International Firefighters' Day

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:22): I move:

That this house—

(a) recognises that 4 May is International Firefighters' Day;

(b) acknowledges that firefighters dedicate their lives to protecting South Australians across our metropolitan areas and in our regions;

(c) honours and remembers past firefighters who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving their communities and protecting others;

(d) expresses its gratitude to all CFS and MFS personnel and volunteers for their courage, commitment and tireless effort in times of emergency; and

(e) recognises the serious health risks firefighters face from exposure to hazardous contaminants and the importance of ensuring their protection.

This coming Sunday is International Firefighters' Day and an opportunity to acknowledge and reflect on the dedication of our firefighters to our community every day, defending our property, our environment and, most of all, our lives.

On Sunday at noon, firefighters around the world are invited to sound off their sirens for 30 seconds, followed by a minute of silence in memory and respect for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. The sound-off, which is a small price to pay, has had incredible support all around the world since 2002. It is a small but powerful way to honour those who protect our community.

International Firefighters' Day sparked following an incident in Linton, Victoria, in December 1998. Volunteers from Geelong West Fire Brigade responded to calls for assistance to help fight a large wildfire in Linton, approximately 150 kilometres west of Melbourne. Among them were Garry Vredeveldt, Chris Evans, Stuart Davidson, Jason Thomas and Matthew Armstrong, who were all tragically killed due to a sudden violent wind change. Their bravery and courage to answer the call will be remembered, along with many other firefighters right across South Australia, our country and the world who have lost their lives while fighting fires and serving.

In South Australia, the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires were some of the worst we have seen in recent history. Who could forget? They threatened Yorketown, the Adelaide Hills, Kangaroo Island and more communities. They destroyed or damaged 1,180 homes, buildings and facilities and burned 278,603 hectares of land. Three people sadly lost their lives. The hard work of the firefighting and recovery efforts in that period cannot be overstated.

The recent Katarapko Island fires in March burned a large area of the island and threatened locals. Thankfully, the fire was kept under control by the incredibly dedicated work of our emergency services personnel in Chaffey. We also had the recent Wilmington fires in February. While thankfully no lives were lost, we acknowledge the bravery and commitment of volunteer CFS, local farm fire units and the DEW personnel, who all worked tirelessly. It was an outstanding effort from all involved, who put their lives on the line, and from Michael Wigg, who suffered major burns but is well on the road to recovery.

In Chaffey, emergency services personnel work tirelessly for our local communities but also at several MFS, CFS and SES stations across the region, making up a significant number of South Australia's volunteer base. There are stations in Blanchetown, Barmera, Loxton, Berri, Renmark, Paringa, Swan Reach, Waikerie and Morgan. I want to acknowledge all of the CFS units in other communities that are unmanned and also the Riverland operations coordination units in Renmark, Berri and Loxton. They are all underpinned by volunteers.

The involvement of volunteers in South Australia's emergency response cannot be overstated. They are the backbone in protecting our state and protecting our communities, but sadly under the current government their numbers are falling. Since 2022, South Australia has lost 418 CFS and SES volunteers. This is incredibly disappointing, and I call on the government and the minister to do more to recruit and maintain our volunteer base and give them the support that they deserve.

Hazards and health risks are also part of the journey of being a first responder. South Australia was seriously behind in recognising various cancers and diseases under the Return to Work Act for presumptive firefighter injuries. Thankfully, with the support of the opposition this was amended to support 23 cancers, in line with other states. This was passed in the Legislative Council but has not been through the House of Assembly as yet. Why the delay? Why is the Labor government delaying this progress? This is one win for South Australian firefighters, but there is still more that the government has failed to act on to protect their health and safety.

The Auditor-General's Report found various compliance issues relating to workplace health and emergency services personnel. Cleaning services are critical to firefighter safety and involve decontaminating carcinogens and other contaminations. There is low compliance for cleaning personal protective equipment. The government were warned in 2023, but they still had not made any great progress by 2024. The government's inaction is disappointing, and every firefighter, every first responder, is waiting in anticipation that the government will enact a measure that will make it fairer and more equitable for them to be a volunteer with the protections behind them. Hopefully, that move will be made to protect our frontline emergency personnel sooner rather than later.

All frontline emergency service personnel are on standby 24/7 with a pager on person, ready to act. I say thank you to all of those who serve for their dedication and for protecting our state. We are appreciative that you put your lives in front of ours. Mr Speaker, the dedication that firefighters provide was not only seen firsthand by yourself with the Kangaroo Island bushfires but every community has witnessed one occasion where those firefighter personnel and those first responders have kept our community safe, they have saved lives and, as I said, they have put their lives in front of ours. I wish to thank all of them, each and every one of them. My heartfelt dedication and thanks cannot be overstated.

