The Coalition plans to decentralise as many government departments as possible, moving the positions of city-based public servants to Australia’s regions in a dramatic reshaping of the bureaucracy.
Moves are being made in the Shoalhaven to revive the ancient art of firestick teams and cultural burns.
Eight members of the Djuwin Mudjingaalbaraga Men’s Group have undertaken fireground training with the Rural Fire Service in preparation of forming a local firestick team.
Through his job, National Parks and Wildlife Services ranger Noel Webster, one of the facilitators of the program, has attended a number of workshops around the country and came up with the idea that could be adopted at a local level.
“We have developed a partnership with the Djuwin men’s group, Grand Pacific Health, RFS and NPWS to facilitate the program,” Mr Webster said.
When the question “How do we stop volunteer emergency service workers quitting?” is asked, many volunteers will respond with “listen more and dictate less”
The NSW RFS Annual Report for 2014 / 2015 stated that there was a total of 74,516 volunteers.
The NSW RFS Annual Report for 2015 / 2016 (one year later) stated that there was a total of 73,162 volunteers.
This is a reduction of 1354 volunteers.
Although this decline was recorded in the NSW RFS Annual Reports, the VFFA believes that the total number of actively engaged NSW RFS Volunteers is grossly overstated.
Volunteer firefighters in many rural areas of NSW are distancing themselves from the bureaucracy and many farmers are choosing to “do their own thing” as we see an increase in “freelance firefighting” in rural areas.
The RFSA telemarketing scandal has damaged the reputation of the RFSA as seen in this newspaper editorial.
We are still waiting to find out how much was spent on the RFSA birthday celebrations at Penrith Panthers using money donated by the public.
Congratulations to the Liberal Government in Western Australia in announcing the locating of its new Rural Fire Service Headquarters to a Rural location.
It’s not too late for NSW to follow suit by relocating our RURAL Fire Service to a rural location.
Let’s put the RURAL back into the Rural Fire Service.
No one was more surprised than Greg Green when he was announced as Wollondilly’s Citizen of the Year on Australia Day.
The 61-year-old never expected to receive any sort of accolades for his lifelong work with the Bargo Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade.
Graham French and Barry Mac (formerly the morning show team at South Coast Radio 2ST) are moving back to Community Radio.
The show starts on Thur, 12th Jan at 9:00am on Community Radio Triple U FM.
Don’t miss this first program with the VFFA President, Mick Holton talking about four key areas of VFFA focus:
1. Bullying and Harassment
2. Let’s put the RURAL back into the Rural Fire Service
3. Funding Arrangements
4. Common sense approaches towards firefighting and land management
Mr Bangmorra role is to use his expertise in preventing exactly the types of savanna bushfires that emit an estimated two gigatonnes of carbon worldwide each year. His is a risky and difficult craft, he carries out cool-weather burns in a mosaic pattern that stop summer bushfires in their tracks and this makes him very valuable in what is increasingly called the carbon economy.
The Rural Fire Service Association (RFSA) will not disclose how much their 20th Anniversary celebrations cost and where the money came from.
Did attendees make a contribution?
Did Panthers do the RFSA a special deal?
Were special guests looked after in the, now famous RFSA “Gala” style?
Were there any special guests flown in and at what cost?
Was it all paid for using RFSA funds that were generated from generous public donations and raffle ticket sales?
How many new style firefighting helmets, radios or other much sought after items could this event (and others like it) have funded?
Perhaps those who have made donations and purchased raffle tickets will think twice before doing so again unless the RFSA provides a great deal more transparency.
Rural communities are not impressed. The VFFA campaign to put the RURAL back into the Rural Fire Service will continue…. the next state election will be interesting.
It is very disappointing that the government has not heeded the warnings made clear in the Orange By Election.
Orange and Dubbo (like many other regional areas) have a lot to offer, flying from Sydney to Orange or Dubbo would be comparable and a lot more enjoyable than dealing with city traffic. The Commissioner could even have the chopper standing by just outside his office.
It is a very short sighted decision and it may proof to become extremely costly in terms of voter confidence in the lead up to the next election.