Country Fire Service

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:10): My question is to the Minister for Emergency Services. Has the minister consulted with the over 10,000 CFS volunteers on the new direction he wants to take the CFS?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:10): I thank the member for the question and point out that there are more than 13,000 volunteers. I have been spending a lot of time—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Premier is called to order.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —out in the regions speaking with our CFS volunteers and talking to them about what they want. In fact, when we came to this election, we put forward $5 million to help fix up the mess that you left behind. We have been out to a number of their facilities and stations—

The SPEAKER: I did not leave a mess behind.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: My apologies, Mr Speaker: you didn't leave it behind; the Labor Party left it behind. We have been out talking with the volunteers, listening to the volunteers and engaging with the volunteers. Can I just take this opportunity to say what a wonderful job our volunteers do in our community and we are here for our volunteers. We want to make sure that we have a volunteer-strong emergency services sector. The CFS and SES do an absolutely outstanding job, as do the MFS. We know that within these sectors these people do an outstanding job.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: The Leader of the Opposition is chirping away on the other side, and the fact—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: I will be abundantly clear. You asked the question and I gave you the answer: the chief officer's contract is up and it's not being renewed.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: That is the answer, and what we will be doing is making sure that we have a volunteer-focused—

Ms Hildyard: Why? Now tell us why?

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell is warned.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —emergency services. We will make sure that we are delivering for our communities and make sure that our volunteers are well served in their roles. We thank them for what they do. We will continue to work with them, as we move forward, to make sure that we have the best emergency services sector this state can possibly have.