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (11:29): I want to make a brief contribution to the motion brought by the member for Chaffey. Of course, as the member for Chaffey said, this Sunday is International Firefighters' Day or, as it is also known, St Florian's Day. St Florian was the patron saint of firefighters. He was the first known commander of a firefighting squad in the Roman army who died for his Christian faith, making him a martyr and elevating him to the patron of all things in the prevention of danger from fire.

This Sunday is an important day to recognise and reflect on the dedication, bravery and contribution firefighters from our state's MFS and CFS have made and continue to make to all of our communities across South Australia. Importantly, we can also use this day to highlight the work of other frontline emergency services in general, including the SA Ambulance Service, the SES and also SAPOL. No matter which uniform they wear, our emergency services work together for the protection and the safety of our community, and I acknowledge them as part of this day.

I want to put on the record some of the investments that the Malinauskas Labor government has made in our state's emergency services. These include an additional 12 MFS trucks to significantly reduce the pressure on fleet reserve and ageing appliances, an associated asset management plan focused on truck replacement, and $2 million over four years for bushfire farm firefighting unit grants, which I am sure you are familiar with, Mr Speaker, so that farm firefighter units can continue to play a role in fire emergency responses in South Australia.

Over the last three years, the government has awarded funding for 1,297 pieces of equipment for farm firefighting units, including 334 units, 295 UHF/CB radios, 279 pieces of fire-rated personal protective clothing, 47 water tanks, 37 water pumps and numerous hose reels, first-aid kits, fire blankets and beacons.

We have also invested in a new SES unit in Gawler and replaced fire towers with new technologies to provide landscape-level fire detection. We have also invested in additional mental health and wellbeing support for emergency services volunteers, staff and their families through the South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission (SAFECOM). I was lucky enough to be invited to represent the Minister for Police at the ANZAC Day footy game between the combined emergency services and the ADF. Unfortunately, the ADF won a pretty significant victory that day. It was the curtain-raiser before the Port Adelaide game. Nevertheless, it was an important contribution to raising the awareness of mental health issues amongst both emergency services responders and our defence forces.

The CFS has strong representation through South Australia: 13,500 volunteers, including cadets and operational support members who are committed to supporting their communities; a fleet of over 800 fire trucks; and over one million average annual volunteer hours.

The MFS, of course, have very strong representation throughout South Australia: 1,200 personnel, including full-time and retained (regional part-time) firefighters and non-operational personnel, who are committed to supporting their communities. There are 37 stations in all—20 in the metro area and 17 located in larger regional centres.

While I am on my feet, I would also like to highlight the tireless efforts of personnel and volunteers who not only make sacrifices to serve their own community but are willing to pause it all to travel interstate to help someone else's community. I want to particularly acknowledge our recent deployments to Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania to assist with fires, floods and cyclone areas.

I also want to recognise the incredible efforts of the relevant volunteer organisations: the CFS Volunteers Association and the CFS Foundation, as well as the United Firefighters Union. Once again, in the lead-up to St Florian's Day I want to thank our state's firefighters and emergency services as a whole for dedicating their time to keeping our community safe.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:33): I rise to support this motion by the member for Chaffey:

That this house—

(a) recognises that 4 May is International Firefighters' Day;

(b) acknowledges that firefighters dedicate their lives to protecting South Australians across our metropolitan areas and in our regions;

(c) honours and remembers past firefighters who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving their communities and protecting others;

(d) expresses its gratitude to all CFS and MFS personnel and volunteers for their courage, commitment and tireless effort in times of emergency; and

(e) recognises the serious health risks firefighters face from exposure to hazardous contaminants and the importance of ensuring their protection.

I certainly support the many thousands of firefighters, whether they be the 13,000 CFS volunteers or the Metropolitan Fire Service personnel, full-time or retained, and the many thousands of farmers and other local people in the regions and in the suburban areas—outer suburban areas, most likely—who command farm firefighting units. The whole system works well together and they are all needed when it literally hits the fan. It was interesting that not that many years ago farm firefighting units were discouraged, but now they are totally embraced as a vital part of the firefighting effort out on the fireground.

