Bills

Fire and Emergency Services (Volunteer Charters) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 16 May 2018.)

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (16:33): Today I would like to reiterate the Labor Party's strong support for this legislation and, more broadly, to recognise and support the vital work our CFS and SES volunteers do. We are incredibly privileged in our state to be served by such an incredible group of dedicated volunteers, and it is well past time that their service and dedication is recognised in parliament and in legislation.

The CFS and SES volunteer charters were originally launched during the Rann government in 2008, and since then they are reviewed and renewed every four years. The charters represented a commitment by the then government, CFS, SES and SAFECOM to consult with the volunteer associations and CFS and SES volunteers about all matters that might affect them. It is in that spirit that this bill seeks to enshrine those charters in law.

This bill has been introduced previously in the other house. It was introduced by Duncan McFetridge, the then member for Morphett, in 2012 and in 2015. In the Legislative Council, it was introduced by the Hon. Robert Brokenshire in 2015, who is now back with his cows. However, when it passed the Legislative Council, it never made it to a vote in the other place.

While the bill had broad support both in and outside of parliament, our volunteers have been left to wait for this simple reform to come to pass. They have been waiting for far too long now, particularly given the fact that Labor, the Liberals and the Greens have all previously voiced their sincere support for this reform. It is high time that this bill passed. In the words of the SES Volunteers' Association, I quote:

The volunteer charter being delayed is an insult to our volunteers and has had many of them question whether the majority of members of parliament really understand the roles and commitment forthcoming to our state, the thousands of hours freely given to support the community, not even mentioning the millions of dollars donated through these hours.

It is a really small reform. Putting into legislation that which already exists through regulation and in the charter is a really small reform, but it means the world to our CFS and SES volunteers to see their work recognised and to have firm commitment from this and future parliaments to consulting them and working constructively with them on matters that affect them.

It has been over a year since this bill was introduced to this parliament. During that time, the minister then tried to incorporate its intent into his own bill following an unsuccessful select committee process and report—who would think that would happen? That a piece of legislation continues to languish in the other place with no sign of progress anytime soon is not encouraging. I am therefore pleased to see this bill and this issue being progressed here in the upper house instead, so that CFS and SES volunteers can finally have the certainty they have been after for so long.

The volunteer associations are becoming increasingly frustrated with the inaction and the incompetence of the minister and, to some extent, the Marshall government and their inability to pass what is a very simple piece of legislation supported by the overwhelming majority of members. The volunteer charters are in recognition and commitment to SES and CFS volunteers who are at the coalface and understand their communities and their needs. Hence, their voices need to be recognised here.

The Labor Party has always highly valued the positive contribution of the CFS and the SES Volunteers' Association to the emergency services sector as well as the strong advocacy they provide on behalf of all CFS and SES volunteers. As such, we are pleased to support this bill and commend it to the chamber.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (16:38): I rise to speak on the honourable member's bill to amend the Fire and Emergency Services Act 2005 and I indicate that I speak on behalf of the government. The government will be supporting the bill. The bill provides legislative recognition to the Country Fire Service and the State Emergency Service volunteer charters.

As the Hon. Tammy Franks mentioned in her contribution, this bill is not a new matter for this chamber. It has been long foreshadowed. The move to enshrine volunteer charters in legislation can be traced back as far as the 2013 Holloway review, a review which the former government failed to act on. Previous iterations of this legislation were introduced in this place, although not, I note, by the former Labor government.

Despite bipartisan support in this place, previous bills lapsed before passing the House of Assembly. The provisions within the bill before us today are reflected in those which have been introduced on behalf of the government by the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services in another place. The government will be pleased to support the bill.

The Hon. C. BONAROS (16:40): As much as I do not like to disappoint the Hon. Terry Stephens, I rise once again on behalf of SA-Best—

The Hon. T.J. Stephens: Point of order, Mr President, she is always trying disappoint me.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: —to speak in support of the Greens' Fire and Emergency Services (Volunteer Charters) Amendment Bill 2018. The bill has a long history in this place, and I acknowledge the tireless work of former parliamentary members in that regard. As has been alluded to already, back in 2012 the former member for Morphett, Duncan McFetridge, first brought the bill before the parliament. Then, in September 2017, former MLC Robert Brokenshire reintroduced the same bill. Unfortunately, the bill lapsed in the House of Assembly after passing in this chamber on 15 November of that year.

It is disappointing that there were other higher priorities for the former parliament, in its dying days, rather than making a small but significant change to the Fire and Emergency Services Act 2005. On that note, I commend the Hon. Tammy Franks for continuing the legacy of the aforementioned parliamentary members by once again reintroducing the bill to this parliament as one of the first private members' bills of this parliament.

The bill provides legislative recognition to the respective volunteer charters of the South Australian Country Fire Service and the South Australian State Emergency Service. In effect, it takes the volunteer charters for both the SA CFS and the SA SES out of regulations and places them into legislation, which, as we all know, cannot be disallowed.

