Paterson, Mr N.D.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (15:28): I rise to talk about a dear friend of mine, Norman Donald Paterson OAM. I was very privileged on Saturday, not just as a friend and the member for Hammond but as the shadow emergency services minister, to present Norm with his medal for 60-years' service to the Country Fire Service. Norm is in poor health, but it was a real privilege to be able to present this medal to Norm Donald Paterson OAM. It was well deserved for all his community service over the years, but today I will speak more about his service to the Country Fire Service. Norm held all the positions, as you do at a station like Cooke Plains.

Norm is a patriarch of Paterson Bulk Transport, which people would see up and down the roads; a very successful business over decades. I was just talking to the current captain of Cooke Plains, Paul Simmons, the local mayor, the Mayor of Coorong District Council, and he recounted to me a couple of stories of Norm's experience with the Country Fire Service at Cooke Plains. As you just heard, it is over six decades, so some of these things were in the days when there was a little bit less regulation when you went out to fight fires.

They were at a tennis match at Cooke Plains one day, and obviously everyone was in their whites. All of a sudden down the road there was a samphire fire, and they roared out in the truck. It was fairly close to the town, and Paul said he has vivid memories of Norm jumping off, grabbing the rig and knapsack and saving the day, putting out some samphire that they could not quite get to with the truck. He also said they went back and finished their tennis game, but was not sure whether Cooke Plains won or not.

These are just a few stories, but another fire they fought was a fuel fire at the Tailem Bend fuel depot—obviously up the road a bit from Cooke Plains. They had an old petrol fire truck, and Paul said there were several of them in the back and Norm in the front, and he was doing well over 70 mph at the time to get to that one to assist Tailem Bend and other crews to extinguish that fire.

Norm's service to the Country Fire Service has been absolutely exemplary over 60 years, and in the true spirit of the fire service. As I said, he held multiple roles: lieutenant, captain, all the roles someone like that would hold being in a small, local brigade. I remember that I had a fire at home one day and Norm flew past in a ute. He said, 'Where are the hydrants?' I said, 'Right, there's a line out the front on the Dukes Highway and there's one up Parkin Hall Road up behind us.' Anyway, that secured the hydrants so that we could fast fuel the fire trucks. I certainly thank Norm for his service, the exemplary service he has delivered not just to the local community but also to South Australia.

In the little bit of time I have left I want to talk about why service with the Country Fire Service is so important, and why we need to look after our firefighters to make sure we can get those 60-year veterans like Norm, get that service that so many people want to do for their communities. It was terrible to see that we had to push for an inquiry in the upper house—it is now a house committee, a standing committee of the parliament—looking into the way volunteers and staff are treated at the Country Fire Service. This was done after some wrangling on how to get the committee up; we could not get it through a select committee, but it is now a standing committee.

I urge volunteers and staff who have been disenfranchised by some of the disciplinary actions that have been taken to present to this committee. I was on a forum the other night with the deputy chief, and there were other CFS people on board, looking at the process as it has been. There are 10 steps in the disciplinary process, and that is ridiculous. It needs reform, and that is why we need people coming in to present to this committee immediately. To provide a submission people can email Shane Hilton, Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee on Occupational Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation, at OccHealthCommittee@parliament.sa.gov.au or write to GPO Box 572, Adelaide SA 5001. The submission deadline is Friday 28 June 2024. People can ask to be heard in camera or confidentially, and can either just submit their submissions or ask to be present and present to the whole committee.

In closing, I would again like to congratulate Norm Paterson on his 60-year career with the Country Fire Service.