As a local CFS volunteer myself I am so proud to see many people, whether it is in an intense moment or in the mopping-up stages of a situation, doing their bit to assist their community. There have been a few fires recently down our way out in the Mallee and in the South-East over the years. The Carcuma fire was an interesting one, out near Ngarkat Conservation Park. We were out there just prior to Christmas. We had the farm firefighting unit out there, actually, and my two brothers were out there as well along with many others trying to put this fire out. There was a bit of hesitancy on doing a back-burn on some country that was going to burn anyway. Thankfully, a decision was made to put the back-burn in place. The dozer breaks had been put in and the back-burn was instigated, and it saved many days, I think, of people waiting for it to get into that scrub line and get that fire contained and under control.

I have seen over the decades hesitancy to do the appropriate back-burns when the reality is that the fire is coming at you. The big one was just over 20 years ago when there was one in Ngarkat Conservation Park that was burning towards the Mallee Highway. Before it could get to the Mallee Highway it had to go through many thousands of acres of farmland. Notwithstanding the fact that the fire was predicted to come out of that park at 90 km/h with the winds behind it, there was no decision made to light a back-burn, which would have been the most sensible decision that day.

We need to be far more proactive on a fireground when the stark reality is that you do have to sacrifice some country to get the best outcome. You end up with lawsuits and many hundreds of acres of farmland burnt. It is interesting that with a fire coming at that ferocity, the CFS and the powers that be deemed that the place to hold it was the Mallee Highway. That was barely big enough to hold that fire, so I think some learnings came out of that.

When I was down on Kangaroo Island helping with the mop-up I witnessed that there was some serious work done, even on one road near Vivonne Bay where they actually got the scrub chain, the anchor chain, out between a couple of dozers and chained down massive trees—probably 20 metres high—all up one side of the road as a firebreak. I saw a contractor and an Army bulldozer clearing a big break, probably at least 150 metres wide, of similar-sized trees on the way to Kingscote as a last-ditch firebreak, so it was good to see some reality there.

Having recently been over to Kangaroo Island, it is good to see that on the North Coast Road coming back from Stokes Bay down towards Cape Borda, I think it is, a decent-sized break has been made. I think it is about 80 metres wide; it possibly could be wider, but at least there is a break in the parkland there to help contain those lightning strikes that will probably happen again—noting that the last big fire before 2019-20 on Kangaroo Island was in 2007.

They do keep going and they do keep coming. I certainly acknowledge, in talking about the big effort in that huge fire where about 50 per cent of the island was burnt, that it was MFS, CFS and local units in attendance. It was a massive job done by all.

Certainly the biggest one locally was the Yumali-Netherton fire, five years ago this year. Many local people went out with their farm firefighter unit, and the CFS were there, the strike teams came up from the South-East and from close into Adelaide, which was very welcome after we had been out all day. They attended to it at night and then a lot of us were back on the scene the next morning, either helping mop up or having to put down sheep, shooting sheep and assisting distraught landowners who could not do that themselves.

Sadly, there were a few burns out of that—we were lucky that people did not get killed. Two women were in a ute that was about to be overwhelmed; thankfully they just parked, shut the windows and the fire went over the top and they came out completely unscathed. I saw that ute later, completely burnt to the ground. We can never underestimate the work done by the people who go to put out fires—our Country Fire Service, Metropolitan Fire Service and those farmers and others on the ground with their farm firefighter units. Anything can happen on the day, especially when you have a 30-kilometre breeze coming behind you and you can feel the heat—you know it is on.

People go out—because that is what they do in country areas—to assist their communities and put out these fires. It is great to see more infrastructure over time going in. I know that Coomandook will get a new station not that far down the track, a three-bay station, to house the 34 truck, the 44 truck and the bulk water tanker. The other thing that CFS do in country areas is a lot of roadworks. I was there one night when a truck burnt to the ground. It is pretty ferocious when turbos get hot in motors and other things; electrical faults light up semitrailers and B-doubles and it is quite a sight. You do what you can to get the truck out, but usually it is pretty fierce by the time you get there, then you try to save the surrounding areas.

Another thing that firefighters do, in an interesting way I suppose, is bring joy to people's lives. One of my constituents in a rest home in Murray Bridge—Resthaven—was turning 100. I turned up and saw her and I talked to her daughter. I said, 'What does your mum really want for her birthday?' The birthday was two days later, but I could not be there that day so I was there a couple of days earlier. She said 'She'd like to see some firemen turn up'. I thought, 'I have to pull some magic as the local member here'. I went through the process, and the local Metropolitan Fire Service are retained fireys, so they have to come off their normal work. They brought in a truck and there were two or three of them there. She got a real kick out of it—they pulled up out the front of Resthaven and entertained her just outside the rest home. That is something that brings a little bit of light to people's lives, especially toward the end of their life.

