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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-08-21 Daily Xml
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Economic and Finance Committee: Emergency Services Levy 2025-26

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (11:15): I move:

That the fifth report of the committee, entitled Emergency Services Levy 2025-26, be noted.

Under the Emergency Services Funding Act 1998, the Economic and Finance Committee has an annual statutory duty to inquire into, consider and report on the Treasurer's determination regarding the emergency services levy. The committee must provide a report on the written determination within 21 days after referral to the committee. This year the committee received the Treasurer's statement on 30 May.

The Emergency Services Funding Act 1998 compels the Treasurer to include determinations regarding the funding targets required via the levy to deliver emergency services, the expenditure on specific kinds of emergency services and the benefits for South Australians across the state. The emergency services levy funds the following organisations to deliver vital emergency services across Adelaide and the regions, including the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service, the South Australian Country Fire Service, Surf Lifesaving SA, SA Ambulance Service, Volunteer Marine Rescue organisations, and SA Police.

On 16 June, the Economic and Finance Committee held a public hearing with representatives from the Department of Treasury and Finance, the South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission, the Metropolitan Fire Service, the Country Fire Service, and the State Emergency Service. The witnesses outlined the funding targets, rate-setting and expending for the proposed levy for 2025-26. Commensurate with its 21-day obligation under the act, the committee considered the determination and tabled its report on 18 June.

Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the frontline responders, staff and volunteers who support, strengthen and serve our communities in times of crisis. No amount of praise would be good enough to acknowledge the services that are provided—both the professional paid services and the volunteer services.

I would like to highlight the key elements of this year's levy and report, as noted by the committee, that total expenditure on emergency services for 2024-25 is projected to now reach $394.1 million, mainly due to a carryover of funding from 2024-25 into 2025-26. The total expenditure on emergency services for 2025-26 is projected to be $415.4 million.

This will be funded primarily by ESL payments from fixed property of $347.6 million and mobile property of $53.8 million, in addition to minor revenues of $3.5 million and $10.5 million in rundown from the Community Emergency Services Fund, including $3.5 million carried over from the previous years. Cash balances in the Community Emergency Services Fund are forecast to be $20.9 million at 30 June 2025. For 2025-26, the government will pay $142.8 million into the Community Emergency Services Fund.

Emergency services levy bills fluctuate depending on a property's value according to the Valuer-General, its purpose and its location. In 2025-26, the committee can provide the following examples. The median residential property price in metropolitan Adelaide has been estimated at $850,000, and based on this, emergency services levy bills should increase to $164.55. This is approximately $6.70 higher than last financial year. The median residential property in regional areas has been estimated at $454,000, and based on this emergency services levy bills should increase to $99. This is approximately $3.25 higher than last financial year.

Revenue raised by these funding targets will be expended on emergency services, including some of the following new initiatives:

structural firefighting training for Country Fire Service volunteers at $2.3 million;

an ongoing replacement program for the State Emergency Service remotely piloted aircraft at $0.5 million;

a state bushfire risk mapping redevelopment at $0.4 million;

funding for the CFS to implement the bushfire hazard overlay code amendment at $300,000; and

funding for Surf Life Saving SA towards replacement of the Lifesaver 3 jet rescue boat at $0.3 million.

The committee has fulfilled its obligations under the Emergency Services Funding Act 1998. I would like to thank the members of the Economic and Finance Committee, the representatives from the Department of Treasury and Finance, the Chief Executive of the South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission and the Chief Officers of the Metropolitan Fire Service, the Country Fire Service and the State Emergency Service for their contribution and assistance.

Once again, I would like to flag gratitude especially to the volunteers who give up their time throughout the state, both in the metropolitan area and regional areas. For those of us who come from regional areas, we just know what an essential contribution this is, and we need to recognise it. We need to do all that we can to support our volunteers. We know that attracting volunteers is becoming more challenging as time goes on. When we do have the various organisations appearing before the committee, we know that the intensity of some of the circumstances they face, whether it be fire or whether it be other circumstances, is just going to get worse in the coming years.

I know that some people do not like it when we refer to climate change and global warming, but we just have to look at what is happening globally at the moment throughout the world, what is happening in Europe at the moment with the unprecedented fires. As I said, we need to do all that we can, both for our professionals and especially for our volunteers, to provide support and to encourage younger people to participate because it is a good thing to do. You will acquire loads of skills and you are doing something really solid for the community that you come from.

