Only three months into the job and Emergency Services Minister David Elliott has upset some of the very people he is in the post to represent.
Volunteer firefighters along with landowners who lost property and farm animals in the Wambelong Fire on “Black Sunday” in January 2013 say they are insulted by comments made by the minister at a recent conference.
Image: Martin Lill, son of stud farmer Stephen Lill, who lost more than 200 stud cattle in the fire. Photo: Jacky Ghossein
Who’s right – The RFS, conservationists, farmers, politicians or firefighters?
Decide carefully. If you live in the Blue Mountains or bushfire-prone country, your home could literally depend on it.
A tug-of-war has erupted over the location of the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) headquarters. NSW Farmers wants the agency to move from Sydney to the Central West when its lease ends in 2018, but the RFS hierarchy has made its city-centric preference clear.
NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott is due to respond to the Coonabarabran (Wambelong) fire inquiry by August 20, but agricultural bodies, fire service groups, and academics are split on how the state government should best apply the recommendations.
At a recent Group Captains meeting, the topic of fire trail maintenance was heavily discussed.
The general consensus was that we used to achieve a whole lot more fire trail maintenance than we do now.
Mick Gillis and fellow NSW RFS Fire Fighter, Jeff Jackson are fundraising to support Cancer Council NSW on their mission to defeat cancer.
If you have a free VFFA magazine subscription then you should already have received your copy of the winter edition by now. Don’t despair…. You have a few options: Sign up for a free VFFA membership. Full membership is open
Sure, there may be 70,000+ on the books but ask any NSW RFS Brigade how many active firefighters or even active members they have compared to the numbers of people on the books then you might begin to realise the enormity of this allusionary figure.
A letter was sent to the new Minister for Emergency Services, The Hon. David Elliott, MP on the 6th April, 2015.
It was prepared by the VFFA Vice President, Brian Williams and it provided the Minister with an overview of the Volunteer Fire Fighters Association, a congratulatory welcome message and a request for the VFFA representatives to meet with him at his earliest convenience.
Six NSW RFS members were awarded Australian Fire Service Medals this (2015) Queen’s Birthday holiday.