I truly support the commitment of all our firefighters, whoever they are—they do lay their lives on the line. Things are getting better, obviously, with burnover drills. We heard about the terrible incident at Lynton, where they got burnt in their truck, and we have to do a burnover drill every year to make sure we know all the survival techniques, but sometimes you are not in that situation. You have to be very aware on the fireground. May our firefighters be safe in the coming seasons.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart) (11:44): It is a great privilege and pleasure to speak to this motion brought forward by the member for Chaffey. This motion states that 4 May each year is recognised as International Firefighters' Day and, as we celebrate on this day, we also need to celebrate and remember the great services, at times dangerous and very emotional tasks, that these people undertake to protect not only other people's lives, human lives, but also infrastructure and animals.

In Port Pirie, we have a full-time fire station, which is the MFS, and this is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. At times, they are not required, but we have the smelters down the road, which are a very important part of the community and at any time they could be called down there for any incidents and things like that, but that is very rare and if it does happen down there, quite often it is a false alarm.

There is also an MFS fire station at Port Augusta, staffed by some full-time but mainly part-time employees. These people, particularly the volunteers, not only give up their personal valuable time but also risk their lives on many occasions. There are also many Country Fire Service (CFS) locations scattered across all of regional South Australia. In my electorate, I have approximately 33 locations which are assisted, organised and staffed by numerous people, both male and female.

One of the big things that people residing outside of regional locations may not be totally aware of is that these dedicated people are on call for not only fires but also for road accidents, which can happen at any time. Whilst these people risk their lives to assist when the occasion arises, when they are attending a particular road accident or similar the victims involved with that incident may well be known to the volunteer or in many cases the victim could be a family member or a very close associate.

I vividly remember 10 days prior to Christmas in 1992, an accident occurred on the Port Broughton Road at 7.45am. In this head-on collision, the first person who noticed it was a farmer, who actually lived around 200 metres from the incident. But this also required the services of the MFS, the SES, the CFS and also the South Australian Ambulance Service. The police were also called to the accident and there were several people who attended the accident who at the time refused to actually acknowledge and recognise the deceased victim of the accident.

Even to this day, the emergency service people involved, but also the medical and hospital staff, can vividly remember the exact time of the event even after 34 years. This victim was my late wife, Arlene. What I am recognising here is not only the risk to their lives but also the emotional impact that can continue for many years to come for these people, dealing with victims who they know and love. It is an issue that we may talk about regarding what these volunteers do, but it has a long-lasting impact on the mental health of those particular people.

With regard to fighting fire, these occasions do not pause after a few hours; they require continuous attention at the coalface, and there are no breaks at any time whatsoever. Mr Speaker, you would be well aware of that with the Port Lincoln fires many years ago, and I know that there are volunteers in this house here who know that if they have attended a fire there is no sitting there and all of a sudden saying, 'I want a cup of coffee,' or whatever it may be. You have to continue at the coalface, at the fire front and keep going.

Other than risk to life, there is also the risk at times that these people may not know exactly what substance is in that fire. We have discussed this in this house on previous occasions: what are the materials in a particular fire? We need to have the best protection we can get for these people who volunteer and risk their lives, whether they are firefighters, full-time MFS, police, SES or Country Fire Service personnel.

I know that International Firefighters' Day can be acknowledged, but we also need to encourage more people to volunteer out there. Governments of the day cannot afford to pay full-time people across all the regions in South Australia. I know we have the emergency services levy and suchlike, but we have to acknowledge those volunteers out there specifically in regional locations.

I thank the member for Chaffey for bringing this motion to the chamber. There are also other members here who bring up these sorts of motions, but we must also remember to say thank you very sincerely to business people in regional South Australia in particular, who allow their staff to vacate their jobs at a minute's notice when there is a fire or an accident. It is not only the volunteers who serve there and risk their lives but it also affects businesspeople who risk a financial impact on their businesses, especially these days when the cost of living is very high, and it is very expensive for them to let somebody go. Certainly, I commend the motion to the house.

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (11:50): I rise to commend the motion moved by the member for Chaffey and shadow minister, for importantly recognising, of course as we do every year, International Firefighters' Day, and that is coming up in just a few days' time. I want to focus my remarks on paragraph (b) of the motion. I acknowledge that there have been important contributions to the debate already that have highlighted what is well understood throughout our community in South Australia, that it is really a truly extraordinary contribution that is made, not only by professional firefighters—the MFS in our state—but by dedicated volunteers in our state's regional areas, and Heysen is among the key beneficiaries of that volunteer commitment.

