Ms BADGER question to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, Mr ELLIS
As we have seen over the past fortnight, our selfless State Emergency Service personnel work tirelessly to keep Tasmanians safe. As they go about their work, it is the government’s responsibility to keep these employees and volunteers safe. We have been told that in the past three years, Tasmania Fire Service and the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management have been issued with at least 30 statutory notices for various work health and safety briefing breaches. This is a very worrying pattern and our Emergency Service personnel deserve much better.
Can you explain how you have allowed work health and safety breaches to keep happening in your agencies? Can you guarantee that this Budget will contain funds to ensure our Emergency Service staff are kept safe at work, including the replacement of all expiring safety equipment?
ANSWER
Honourable Speaker, I pay tribute to our incredible emergency responders who have once again done an outstanding job keeping Tasmanians safe. This has been a very difficult event with severe weather that has impacted our state.
I say a huge thank you to our SES, fire crews, police, ambulance and other parts of our response agencies with TasNetworks, and our road crews. These people have worked tirelessly and selflessly for others, often coming back themselves to homes that are without power or have difficult access and still getting up each and every day to make an impact for the betterment of our community. We back these workers who do such an incredible job keeping Tasmanians safe.
We have seen a significant reduction of the provisional improvement notices that were issued in the past. I recognise the phenomenal job our new Tasmanian Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner, Jeremy Smith, is doing in ensuring that our structures are better able to support our emergency services workers in Tasmania so they are kept safe.
We have also made major investments as part of our 2030 Strong Plan for better support for our first responders in the health and wellbeing program. It is now recognised as nation leading for the wellbeing of first responders. I recognise and pay tribute to my predecessor, Jacquie Petrusma, and also Mark Shelton, who did such a power of work to ensure that that program is up and running, leading the nation. We continue to back it. As part of our 2030 Strong Plan, keeping those people safe who keep us safe is a key part of what we are looking to deliver.
SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTION
Ms BADGER – A supplementary question, honourable Speaker?
The SPEAKER – I will hear the supplementary question.
Ms BADGER – Can you please address whether the Budget will contain the funds to ensure that emergency services workers are kept safe at work and, most importantly, as asked, that it will include the funds to replace all expiring safety equipment?
The SPEAKER – It is not normally the practice to get answers on the Budget but that would be interesting to hear.
Mr ELLIS – The Budget will be handed down on Thursday and I know the member is waiting with bated breath. I cannot wait to see their alternative budget as well. I doubt we will get one from the Labor Party but the Premier seems optimistic that we might get one this year. The shadow treasurer, who cannot count to six, is no longer in charge of that space, so maybe we might see a change.
I did reference, as part of our 2030 Strong Plan – which is publicly available ‑ the investment we are looking to make in the health and wellbeing of our first responders. We have backed them, it is nation leading, and we are continuing to invest in this important space because we recognise how important it is to support our first responders.
