A split has emerged within the United Firefighters Union after a
NSW Public Service Association boss Stewart Little, NSW Fire Brigade Employees Union head Leighton Drury, Queensland United Firefighters Union boss John Oliver, SA UFU chief Max Adlam, WA UFU head Lea Anderson and NSW Volunteer Firefighters Association leader Mick Holton were signatories to a letter to Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud calling on him to support the creation of a royal commission into the fires.
Meanwhile in Victoria, Mr Marshall wrote his own letter to Scott Morrison, calling for the Prime Minister to abandon his plans for a royal commission and instead establish a Council of Australian Governments audit committee to review the findings and recommendations of all previous bushfire-related inquiries.
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In their letter, the firefighting union bosses said they were the “elected leaders” who represented “the majority of professional firefighters in Australia”.
Highlighting the loss of property, life, livelihood, infrastructure and wildlife inflicted by an “unprecedented” fire season that began in August in NSW and continues, the union representatives called for a royal commission to urgently examine firefighting agencies’ funding and resources.
“We have seen various failures at firefronts and in the lead-up to these fires, due not to decisions made by frontline staff but by other decisions around budgets and resources,” the letter said.
“The scope and scale of these fires reflects the decisions made in the lead-up to them. It is possible that more lives and property could have been saved if these decisions were different.
“We note the Prime Minister’s comments of taking a royal commission to cabinet, and we call on you, as our responsible minister and with your government, to support the creation of a royal commission into the 2019-20 fires.”
In stark contrast, Mr Marshall held his own press conference, saying a new royal commission “would only duplicate recommendations of past inquiries”.
“Important fire-related matters have been extensively investigated in the past, and there are dozens of existing recommendations that have previously been made,” he said.
Mr Marshall said the issues of Defence Force personnel deployment, the role of the federal government, co-operation between fire agencies, climate change and more frequent extreme-weather events, prescribed burning and aerial capability were among issues that had been extensively canvassed in other inquiries, including Victoria’s royal commission into the 2009 Black Saturday fires. “A specialist audit by COAG is necessary to understand the volume of matters previously canvassed, recommendations made in the dozens of fire-related inquiries, and the lessons learnt,” he said.
“Australia has had no less than 15 bushfire-related inquiries in the last 20 years. In many cases, the recommendations of these expensive, time-consuming and comprehensive reviews remain to be implemented. A COAG audit committee could ensure these recommendations are implemented.”
Asked about the contradiction between his views and those of his state counterparts, Mr Marshall said: “Like all organisations, there’s a difference of opinion, and can I say I’m not quite sure why those branches called for a royal commission, but they are state-based branches.”
Mr Marshall said his approach had received the unanimous endorsement of Victoria’s Trades Hall executive, with the ACTU meeting on Wednesday to discuss the matter. The ACTU did not respond to requests for comment.
Victorian Political Reporter
Melbourne
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