Metropolitan Fire Service

Ms LUETHEN (King) (14:52): My question is to the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services. Can the minister update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government has created jobs through the construction of the Angle Park structural fire training facility?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services) (14:53): I thank the member for King for her excellent question. I also thank the opposition for their enthusiasm in this area. It's great to see that this is such a bipartisan issue—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: —because as we know—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: —it's extremely important that we as a government do everything we can to give our MFS men and women the resources that they need to protect lives and property in this state. I am very pleased to say that the Marshall Liberal government is investing in hot property. It's so hot, it could be the hottest property in Australia at the moment at Angle Park.

On Tuesday 20 April, I was pleased to officially open the MFS brand-new structural live fire training facility at Angle Park, and what an absolute beauty it is. It is a $4.3 million facility. It is the first of its kind in all of Australia. People have travelled all over the world looking for the best example of this sort of facility and it's right here in South Australia at Angle Park. It has an asset life of 50 years. Many South Australian firefighters, both paid and volunteer, will be able to benefit from this new facility for decades to come.

Importantly, the CFS will also be able to make use of this wonderful facility. It is a state-of-the-art facility that will ensure that our hardworking volunteer firefighters have world-class training for structural fires. Crews can gain experience battling blazes in homes, in businesses, in a variety of different scenarios. They've got basic, intermediate and also advanced situations as well.

We are not only providing firefighters with state-of-the-art training facilities but also providing South Australians with jobs, which is also very important. I am pleased to inform the house that over 140 jobs were supported during the construction of this particular exceptional training facility, and the facility that has been created is certainly something to be proud of.

What we have built here is a facility that is nation-leading and, as I said, one of the best in the world. In addition to live fire scenarios at the Angle Park facility, we've also got lecture rooms, purpose-built cleaning areas, a briefing and debriefing room (which is very important), workshop spaces, an equipment drying room, a breathing apparatus compressor and a cylinder fill station.

Without doubt, South Australian firefighters will have the best scenario training in the country. We can be very proud of their hard work, not only of our MFS but also of the people who were involved behind the scenes designing and also building this very exceptional facility. The MFS will provide external stakeholders and other agencies, including our fantastic CFS volunteers, with access to the facility. It is very important that we collaborate, especially in these times, to ensure that the learnings and the skills extend beyond its own workforce as well.

We know how important it is that our emergency services personnel have quality training so that they are ready to respond to the vast array of incidents that arise and protect South Australian lives and also our property. Our government is proud to continue to invest in skills, capacity and the safety of our MFS personnel and also all the other emergency services personnel.

Since coming into government we have invested over $67 million in additional funding for the MFS. This includes $11½ million for additional heavy urban appliances, the first two of which I am pleased to say arrived in South Australia this week, and over $4 million for new helmets and breathing apparatus to make sure that our firefighters are as safe as possible. Our government is creating jobs, building what matters and upskilling our emergency services workers to protect South Australians.