Grimley calls for review during bushfire crisis

MEMBER for Western Victoria Stuart Grimley has called on the state government to review its Volunteer Emergency Services Equipment Program (VESEP) amid the bushfire crisis, calling it “unfair” and a “disadvantage to regional and rural communities”.

As part of the program, volunteer-run emergency service organisations are required to contribute $1 for every $2 of funding from the state government.

While grants of up to $150,000 are offered, Mr Grimley said the initiative was an example of the “inequity between metropolitan and regional/rural areas”.

He also said the establishment of Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) later this year will see the Country Fire Authority (CFA) restored as a volunteer firefighter organisation, and it needed to be adequately funded at state level.

“Rural and regional areas require fire services to be well equipped just as much as Melbourne’s fire crews do.

“Already there is inequity through the establishment of the Country Fire Authority (CFA) as a volunteer-only organisation… the least we can do as a state is fund the equipment our volunteers use.

“This shouldn’t discourage fundraising for volunteer brigades, but it should mean vital equipment and infrastructure – and ultimately community safety – doesn’t ride on the back of the success of sausage sizzles and highway collections.”

Mr Grimley said the severity of the 2019/20 bushfires was an indicator of what’s to come and that VESEP should be addressed as a matter of urgency.

“Fire seasons are only going to get worse and our regional and rural communities need to be prepared… this includes with adequate equipment.

“You wouldn’t expect police to fundraise for capsicum spray and divvy vans or for paramedics to fundraise for medications, IV drips and ambulance vans.”

Mr Grimley voted against the Fire Services Bill – which included the establishment of FRV – in 2019.