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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-30 Daily Xml
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Country Fire Service Volunteers

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (15:18): I rise to talk about volunteers in the Country Fire Service. I want to talk about a letter that was sent to a group officer. I have amended it slightly, but I quote:

Dear Group Officer,

You would be aware that I have received a report that advises you may have breached our code of conduct and therefore potentially Regulation 21 Fire and Emergency Services Regulations 2021 and have been asked to determine if an investigation should proceed.

Given the reports of your potential misconduct and your familial relationship with another CFS member being a Brigade Captain, I also believe you are unable to fulfil your responsibilities as a Group Officer until both matters are finalised.

As an alternative to a formal suspension, I am recommending to you that you apply for and take a leave of absence from the CFS until the matters associated with the suspension of your family member are finalised. The conditions of approval for a leave of absence are,

you reply within one day from the date of this email with your request for a leave of absence. If this condition is not met, I will have no other option but to recommend suspension your membership.

During your leave of absence:

All matters under investigation in relation to your family member remain a confidential matter and you must refrain from discussing these matters with members of the CFS or speak to any other parties about this matter.

You are not involved directly or indirectly in any SACFS activities.

You do not attend any SACFS premises.

You immediately reassign any social media or any other administrator roles and responsibilities for electronic platforms with CFS branding.

Should you choose not to take the leave of absence option, I have considered the information provided and consider an investigation is warranted and will recommend suspension of your membership while this occurs, in accordance with Regulation 21 of the Fire and Emergency Services Act 2021 (SA).

I recognise this may be a challenging time for you and therefore remind you of your access to our SPAM helpline on 08 8115 3950 if you require assistance.

It is signed off by the relevant regional commander. So guess what happened? What we had here was a very dedicated firefighter who after 32 years—32 years—of volunteer service chose to quit. I met this man the other day. He has left the CFS. They have lost his service forever and it is a real shame.

There is a letter from Minister Szakacs to the group captain on 19 November 2023, and this is part of that letter:

People who are subject to disciplinary processes should have their matters dealt with expeditiously and fairly. It is in the best interests of all involved, both the staff member themselves and organisation. That is why I have requested the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment, Ms Erma Ranieri, to commence an examination into disciplinary regulations.

The minister goes on to talk about how he strongly supports CFS volunteers across this state.

From the CFS Volunteers Association—they first had some correspondence that said:

It is an exceedingly small minority within CFS who act inappropriately and once challenged react poorly. This is a very unhealthy attitude and is not reflective of the volunteer ethos and culture of CFS, of which so many are proud.

They obviously got some correspondence from some volunteers and then came out with some other correspondence, and part of it said that 'there is no dispute that the CFS disciplinary policy requires review'. It is a real shame that we have had to delay introducing the motion for a select committee in the upper house because neither the Labor government nor the CFS Volunteers Association, who should be supporting the volunteers of this state, who want this select committee to go ahead, rule out that proposal. The volunteers association is working hand in glove with the government.

I just want to make a note about something that the member for Kavel, the Speaker, said recently. This is from The Advertiser of 23 November 2023:

Emergency vehicles can get stuck in traffic congestion on the bridge over the freeway. The local MP, Dan Cregan, said this week in the event of a bushfire the interchange would be overwhelmed 'instantly'.

My advice to the member for Kavel is to get that $40 million that is not needed for that road safety work on that other roundabout in Mount Barker—and that is told to me by Mount Barker residents—and get that $40 million put toward that vitally needed interchange. It is as simple as that. Talk to your mate, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.

The SPEAKER: Two things: firstly, you can withdraw and apologise for describing me as a 'mate', which suggests there is an improper relationship between me and some other member of the chamber. It is a subjective standard. You can do it, otherwise you are going to get named. Second, that is a separate funding program—and I am making this by way of a personal explanation—and that issue has been explored with the minister and it is not possible.

Mr PEDERICK: I withdraw and apologise.

The SPEAKER: Thank you.

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