I want to acknowledge, as paragraph (d) of the motion does, that firefighters dedicate their lives to protecting South Australians across the metro area and particularly in our regions. Each year the circumstances in which the house comes to reflect on International Firefighters' Day will be different. Sometimes, as we have seen even in recent years, we come to 4 May reflecting on the summer just past and the really terrible disasters that have afflicted us.

As you know well from experience, Mr Speaker, it was only a few short years ago that Kangaroo Island was devastated, and the consequences of that will be with us for decades to come. Just a few days before those terrible fires ripped through Kangaroo Island, of course the Cudlee Creek fire devastated much of the Hills. That was truly a terrible summer of fires in that year.

Again, it was a terrible set of circumstances in the following year: the so-called Cherry Gardens fire that really started in a small way in Cherry Gardens but emanated from Bradbury in a potentially more devastating way. It started late in the afternoon on that day in late January and was a fire that rapidly took on in the vicinity of the Mount Bold Reservoir. We saw what can occur when you have a combination of volunteer firefighters on the ground, together with the extraordinary effects of aerial firefighting. In a couple of short hours, before darkness descended that evening, the aerial drops in very hard to access parts of the Hills I am sure prevented that fire from being very much worse.

Even so, were it not for relatively benign circumstances overnight and then, eventually, drenching rains in the late afternoon of the following day, the Hills might have seen a terrible disaster. It is well that the arsonist who started it has been dealt with by the courts. We all know that we are at great risk through the summer. Whatever the cause of a fire, we need to know that we are in a position to address and to end the fires when they start, and that was a particularly courageous and effective demonstration of how our community volunteers on the ground can work to achieve really community-saving things.

I will just reflect briefly, as I have previously, on the most recent seriously devastating fire incident, and it perhaps goes to the wide range of incidents that our CFS volunteers respond to. When the Woolworths supermarket was burnt to the ground in Stirling, it was the CFS who were first on the ground. The brilliant and effective communication between the CFS and the MFS just down the hill meant that the initial response of the CFS could be appropriately aided in partnership with the MFS and about the best possible response to that fire was able to be achieved.

It was a combination of defensive firefighting and then—what I am still very moved by—offensive firefighting within that burning location. I say I am moved because I was standing there on the footpath and seeing those who I am used to seeing walk into the supermarket of a morning, but now dressed in breathing apparatus, going in to attack that fire offensively, with the result that the fire did not spread beyond that particular location. Although the building was devastated and businesses were devastated, there was no loss of life and the village of Stirling was not otherwise more dramatically affected.

To emphasise the seriousness of that, at the Stirling CFS briefing—and it was not only the Stirling brigade that responded; very many of the surrounding brigades were actively involved in responding to that devastating incident—at an about three-hour briefing on the Monday night afterwards, in a very sensible, low-key, stepwise way, the brigade highlighted at the outset that this was actually, bar none, the worst, most significant event in the brigade's history, including Ash Wednesdays past and so on. So I would highlight to the house just how devastating that was.

I want to pay tribute in particular to the CFS Chief Officer. I was speaking with him just the other day and reflecting on what was a relatively minor fire around Mylor several weeks ago. I was marvelling at the fact that there is this extraordinary capacity for the CFS to respond in such a way that—although we see the smoke very close by and we see the flames and what could be a very terrible event emerging—as soon as it starts there is a very effective response, and the Mylor fire was no exception.

If I may, in the same breath of paying tribute to the chief officer, I also highlight that these are circumstances in which there is nothing but complete bipartisanship. Minister Bourke was in contact with me and providing up-to-date information, and that was appreciated.

I will just say a brief word about strike teams working together with farm firefighter units. The member for Hammond has reflected on the fact that that has been an issue that has evolved over time. I am very glad to see now that farm firefighter units take their proper place, fully appreciated. I often reflect on my Uncle Butch over in WA, who has led the group of farmers in the south-west there for decades.

When I was over there as a kid, there would be this sort of check-in from the ute. It would be, 'Fires, fires.' That would be it, just to check that everyone was actually on board and listening and engaged. Farmers, those who understand the local area, are the same people who volunteer to look after their community. They should be celebrated. There is a lot more that can and will be said. We do well to celebrate this occasion each year as we do, and I commend the motion.

The SPEAKER (12:00): Before calling the next member, I would like to also add my support for this motion and thank all of those firefighters across South Australia, all professional firefighters, those paid and those volunteers, who put in so many hours of training. Thank you for the sacrifices you make.

