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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 14 Hansard (12 December) . . Page.. 4781 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

The first meeting I am advised about was held on 3 July last year. Discussion included issues like duty officer arrangements and draft proposals for standard operating procedures. A further meeting on 7 August included discussion on things like communications and liaison. On 6 September there was a meeting discussing the role and the future of the ACT emergency service specifically. The meeting in October was cancelled. The meeting on 27 November included occupational health and safety policy, future directions and discussion carried over from the previous meeting.

On 29 January this year there was a meeting which discussed the role of concepts and research. On 12 February there was a further meeting. The meeting in March was cancelled. On 1 April a meeting was held. It is interesting to report what did not happen at the meeting. The Belconnen unit did not attend that meeting on 1 April as use of the Belconnen unit vehicles had been suspended due to an unauthorised vehicle usage to attend a social golf day in New South Wales. It should be noted that the Belconnen unit is the only one of the Emergency Service Advisory Group members to use official vehicles to attend those ESAG meetings. I would have thought that other members of the unit would have had access to other vehicles to attend that meeting if they did not have an emergency service vehicle to use. The meeting included approval of a consultation process, and ESAG terms of reference were approved.

A further meeting was held on 13 May to discuss these sorts of issues. The meeting commenced at half past seven in the evening. At 7.35 the controller of the Belconnen unit stated he did not wish to have anything more to do with the advisory group and left the meeting. The deputy controller of the Belconnen unit, after a 10-minute speech about how the Belconnen unit does things, also left the meeting, stating that he would not be back until the process of consultation was in place to Belconnen's satisfaction. There have been meetings since then, on 1 July and 19 August. The meeting on 30 September was cancelled because, I am told, the Belconnen unit refused to attend. Those two meetings set down for 1 July and 19 August also were not attended by the Belconnen unit.

I think it is clear to members who would have had some exposure to these issues that there is a difference of view among emergency service volunteers about the efficacy of the changes the Government has announced. But it is quite wrong to suggest that emergency service volunteers generally are opposed to these changes. Mr Osborne conceded that he had been approached by members of the southside unit of the ACT emergency service arguing that there was a need to be able to advance these changes. They have been discussed now for well over 12 months. I do not concede that a further process of discussion of them is necessary or, given the time of year that we are now facing, the beginning of the bushfire season, appropriate.

Mr Speaker, I think it is important that we consider the benefits of the arrangements that have been put forward by the Government. I think it is important that we acknowledge that the ACT is a small jurisdiction and some sharing of resources between bodies such as the bush fire brigades and the emergency service is appropriate. I think members will be aware that, although there are sometimes occasions when both the emergency service and the bush fire brigades are operating simultaneously, very often that is not the case.

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