Member for Western Victoria James Purcell must stick to his word and vote against fire services reform, South West Coast MP Roma Britnell says.
“Prior to the parliamentary inquiry, Mr Purcell went to fire stations and sought their feedback about this dud legislation,” Mrs Britnell said.
In June Mr Purcell said: “We won’t be supporting the legislation on the basis that all of the community groups that we’ve met with have said that the lack of consultation really was a concern for them.”
“Nothing has changed – in fact the inquiry backed up this view,” Mrs Britnell said.
“The inquiry found the United Firefighters Union had up to 15 meetings with the government before CFA or MFB management were even told about the proposal.”
Mrs Britnell said the inquiry found the restructure proposal was developed quickly, bypassing normal government consultation processes.
“It also found there was a lack of detail around implementation, operations and funding,” she said.
“The Government’s proposal was based upon modernising fire services, but it does not articulate how the changes would improve fire service delivery.
“The whole bill was designed not with the best interests of the community in mind – but how to get the best outcome for the union.
“The inquiry has recommended the bill be dumped – James Purcell’s own consultation told him that – he now must deliver on his own findings and vote to dump this flawed bill.”