I would also like to thank the family members of those who put their hand up to fight fires. I know from those Black Summer bushfires that burnt half of Kangaroo Island back in the summer of 2019-20 that, as I was putting photos up on Facebook of tired firefighters coming back in for changeover and images of fire trucks that had been damaged by burnovers, I was being constantly contacted by family members who had not heard from their loved ones, loved ones who had been out overnight fighting the fires, who would come back totally exhausted.

I will never forget seeing them getting a bacon and egg roll and just lying exhausted on the oval, where other people had gathered as well in the refuge centre, because they had had to evacuate their homes. They were so exhausted that they had gone back into the Humanihuts that had been set up and were just getting some sleep, so their family members had not had a call and of course they had been out of range for all of the night while they were fighting the fire.

It is harder and harder to get volunteers and for people to put their hand up right across the board in South Australia, so those people who do, particularly the CFS volunteers, the Farm Fire Unit firefighters, we thank you very much. We also thank your families for the sacrifices that you all make, particularly at times like Christmas and New Year. We know that the fires on Kangaroo Island burnt for four weeks, and we had so many firefighters coming from the mainland to lend a hand and to put their support in. Christmas plans, holidays and new year's plans were all put on hold so that people could come to the aid of their fellow South Australians.

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (12:02): I rise to speak in support of this motion that has been put by the shadow minister, especially as a regional MP, in recognition that International Firefighters' Day holds a special place for regional South Australia. Although major centres have paid MFS staff who do amazing work within those regional centres, the vast majority of the firefighting that happens in regional South Australia is done by those volunteers who spend so much of their own personal time preparing for incidents and occasions where their expertise needs to be called upon, and also, obviously, responding during those most challenging times for our community.

As a regional MP, I have so many different CFS sheds right across Eyre Peninsula and the West Coast, and each one of them is sustained by strong volunteers. As I am on my feet, can I encourage anyone who is not involved with the CFS in regional areas to consider the opportunity to do so. These are really most challenging times for our regional communities, when we have fire, when we have incidents.

Honestly, the work that a CFS volunteer has to do within a regional centre is a lot broader than a lot of people consider. It is not just the actual fighting of a fire—and obviously that is having to respond during some of the hottest, driest, most challenging times—but all throughout the year the first port of call, the first responders to things like fatal car accidents are our firefighters, and our volunteer firefighters in particular.

It is always a pleasure to be able to recognise and thank members of the CFS who have given so much time volunteering throughout their lives, and it is always a special occasion for me. Recently, at the Australia Day Awards at Tumby Bay, we had the opportunity to add on to those Australia Day Awards some recognition of people who have given decades of service to the CFS. Every 10 years there is an opportunity to recognise them. When we can see volunteers who have spent 10, 20, 30 or 40-plus years volunteering with the CFS, it really highlights that those people are community first. They are driven by trying to make sure that they do what they can at a time where they can take responsibility to keep our community safe and, as regional communities always are, to pitch in and to make sure that each and every one of us take on that responsibility to keep our community safe.

We really do express our gratitude to all CFS and MFS personnel and volunteers for their courage, their commitment, and their tireless effort in times of emergency. It really is incumbent on us as decision-makers—and those on the Treasury benches—to make sure that they are putting the necessary resources into our CFS, in particular in regional areas, because it is volunteers who do all the heavy lifting when it comes to the work of keeping our communities safe. It really should be reflected in proper resourcing and proper funding for the equipment and the infrastructure that is necessary. Often as a local member, I am advocating to the minister to consider investment in some of our further flung CFS sheds and equipment, and it has been encouraging to see successive governments roll out upgrades of fire trucks, for instance.

There are also incredibly ageing pieces of infrastructure, not just in my electorate, but right across regional South Australia. When you rock up to a CFS shed, which is often the central point to a community—a lot of communities these days have constricted down to a point where they might not have a shop, they are lucky if they have a pub or post office, but there is always a CFS shed there, and often that is the central part of a community. To have that infrastructure up to a standard where people actually want to be involved in their local CFS and do not see that infrastructure as a deterrent is really important.

For those of us who have had the privilege, but also unfortunate opportunity to be involved in battling some of these vicious fires which have torn across our countryside and regularly do so, that first-hand experience really does give us an insight into what our volunteer firefighters do every single time they are called out. Every time that beeper goes off or the notification on their app comes out, they make that conscious decision to put themselves in harm's way for the sake of their community, and they do so without a second thought.

I am not a member of the CFS. My brothers and cousins are. It is often me, as has been spoken about before, on the farm fire unit that is coming in to do the mop-up. The big truck goes through, and to see the fleet of farm fire units—once again, it is everyday people putting themselves in harm's way for the sake of keeping their community safe. To experience that first-hand, and as a regional MP to also take the opportunity in parliament to recognise that, I think is really important.

