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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-09-26 Daily Xml
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COUNTRY FIRE SERVICE

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (15:25): It gives me great pleasure to rise and speak today on the great work that Country Fire Service brigades within Morialta have been doing. Specifically, I will speak about the CFS Chief Officer's Award for Training Excellence. Members would be aware that I often take the time to speak on local brigades and what the volunteers in Morialta have been up to. With the electorate of Morialta due to take on a very different and enlarged shape—engorged even, as of the 2014 election, after the redistribution as it doubles in size in the Hills—I am looking forward to meeting and working with many more of these volunteers, including those from CFS region 2, namely, Paracombe and Cudlee Creek.

Recently, the 10th annual Chief Officer's Awards were distributed to brigades. These awards recognise those brigades that meet the minimum training standards determined by the Standards of Fire and Emergency Cover (SFEC). Unfortunately, it is almost a misrepresentation when using the term 'minimum standards', given the difficulty for brigades in actually achieving these standards. The training of firefighters of the CFS requires the hard work of volunteers and staff all the way up and down the chain of command. The CFS has developed a Training Administration System, which allows volunteers to actively monitor their brigade's training levels. Enough training courses need to be provided so that opportunities are there for volunteers to upskill.

Brigade training officers need to keep on top of areas where the brigade needs further training. These might include courses ranging from operating compressed breathing apparatus to providing first aid or operating radios. Achieving the award also requires firefighters to make themselves available on weekends or after hours to attend the training. All in all, many, many volunteer hours go into getting our firefighters trained, both from the individual and others in the CFS.

The task of maintaining a minimum standard can be especially challenging, given that a brigade may have met the minimum requirements all year, only to have a trained firefighter resign or move brigades, which causes the brigade to go below their minimum standard in one area of training. Out of the 425 brigades across South Australia, only six brigades have been awarded the Chief Officer's Award for each of the 10 years that it has existed. Of these elite six brigades, I am proud to advise the house that two are currently within the boundaries of Morialta and a third will be after the next election. I congratulate the Athelstone CFS, the Norton Summit-Ashton CFS and Paracombe CFS on all of their hard work in achieving this milestone year after year.

Each one of these brigades has put in a considerable amount of effort over the last 10 years to achieve this. I especially congratulate the captains of these brigades. The first is Eero Haatainen, who recently stood down as captain of Athelstone, to be replaced by Mick Rossi, who I am sure will continue with this tradition. Wayne Atkins has been the training officer at Athelstone for longer than the Chief Officer's Award has existed, so he certainly needs to be congratulated also.

From Norton Summit-Ashton, I congratulate captain John Naumann and the previous captain, Doug Munn, who has since gone on to being a deputy group officer. I know that the current training officer at Norton Summit-Ashton, Philip van der Hoek, puts in a considerable amount of time ensuring that every opportunity for a member to be trained is taken up, thus continuing the longstanding service that the van der Hoek family has contributed in the Morialta area. They are a famous Rostrevor family who I have known for a number of years.

I also congratulate all the firefighters from the Paracombe CFS. Unfortunately, I have not yet had the opportunity to visit the Paracombe brigade, which is new to Morialta as at the next election, but I can assure the house and members of the brigade that I will be taking the deputy leader, the shadow minister for emergency services, up to Paracombe and Cudlee Creek in the very near future to meet with the brigades and learn a bit more about the goings on in region 2. I am sure they will all be looking forward to that, as am I.

I am truly grateful for the hard work these brigades put in year in, year out, month in, month out, fire season in, fire season out, which results in a safer community for the people of Morialta and adjacent areas, and I thank them again.

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