The respective charters were first signed in 2008 and were relaunched in 2013. The CFS and SES volunteer charters were developed to recognise the value of emergency services volunteers, and specifically reiterate the government and emergency services sector commitment to consulting and considering the views, needs and interests of CFS and SES volunteers. They also identify the key roles and responsibilities of the parties to the charters, including the requirement by government, the South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission and the volunteer associations, to recognise, value, respect and promote the contribution of volunteer officers and members to the wellbeing and safety of the community.

The charters provide a framework for all parties to work in partnership with each other in the best interests of CFS and SES volunteers and the broader South Australian community. Victoria already recognises the volunteer charter in the Country Fire Authority Act 1958, so I think it is only fit that we no longer delay that for SA. The bill also inserts new section 58A into the act, which gives legislative recognition to the SA CFS Volunteer Charter. In addition, there is also the insertion of new section 107A, which similarly introduces parliamentary recognition under the SES Volunteer Charter in the form of legislation rather than regulations.

I note that the issue has broad support across all sides of politics, with it forming a pre-election commitment by the Liberal Party at successive elections. Indeed, the government included the volunteer charters in its Fire and Emergency Services (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill 2018. That bill, as I understand it, was more extensive in scope. As a consequence of some of its more contentious aspects, particularly clause 23, it was referred to a select committee for inquiry and report. The report on the bill was, as we know, tabled on 4 April 2019, with the committee making a number of recommendations, particularly regarding further consultation.

What is not controversial in the government bill is the volunteer charters. However, the government bill languishes to this day, and that is simply unacceptable. The volunteer charters should not, I believe, have been included in the miscellaneous amendment bill, and that delay is nothing short of an insult to CFS and SES volunteers, who I think we all agree deserve much better.

If the government truly appreciates the unique and irreplaceable role played by the CFS and SES volunteer organisations, it would see the passage of this bill through both houses expeditiously, and it would also see the enactment of this bill as a matter of urgency. There are over 14,000 CFS volunteers and around 1,700 SES volunteers who put their lives at risk with every bushfire, every road crash, every storm and every lightning strike. They witness the unimaginable: the horrors of death and the horrors of destruction.

During the 2018-19 fire season, CFS volunteers donated close to 500,000 hours of their own time to serve and protect South Australians. In dollar value that equates to more than $21 million, and we cannot underestimate the value of that unpaid contribution to this state. In a typical year, SES volunteers respond to around 10,000 calls for assistance from the South Australian community at any time of the day or night. Some of the busier Adelaide metro units respond to hundreds of call-outs each year.

The SES is primarily responsible for responding to extreme weather, including storms, extreme heat and flooding events, and they also respond to road crash, marine, swift water, vertical and confined space rescues. They assist SAPOL in land search operations and traffic management and play an important support role to the CFS during major bushfires.

On behalf of SA-Best, I thank all the CFS and SES volunteers for their dedication in protecting the communities they serve. On behalf of SA-Best, we understand the commitment each volunteer makes in terms of these undertakings, the risk-prone work and the thousands of hours they give freely to support all South Australians.

The bill and its predecessors are a culmination of a dedicated and long-held campaign by SA's CFS and SES volunteers. Their tireless work to have the CFS and SES charters enshrined in legislation arose from a fundamental concern of volunteers and their respective associations that existing consultation processes were inadequate in providing them with the confidence that their views would be listened to and given the gravitas they deserve.

For those reasons, again on behalf of SA-Best, I commend them for persevering with their efforts and stand with them in wanting to see this legislative change to enshrine their respective charters in legislation once and for all. For the reasons outlined, I commend again the work of the Hon. Tammy Franks in that respect and indicate SA-Best's full support for the bill.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (16:48): I would like to thank those speakers who have made a contribution today: the Hon. Connie Bonaros, the Hon. Stephen Wade and the Hon. Justin Hanson, and thank them for their support for this bill which, while small in its make-up, will be a very important bill for those volunteers. Indeed, it is a sign of respect for those who protect us, who put their lives on the line not as part of their career but in their volunteer hours. When they could be spending that time with family and friends or in recreation, they are out there, on the front line, defending us and our state, people and property.

This has been a long time in the making. I acknowledge the previous work of the Hon. Robert Brokenshire and the former member for Morphett Duncan McFetridge. He was delighted to hear that this was finally going to a vote, when I spoke to him in the last few days. While I as a Greens member of this parliament quite often had very little in common with the Hon. Robert Brokenshire and sometimes with the former member for Morphett, on this, on support for volunteers in our emergency and fire services, we were always united, so I absolutely commend the work of both former members.

The volunteer associations of the CFS and the SES are disappointed that it has taken so long to get to this point. This was a commitment made by all sides of politics in the previous parliament that passed this upper house unanimously but languished in the lower house without ever reaching a vote, that was an election promise from both sides, that a year ago I tabled thinking that the government would respond to with more urgency than they have. Indeed, if our emergency and fire volunteers took as long to turn up, we would be in a real spot of bother.

However, I look forward to its speedy passage in the other place and the sponsorship of the member for Mount Gambier, Troy Bell, to ensure that this bill is finally made law and that we do indeed respect those who protect us.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

Bill taken through committee without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (16:53): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.