It was only a few years ago when my house was only 500 metres away from a fire. To feel the force of an out-of-control bushfire, but to know that there are firefighters who are willing to do the heavy lifting in the community, I think is a real reassurance. We managed to dodge it that way, and long may that be so, but some people are not that fortunate. The Wangary fires, which are now over 20 years ago, caused incredible devastation, and we know that there was a loss of life, loss of buildings, and people's homes and livelihoods. That is the devastation that fires can cause, and that is the devastation that our firefighters put themselves in the pathway of every single time, so that is the service they provide.

Can I especially recognise from that fire 20 years ago Trent Murnane and 'PeeWee' Richardson, two firefighters who, as this motion says, made the ultimate sacrifice while serving their communities and protecting others. Their families are still hurt by it now. They were volunteering to put themselves in harm's way.

As a regional MP, I think it is really an obligation and a responsibility for us to recognise the sacrifice that has been made but also the continual decision that people make every single day to volunteer and put themselves on the frontline of a fire. In recent weeks—only a couple of weeks ago—black smoke went up from Tumby Bay and a well-loved Mitre 10 hardware store went up in smoke. As is mentioned in paragraph (e) of this motion, we recognise the serious health risks firefighters face from exposure to hazardous contaminants and the importance of ensuring their protection.

This hardware store was riddled with not just the things they were selling—and you can imagine the contaminants that come in a hardware store like that, with paint and timber and that sort of thing—but also the building itself was covered with asbestos. We had volunteer firefighters who, without a second thought, were going in and putting themselves at risk. This is a really important motion, especially for regional MPs. Can I thank the member for bringing it to us and can I urge the house to wholeheartedly support it.

Mr BASHAM (Finniss) (12:11): I likewise rise to support this motion from the member for Chaffey. Firefighters are an important part of keeping our community safe, and they do a fabulous job. My grandfather was very heavily involved in the CFS in the Port Elliot area for many, many years, and he actually was one of the founders of getting, as it was known then, the Emergency Fire Service set up in Port Elliot. In 1959, there was a fire that started at the top of Cut Hill near the corner of Crows Nest Road and Victor Harbor Road. That was known as a significant fire in the region at the time, and it burnt all the way down from the top of the hill right to the beaches at Middleton. The seaweed was apparently burning for days right down on the beach.

The Basham family farm—my family's farm at the time—was very much in the firing line of that fire, but my grandfather was up fighting the fires elsewhere. He was out there supervising, trying to get people to where they were needed. It was extremely challenging in that era because no-one had radios or mobile phones. He was driving around in his Holden, and apparently at one stage he ran into a ditch and got stuck and someone else had to pull him out in the middle of all the smoke on Crows Nest Road itself. So these were really challenging environments, but it certainly evolved.

That fire led to, as I said, the EFS being formed in Port Elliot. They started with old Army Blitz trucks that were converted into fire trucks. In subsequent fires that we have been involved with on our farm, we actually had a CFS Blitz truck left on our place to help mop up. It is a great truck to mop up with because it has no cab, so you can sit and do the whole lot yourself; you can wander backwards and forwards and let the truck keep driving itself. There are all sorts of fun things you can do. It is not overly safe, though. Safety certainly was its weakest point by a long way. There was zero protection between you and the fire, but it was what was available at the time. The fires that have affected our family farms continued over the era. That was the original one in 1959.

My parents decided to move from Port Elliot, taking the dairy farm out to Mount Compass in 1976. Apparently, something that nearly every new farmer to the district decides to do is burn one of the paddocks in the autumn to clear up the weeds, the stubble and the things that are there. You only ever do it once, apparently, because you learn that the Mount Compass soil keeps burning for days and days.

It was about this time of the year in 1977 that mum and dad lit this paddock, and it kept burning and it kept burning. We got a few hot days and that flared it up. It is probably not the greatest way to get to know all the local firefighters when you move into a district. It was the night of their season wind-up and they were all in having a black-tie show at Mount Compass when the fire got away again that evening, so they all rocked up in their dinner suits on the backs of the CFS trucks. Mum struggled to talk to some of the other families for the next week or two as they were complaining about their dinner suits being ruined, fighting the fire in dinner suits. That was our introduction to burn-offs; certainly, we did not do any more after that.

We continued to have issues with fires across the property at Mount Compass from time to time. There was another one during the 1980s that very much comes to mind. We had just been down to VACSWIM at Victor Harbor—I was a teenager at the time—and were coming back from that. We had literally just driven down past the hill, pulled up into the driveway, turned around and there was a fire coming exactly from where we had just driven. We had passed a Highways Department roller going up the hill, and we suspected that fire started with a spark and came straight over the hill. We had no time to get ready for anything.