Therefore, pursuant to section 6 of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Economic and Finance Committee recommends the parliament note this report.

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (11:24): I rise to speak on this report as a member of the committee, which looked in depth at the emergency services levy and the entities that are funded by it. I echo the words of the member for Giles in thanking those organisations and their representatives from the CFS, the SES, the MFS, SAFECOM and the departments. As always, it was a fulsome investigation and inquiry into the expenditure. Of the questions that were asked of the committee, I think I probably asked 95 per cent, but the questions that were asked were genuine ones on behalf of community so that the committee, parliament and the community as a whole could fully understand the priority areas for investment.

I did note with interest the calculations and some of the numbers around the emergency services levy fulcrum of funds as a whole, and can I highlight that this levy has indeed gone up significantly, well over and above the rate of CPI. This is at a time when our communities are really struggling with the cost-of-living challenges being faced, and having more obligation being put on their shoulders is not something that we should go into lightly.

I was surprised, actually, at how the government have been seemingly quite flippant about the amount by which this ESL has been increased. I understand the important things that it funds, but there is also a responsibility on decision-makers who are putting extra cost burdens onto our community to fully understand those impacts that are going to be felt by individuals, families and businesses all around our state. To have the ESL going up by well over and above CPI is for me something that I think the government should be rethinking and taking stock of at a time like this when the cost of living is really starting to bite.

We looked at a number of the different aspects of the emergency services through the interrogation of this process, in the deliberations and in the development of this report. As a regional member of parliament—especially my area, which is over 220,000 square kilometres—I know that the vast majority of that area is actually serviced by volunteers within the emergency departments. The CFS, in particular, and the SES—and even the Ambulance Service, which is not funded through this—are predominantly manned by volunteers from across our community. They are the people who I really want to recognise today.

I want to really impress on the parliament and on decision-makers the importance of making sure we are investing in CFS infrastructure, facilities and equipment to most appropriately support those volunteers who are putting their lives on the line at times when the community is really under stress. Some of the fires that have been faced in our state over many years have been fought predominantly by volunteers, and not just in that immediate response where you need to get something under control but in the many days and weeks and even months of mopping up and continuing to extinguish spot fires. This is done by volunteers, and it deserves proper recognition. That proper recognition should come with appropriate investment into infrastructure, into facilities and into equipment.

I try to visit as many as possible of the CFS sheds that are dotted all the way around my electorate. To see the degradation and the run-down nature of some of these facilities really is a cause for concern. I have written to the minister and subsequent ministers a number of times about a few of these individual cases, but I want the whole parliament to fully understand the responsibility that we have as decision-makers to arm our volunteers appropriately, especially our volunteer CFS officers within regional areas, with well-equipped sheds and infrastructure, proper equipment so they can effectively respond to the emergency situations that they are facing, and also the facility to be able to do this in a safe and conscientious way.

Volunteer firefighters in regional areas do not just volunteer to fight fires; they are also the number one port of call when it comes to responding to serious vehicle accidents. We have members of the community who stand at a roadblock or guard over an accident scene where they know the person who is involved in the accident—they may be a friend, a family member or someone whom they have worked closely together with in the community. That is something which is real life for many people right across regional South Australia. These volunteers give of themselves because they are hardworking, conscientious, contributing members of their community, and we need to make sure that we put proper investment back in to support them to continue to do that important job.

While we are looking at the allocation for this financial year, I want to acknowledge and congratulate the Streaky Bay SES unit on their advocacy and hard work. That has been recognised with the delivery of a new fit-for-purpose rescue vessel just in the last few weeks to Streaky Bay. It is a 5.5-metre rigid-hull inflatable boat, fitted with the latest in navigational electronics, communications and safety features.

SES volunteers at Streaky Bay have gone through some of the most challenging times over the last few years, with a number of shark attacks which they have been at the frontline of responding to. For them to have been in a situation of having to be on the water sadly looking for a dead body, looking for a missing person, and for some of those searches where they have been ill-equipped to be able to do that, it is so encouraging to see that the community advocacy—and I have been part of that push for proper investment in Streaky Bay—has been rewarded with an investment into this vessel.

