United Firefighters Union Elections

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton) (15:33): Recently, the member for Morphett spoke on the Supply Bill, which is not unusual, but during this particular diatribe and the sorry contribution he made, he asserted many things that were incorrect. This, in itself, is not unusual.

It is not uncommon for the member for Morphett to make statements that have very little semblance to the facts. What made this particular contribution outrageous and totally inappropriate was the member for Morphett's blatant attempts to interfere in a union election. In my years here, I have never witnessed an interference of this sort by any member. The member for Morphett's sorry contribution was aimed at nothing less than to influence the outcome of the democratic process in place to allow members of the United Firefighters Union to elect their secretary.

I want to detail to the house a few of the comments made by the member for Morphett. The member for Morphett stated that the UFU elections are on at the moment and that he is very much pro supporting the fire services union to make sure that they vote in the current elections. There is not much wrong with that, you might think; simply encouraging participation. But if anyone here (or elsewhere) holds that perception, you are wrong. The member for Morphett went on to say:

I do not know Mr Greg Northcott, the current secretary, very well at all, other than he took nine months to answer one of my letters.

Just as an aside, I have been reliably informed that this is simply not true, that there was a response to the member for Morphett of an open invitation to meet. This is better than I would have done. I mean, why would you provide an open invitation to a person who has proven to be so utterly ineffectual, but who also has a record of being antagonistic to the United Firefighters Union? He needs to understand that, if you are antagonistic to the union, you are in essence attacking all MFS firefighters. The member for Morphett then goes on to say about Mr Northcott:

I understand that he is a Senior Fireman who has never run a fire station but who wants to run a whole fire service. Well, I ask MFS members if they still want to be treated like mushrooms by the UFU or do they want to stand up, get up there and vote.

This, of course, is the member for Morphett's not-so-subtle code for, 'Don't vote for Greg Northcott.' The member for Morphett goes on to mention the other candidate in this election and finishes off his contribution on the subject of the former chief officer by stating that 'Greg Northcott has no idea about this and MFS members had better think very carefully about who they vote for'.

The member for Morphett's outrageously inappropriate political foray into the UFU election is unprecedented. From my memory, this has never happened, at least since I have been here. Incidentally, Greg Northcott was returned as secretary. The member for Morphett should immediately apologise to all MFS firefighters. He will not, of course, but if he were to do so he should also apologise for listening to and then fuelling rumours that there is soon to be a mass resignation of members from the UFU, which is nonsense, and questioning the union's affiliation to the ALP. He should also stop repeating and stating that the UFU is driving emergency services sector reform, when the truth is, and appropriately so, the union is responding to it.

While the member for Morphett will continue to assert that he supports our firefighters, firefighters understand this: that actions speak louder than words, and his actions make his words in this instance nothing but a ruse. The union and its members see through this ruse and will, of course, continue to do what it has always done: applying itself to advancing the interests of its members and, in doing so, that of the service, the sector and, by extension, the people of South Australia whom firefighters magnificently serve and protect.

I did say earlier that the member for Morphett had some form in this particular area and I will relay a story to the house. Sometime I think in 2004, give or take a year either side, following a very serious accident in the member for Morphett's electorate, Camden fire station was required to respond to an incident. It was a vehicle fire where, unfortunately, a young man died. He pulled me aside and said, 'I have heard whispers about there not being enough water available at that incident and I just want to check with you, Paul, whether that's the case.'

I responded to him by saying, 'Look, an appliance attending a car fire could put out three or four car fires using the water that they have on board through high pressure. The second thing is why on earth would you raise this when parents are grieving about a son who they have lost, and you are going to advance that this could have been prevented had water been available.' I said, 'You're wrong.' Little did I know that, while I was talking to him, a press release had already gone out. It was just outrageous.

I know there is a large cloud hanging over the member for Morphett, and that cloud, of course, is the next preselection. We know there is talk about Matt Williams being parachuted into that seat, but the reality is that the member for Morphett has to think before he speaks.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is out of his spot and is warned for the first time.