Dad and I got a rubbish bin, filled it with water, put some hessian bags in it and drove across to try to save the hay shed, while mum called the CFS to come. Dad and I were out there with wet bags, beating down the fire front as it was coming directly at the hay shed. Thankfully, the CFS truck arrived just in time. It was about from here to the Speaker's chair away from the shed by the time it turned up, so I was very pleased to see them at that stage.

We had another fire in the nineties that started just south of Mount Compass. Someone was getting some hay bales out of a hay shed. They were round bales, and the top bale fell off the top of the stack and landed on the exhaust pipe of the tractor and subsequently it went up. It was sad that at that stage we were seeing the move away from farmers being the backbone of the CFS to some city people being involved. This was on a workday, in work hours, and there was only enough crew for one truck. Sadly, that truck ran out of water before they got the fire out, and it got away and burnt through our place. It was certainly a pretty nasty day, and we were really thankful that they were able to get there and stop it going any further.

There happened to be two council graders in the district at the time. They tried to grade a firebreak and nearly got right across the front of it with the break. It probably had about 20 metres to go before it reached there and it got through the gap, but at least that channelled it and made it a much smaller front than it was going to be and probably stopped the fire going all the way to Goolwa. So it is amazing—it is not just the people who are actually CFS members who are out there fighting these fires but it can be council workers who just happen to be in the right place at the right time.

We then moved into the 2000s. During the 2000s, I very much remember a really hot New Year's Eve, sitting inside mid-afternoon waiting to go in to milk. It was when the CFS app was very much in operation. I remember getting a text message saying there was a fire at Mosquito Hill, which was the district that we were in, on the Mount Compass-Goolwa road. Mosquito Hill probably has about eight kilometres of road frontage on that road. We own six of it. So I was a little bit nervous. Thankfully, the fire was on the other two kilometres of the road, so it was not directly involved in our place, but it was certainly another significant fire that we saw in our farming area.

We move to this year. Even though we do not have the farm at Mount Compass anymore, mum and dad still have land at Port Elliot. On New Year's Day I think it was, maybe the 2^nd, there was a small fire that was started as the steam train went past. The fire front missed mum and dad's house by about 50 metres. Mum and dad rang me saying, 'We're a bit nervous. The fire seems to be coming directly at us. Would you mind coming over and helping?' so I jumped in the car and went over. The CFS had a very busy day that day. They got that fire out, and another one started just behind Middleton, and all the crews had to leave and left me there with a rake as my only method of actual fire control at that point. Luckily that fire did not go any further.

It is so important that we have these people out there helping us protect our property and our lives. Sadly, so many lives have been lost over the years, but I reflect back on the Ford Blitz through to what we have now to protect our volunteers. The emergency services levy has been a wonderful thing to protect our volunteers, making sure there is enough investment. So thank you to all those firefighters out there.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (12:21): I will be brief. I would like to thank all of the members who have made a contribution to a very important motion. In some way, shape or form, fire has touched all of our lives. Whether it is living in a metro city or whether it is living out in the regions, many of the stories that have been told here today reflect that. Some of the stories can be quite lighthearted, but lot of the stories are very, very serious. As has been reflected in the motion, the volunteers, those firefighters putting their lives in front of others to protect them, protect their community and protect families should never, ever be understated. So it is very, very pertinent to this motion.

What I must say is that I pay tribute to the paid firefighters as well as the volunteers, but as a note on volunteering here in South Australia I must urge anyone with a listening ear at the moment and for all of the MPs in this chamber: we should be better at promoting volunteering. We should be better at promoting the importance of community service, whether you are young or whether you are middle-aged—or nowadays we accept seniors to go out there and keep our community safe.

It also gives a sense of belonging to a community via a CFS branch or a shed. It does provide great reward, it does give great camaraderie, but it also gives an ability to bring people together, whether it is after a fire, whether it is training, whether you are getting your breathing apparatus certificate or whether you are just gaining skills in learning how to fight a fire and keeping yourself safe while protecting others. Gaining training and skills I think is also a very, very understated side issue when it comes to volunteering and being part of a team. It is team building and it is a great attribute to give your service to community.

As the shadow minister for emergency services and on behalf of the opposition, on behalf of the Liberal Party here in South Australia, I say to every firefighting volunteer, every paid firefighter, thank you on behalf of this side of the chamber. You are exceptional community people. You provide a service that is second to none, so thank you.

Motion carried.