VICTORIANS need no reminding about the importance of the Country Fire Authority to this state.
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Each long, hot summer, career and volunteer firefighters work side-by-side to protect people and property from bushfires.
The tragic Black Saturday fires, in which 173 people died and dozens of homes were destroyed, are still seared into people’s minds.
If not for the heroics of the men and women of the CFA, there is no telling what the cost might have been.
Victoria might be only this country’s sixth largest state or territory in terms of area, but it is still not financially or logistically viable to be protected by paid firefighters alone.
That is why volunteer firefighters living in the state’s numerous regional cities, towns and villages are so vital.
For more than 1150 days the CFA and United Firefighters Union were engaged in fierce negotiations over a new enterprise bargaining agreement.
The stand-off reached a flash point in recent weeks, with first volunteer firefighters and then paid firefighters taking turns to rally in the state’s capital.
The situation had, much like a bushfire, spread out of control.
It was especially disheartening that political parties, at both state and federal level, fanned the flames of discontent, rather than reach for a hose.
One can understand why Premier Daniel Andrews cast himself as a circuit-breaker and entered the fray.
The prospect of entering yet another bushfire season without a resolution was unconscionable, he said.
So he signed off on the EBA, sacked the CFA board and accepted the resignation of Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett.
But in bringing the issue to a head, volunteer firefighters – including those in Ararat – are accusing him of siding with the United Firefighters Union at their expense.
Sorting fact from fiction in this incendiary debate is nigh-on impossible. The Volunteer Firefighter Brigade Victoria board is adamant the new agreement will give the union unfettered power, while Mr Andrews is equally adamant this is just scaremongering.
Regardless of who is right, the safety of the CFA’s volunteer and professional firefighters – and the safety of the public – must have primacy over all other considerations.
If Mr Andrews has failed to deliver this, then he should pay with his job.
