Country Fire Service

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:16): My question is to the Minister for Emergency Services. Has the minister consulted with the CFS Volunteers Association on his decision to terminate the appointment of Chief Officer Nettleton?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:16): I thank the member for the question—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —and I apologise for repeating the answer, but I just need to make it abundantly clear that it is a decision that I made, and we are moving forward. The contract was up. We are not renewing the contract, and we are working with the volunteers.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: We work closely with the volunteers every day. In fact, as I look around the room, I see the member for Hammond. I had a great tour with him and some of his wonderful CFS, as well as the member for Newland and the member for Morialta.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: I go down the line and I have visited numerous CFS stations and spoken to countless volunteers. We have a very volunteer-focused party/group—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —and we are going to deliver for our volunteers—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is called to order.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —unlike those on the other side who didn't care much for their volunteers. They let their facilities run down—trashed the facilities that they lived in. But what we—

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: Doughnuts!

The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson is called to order for shouting 'doughnuts'.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: We did deliver doughnuts for our volunteers. They delivered nothing for our volunteers. That was what they delivered—absolutely nothing. On the other hand, we very much care for our volunteers. We make it abundantly clear we are going to have a very strong volunteer capability within our emergency services. Our CFS crews in particular do a tireless job. We can't thank them enough. I have been out there thanking them week in, week out, ever since I came into this job, and we are going to be even stronger going forward.