Victoria’s Country Fire Authority, undermined by the Andrews Labor government

According to the CFA deputy group officer at Wangaratta, Lachlan Gales, who had served for more than 34 years, the loss of senior leadership would have a “debilitating” impact on the CFA, as well as the loss of career officers who facilitate the work of the brigades, the very people “that make sure we're prepared, that make sure we're organised, the people that develop the training systems”.

With Scales predicted a slower turn-out time due to FRV staff having urban type appliances whereas highly effective crews of career CFA firefighters that would be out the door in 90 seconds, the VBF's Andy Cusack also feared inadequate funding to the CFA would lead to a second class-service given that money was needed for trucks, fire stations and Personal Protective Equipment alone.

CFA leaders expressed a feeling that that the CFA was being “set up to fail”.

During July 2020, the ABC also exposed cabinet documents outlining the influence of the powerful UFU, as seen by its push for an extra $400 million over six years to support 596 extra firefighters, 22 new fire trucks, two boats and six stations, along with the drafting of its own secondment model for the arrangement between CFA and the FRV.

So what has happened in the eight months since July 2020?

While it was reported that the CFA recruited 2,000 new volunteers following the disastrous 2019-2020 summer fires, the 2019-20 annual report noted that numbers actually declined from 34,483 to 30,977, the largest drop since 2013 after being around 40,000 in 2010.

While the new CFA boss Jason Heffernan noted that many of the volunteers had to be removed from operational duties because essential training had not been completed, albeit he hoped the volunteers would return to frontline duties as COVID-19 restrictions ease and brigades are able to train, the Beechworth CFA captain Bruce Forrest argued that said the training system had not been functioning well for the last two years, and that morale was even lower from a letter telling firefighters they were off the trucks.

This issue reaffirmed the view to Forrest that there was little “respect for volunteers, their intelligence, their experiences."

I have recently spoken to half a dozen former CFA senior officials who all expressed major concern about the reforms.  

Craig Allen, 37 years an active firefighter, 14.5 years as Everton Captain and 2 years as Deputy Group Officer, points to the control of fires in rural areas being slowly and sneakily taken away from experienced volunteers, with the Wodonga fire brigade announcing during February 2021 that it was getting 20 new paid staff in Wodonga and a new pumper tanker so they can turn out to grass and scrub fires, usually a CFA volunteer job.

Allen suggests that volunteers are being removed from Wodonga fire station and replaced by more union members, are not being allowed to work with FRV staff in terms of being in the same vehicle, and that permanent staff will not take direction from a volunteer running the fire.

Cheeseman, talking about the many CFA leaders that have resigned because their ability to take the organisation forward has been seriously restricted, argues that FRV staff will not be able to adequately train and manage volunteers, and were not numerous enough to sufficiently cover the entire area of Victoria where trained and effective leaders are needed.