It is a pleasure to rise and speak on the Fire Services Property Amendment (Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund) Bill 2025. I will just speak a little bit about what this bill aims to do and what that might mean for the electorate of the Bellarine. This bill is about amending the Fire Services Property Levy Act 2012 to replace the fire services property levy with the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund to enable it to fund a broad range of emergency services, and this is to reflect that broader purpose of the bill. The bill renames the principal act to the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund Act 2012.
From 1 July 2025 this bill will make sure that Victoria’s hardworking emergency services – and I will just list who they are. That includes Fire Rescue Victoria; the Country Fire Authority, the CFA; Victoria State Emergency Service, VICSES; Triple Zero Victoria; Emergency Management Victoria; the State Control Centre; Forest Fire Management Victoria and our recovery agencies. This is to ensure that they have the resources they need to keep Victorians safe and help them recover.
This bill will do a couple of things. It will raise an additional $750 million a year when fully implemented. It introduces an exemption from the levy for eligible CFA and VICSES volunteers and life members on their primary place of residence or on a farm of which they are an owner. It does provide the SES and CFA with an additional $250 million support package for a rolling fleet replacement plan, volunteer training, a doubling of the volunteer and emergency services equipment program – those VESEP grants, as they are known – and the modernisation of the Victoria Emergency app. With the opposition opposing this, they are blocking that $250 million investment.
At the very heart of this, though, is the safety and resilience of our communities and the volunteers that are a part of those organisations. This includes the CFA and our State Emergency Service. These wonderful volunteers who dedicate their time are not just agencies or organisations, they actually are the lifeline for countless Victorians when we have a disaster in this state. Whether we are battling bushfires, responding to severe storms or saving lives in times of crisis, the emergency services, the CFA and the SES represent the best of our values of service, courage and commitment.
As beautiful as the Bellarine landscape is, it is also unpredictable. Each year we also face the threat of bushfires or grassfires to our livelihoods and our homes. The CFA, with its tens of thousands of dedicated volunteers and career firefighters, are our first line of defence. They stand ready day and night for when the pager might go off to turn out to a fire or an accident in our communities. They are experts in this fire prevention space as well, but it does not stop when the flames are out. They actually support our communities through that recovery as well and help families rebuild what may have been lost. They educate us on fire preparedness. Many of the CFA brigades on the Bellarine will often be at markets so they can educate and be available for information for our communities, and they actively work in that prevention space as well.
I have been very fortunate to be invited to many CFA stations across the Bellarine, but I had a real-life training experience with the Leopold fire brigade recently, who invited me to their training event. They kitted me all out in the gear – in a helmet and fire protection jacket and pants. They put me in the new tanker, and we were in a real-life training experience session. They put me in the new tanker that we have been able to support them to purchase under that VESEP grant, and I got to experience what the communication was like. They talked to each other about the job that they were going to, what roles each of the members was going to play and what was going to happen when they got to the incident. We then got to the incident, and I was instructed to go with a certain person. Then we grabbed a hose and we attempted to put out a fire in a shipping container, which was very much alight. I could hear the captain, Chris Wilkinson, behind me saying, ‘Advance. Go towards the fire.’ Of course our instant reaction is to go the other way. My heart started pumping pretty quickly, but it was an incredible experience. The hose was turned on, and that was quite an effort to stand my ground, to hold that hose and to put out that fire inside the shipping container. It was all very safely monitored as it was a training exercise, but it gave me a real appreciation of the work that they do and of the professionalism that they have in talking and communicating with each of their team members. It really did give me a great sense, so I want to thank the brigade and particularly the brigade captain Chris and his team for putting me through my paces. I thank them for all the work that they do.
While fire is one of the elements and challenges that we face, it is not the only one. We have been faced with storms more recently as well, floods and all these unexpected weather events, and the SES are also there for us. They turn up and are sometimes the first to turn up to incidents. When disaster strikes, the SES are often first on the scene and they do work really closely alongside the other emergency services. And they do it while we are tucked up in bed and feeling comfortable or watching the VicEmergency app. They are the ones out in these often harsh conditions making sure that we are safe and our communities can recover. We had some major storms last year in September and in February again this year – significant storms where the SES had to respond to multiple calls for assistance. They were addressing water damage and fallen trees, and they certainly are equipped and trained in a real professional sense to respond to those incidents. I thank them for the work they do as well.
Beyond this, the Bellarine SES unit are also actively engaged with their community. They promote that safety and preparedness for events. They conduct educational programs and participate in local events to raise awareness, and it is about preparing us as a community when we have an emergency. They have joined me at markets, and I have seen them out and about at various events as well highlighting the work that they do. I was really fortunate to have three women at the International Women’s Day event here in Parliament from the Bellarine SES unit – Nicole, Rachel and Emma were here – just to thank them and to acknowledge the work that they do in the SES unit. More and more women are joining the SES. It is a great organisation to be involved in, and they are very welcoming at the Bellarine SES unit. I am proud that this bill will support the Bellarine SES unit and the team’s unwavering commitment to protecting lives and property.
Both the CFA and the SES are truly extraordinary in their volunteer hours and their dedication to our communities. They are from all walks of life, and they put service beyond self. They are our neighbours, they are our friends and they are our family members who give up their time and their comfort and often their own safety to protect others. We owe them more than just our gratitude; we owe them the resources and the training and the respect that they deserve. Whether it is ensuring their equipment is all up to date and they have adequate funding or just simply showing them appreciation, we must do all that we can to support these heroes who really do so much for us. I have several CFA brigades across the Bellarine and one SES unit. I just want to take this opportunity to thank them for all the work that they do and their commitment.
I want to stress that every dollar that is raised will go towards this vital life-saving equipment: the vehicles, the staff, the training of volunteers, community education and recovery support when Victorians need it most. We have invested heavily across the Bellarine. St Leonards has a new CFA station and, as I have talked about, Leopold has a new tanker. The VESEP grants have been incredible for our Drysdale CFA, Portarlington CFA, Bellarine SES, Queenscliff coastguard and lifesaving clubs across the Bellarine. We are a government who invest in our emergency services and we support our emergency services, because they support us when we need it the most.
