by a bully.”
“Every Victorian knows what Daniel Andrews is up to, he is engineering the sacking of Lucinda Nolan to further weaken the volunteer organisation.
“Weakening the CFA will compromise the safety of Victorians during bushfire season.”
Ms Nolan advised Mr Merlino of her intention to resign as Chief Executive Officer of the Country Fire Authority after his announcement.
