The Nationals Member for Morwell, Martin Cameron, has taken the plight of the Morwell CFA to State Parliament, using his adjournment debate to demand action from the Andrews Government to help secure the brigade’s future.
Fire services reform introduced by the Andrews Government in 2020 introduced legislation to have CFA volunteers and paid FRV staff work alongside each other at integrated stations.
For more than four years the Morwell CFA has made known its desire to remain separate from Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) on several occasions, but still volunteers are still seeking answers about whether they will be forced to move from their standalone station at McDonald Street and co-locate with paid staff at the new FRV station on Princes Drive.
Mr Cameron called on the Minister for Emergency Services to stop with the lip service to the Morwell CFA and demanded funding be allocated to ensure the brigade remain a standalone station.
“Volunteers are adamant they will not move to the new site on Princes Drive alongside paid FRV staff, citing very real and valid fears about whether the Morwell CFA will survive if they are forced to co-locate,” Mr Cameron said.
“At the new FRV site there is not enough room for volunteers to work at full capacity, and their access to the station would be limited and monitored by career staff. This is an absolute slap in the face to our hard-working volunteers and undermines the legacy they have built over more than 100 years selflessly protecting our community.
“The new FRV station in Morwell is actually not practicably big enough to accommodate the CFA tanker and CFA equipment, plus over 100 years of memorabilia and honour boards that currently hang in the McDonald Street CFA station.
“The Morwell CFA has voted overwhelmingly in support of a motion to remain a standalone station – either at the current site on McDonald Street or at a new location. A precedent has been set in other areas like Moe and Eltham where CFA volunteers have separate stations to career staff.
“I am imploring the Minister to put an end to the uncertainty and lip service by meeting with volunteers to discuss and commit to the allocation of funding for a standalone station for the Morwell CFA in the upcoming Budget, so they can continue to attract and educate new members to protect the community for the next 100 years.”
