Regional Capability Community Fund

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson) (14:46): My question is to the Minister for Emergency Services. Can the minister inform the house about the results of this year's Regional Capability Community Fund grant program?

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS (Cheltenham—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services) (14:46): I thank the member for Mawson for his question. For those members of this place not familiar with the Regional Capability Community Fund, it is this government's election commitment to reinstate grant funding for farm firefighting units. There are few people in this place as passionate and better advocates for the reinstatement of this fund than the member for Mawson.

The member for Mawson saw firsthand the experience of his community in deploying farm firefighting units as a frontline capability to fight and tackle fires. Mr Speaker, I know in your community, and many other members' communities across the state, they were crying out for the reinstatement of this fund. I am very pleased to update the house on the successful rollout of year 2 of this capability.

Just this week, with members of the cabinet, I was able to spend three days in the South-East. I was able to meet with a number of individuals who were successful recipients of this capability, one of whom was Joe Cook on a little farm—I shouldn't say little—a farm just outside of Keith. He is a lucerne grower, particularly seeds, and he informed me about the really extraordinary capability that he is doing in terms of seed production and working with a couple of local producers there in getting quality seed out to the world.

It just happens to be that Szakacs, the literal translation for Szakacs, is Cook, so Joe Cook—and another redhead as well to boot—and I were able to catch up to learn more about what this means for him. He has been able to update an old and tired farm firefighting unit that he uses primarily during harvest and in the warmer months on his farm to be a critical frontline response to quelling and arresting fire spread. Joe was the recipient of a $3,000 FFU grant. He spent close to five and a half thousand to replace his farm firefighting unit, his old and tired farm firefighting unit.

What was really pleasing to hear was that when we came into government and reinstated this fund, inexplicably cut by the friends of farmers, the alleged friends of farmers on the other side, we heard two things really clearly, the first of which was they wanted this up and running and they wanted it up and running by fire season. We were able to do that last year; obviously we are able to do it again this year. But the second of which was to utilise this fund to support local businesses as well, and that is a really important part of this. So not only did we want to get money out to farmers to upgrade their equipment, to improve their capability and to improve particularly also their safety equipment, but to actually get it into the hands of local business.

In doing so I was really pleased to meet the guys down at Cox Rural in Keith where Joe bought his farm firefighting unit from. I met with Luke and Matty and they told me just how pumped they were to see this fund back in operation as well, again not just because of improved capability, not just because we as an opposition and as a government listened to regional and farming communities about the need for this but getting money into regional and rural communities in time for the fire season.