The Volunteer Fire Fighters Association (VFFA) has received legal advice that volunteers should not sign the Volunteer Discipline Confidentiality Agreement form.
Whilst it is important to follow the discipline process, it is equally important that a volunteer reserves the right to protect themselves from false and frivolous complaints or allegations.
This video is about the return of Indigenous burning practices to Victoria. Created by the Living Knowledge Place.
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 was brought to our attention that the NSW RFS has a web page titled “Support your local brigade” where you can make a donation directly to your local brigade.
The NSW RFS and Westpac needs to be congratulated on providing this method of fundraising.
We are not letting the RFSA off the hook, they need to spend more on brigades, come clean on their expenditure and improve transparency if they expect to retain public support.
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.
Radio coverage on this issue
This part of our series includes two podcasts from the Ray Hadley Morning Show.
Podcast 1. Ray Hadley talks to Mick Holton about the newspaper story, fundraising and the RFSA.
Podcast 2. Ray Hadley grills the Emergency Services Minister, David Elliott about the NSW RFSA and their call centre based fundraising activities.
Comments from a harassed member of the public
The phone calls are aggressive and becoming increasingly so!
This last call, the young male caller immediately went into overdrive saying “surely I’d want to support the great guys helping out in South Australia”.
I call this emotional blackmail and I told him so.
I said that I always give to specific funds for bushfire relief, usually through St Vincent de Paul and I would really appreciate no further calls.
He was still shouting at me when I said “thank you for calling” and hung up.
This short video is about making donations directly to your local RFS Brigade. It’s pretty simple really…
The Sydney Morning Herald published the following article in January 12th 2014. This again raises concerns about the industry in general.
Its not-for-profit clients include the NSW Rural Fire Service Association, Wheelchair Sports NSW, The Kids’ Cancer Project and the State Emergency Service Volunteers Association. Other clients are FBi radio and the City of Sydney council.