I especially want to recognise the man in charge of the Streaky Bay SES, the man who has given so much of his time as a volunteer to help coordinate, and that is Trevlyn Smith, someone I know well and someone I have seen in action. I have been to his house, and as soon as there is something in his community which needs the attention of the SES he drops everything that he is doing and responds to it. He is one of these people who has given countless hours—and I mean that in real terms, it is countless. So Trevlyn, congratulations on your advocacy work, and to the whole team. I hope that equipping this new fit-for-purpose rescue vehicle will give the community confidence, because this is something which we have asked for, especially in response to these shark attacks.

The challenge of shark mitigation and management has been one of the five important aspects that government should be conscientious about responding to. This is real life, lived out in regional communities, and this is just one step when we are looking at some of the responses that are in the ESL report for surf lifesaving. I hope that, despite there being a bit of time since these awful incidents have occurred, that real focus on getting proper outcomes for the community will not be forgotten.

I certainly will continue to fight for appropriate investment and strategy into shark management and mitigation, especially for those of us on the West Coast and some of the more isolated areas who have sadly seen firsthand some of these incidents that have hit our community members well and truly. So congratulations Streaky Bay on that effort that has been put in, and I hope it is one step along the way to a continued investment into regional areas, in particular when it comes to their emergency management and response.

This report is a fulsome one. I hope that there is the opportunity for us to continue to work constructively when looking at areas of importance when it comes to investment into emergency services. Can I once again thank all those volunteers who put so much of themselves on the line every single day—their time, their businesses, their family time—to keep our communities safe and to protect them. It is reflected in investment into emergency services. Can I just once more reiterate the words of the member for Giles, as the Chair of the committee, thanking those officers who came to dig a bit deeper into some of the budget allocations that we looked at through this emergency services levy report.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:33): I would like to make a brief contribution to the fifth report of the Economic and Finance Committee, looking into the emergency services levy and the funding that is put into a very, very important part of the state's economy: first responders. I think the Presiding Member, the member for Giles, gave a very good overview. The member for Flinders eloquently put it as a very good regional MP, and an MP that has his finger on the pulse in what is a very large electorate.

I think the member for Giles and the member for Flinders have two of the larger electorates in the state, but they, too, have a very good understanding of the importance of emergency services personnel to our regional setting. We have very few people in the landscape when it comes to population, but we have well above our share of incidents having to have first responders come. Whether it is through the MFS, CFS, ambulance, marine rescue, SAPOL or the SES, they are organisations that many expect to be there when there is a time of need.

I want to thank the volunteers. Sadly, it is a declining base of volunteers who are now being less and less represented as first responders. It is not about people having other priorities. It is about the pressures on day-to-day life, whether it is the cost of living or whether it is the cost of doing business. We have to remember that many first responders are volunteers—many. A lot of them are either self-employed or work for a business that is very graciously allowing their staff or their personnel to down tools and go out to a scene where those first responders are needed, whether it is a fire, whether it is a road trauma, whether it is marine or whether it is any natural cause.

I think we need to understand that if we do have a fire it is not just about going out there to fight a fire, put the fire out and return home. As the member for Flinders said, in the usual manner there is a long process after an incident has happened, whether it is the mop-up, whether it is the clean-up, whether it is the due diligence to make sure that there are no fires that restart. It is also, particularly in a regional community, knocking on doors, making sure that the families are alright after a trauma, making sure that those businesses are okay, that they are dealing with the cost of living and doing business while their personnel are out there looking after their neighbours and their community.

The importance cannot be overstated, particularly in a regional setting, in a small community where everyone knows everyone and everyone knows everyone's business, in most instances. It is not only being a first responder, it is living with the people who have been affected or impacted by trauma or by an event that their first responders have had to be at.

One thing that I will say in closing is that we are seeing record revenue coming from the ESL. Property values continue to climb, particularly since the pandemic. That is putting a lot more money into the kitty for our emergency services levy and the way that that is distributed. Yes, the regional settings are seeing fewer volunteers. We are seeing branches amalgamating, but what we do need is state-of-the-art, up-to-date equipment, so that our volunteers can look after us and be first responders more safely.

A lot of those events that they are responding to seem to be more traumatic and seem to have a much more wideranging impact on personnel. I would like to see more of that levy put into measures that recruit and retain our volunteer numbers. We know that SAPOL are seeing a massive exodus from their organisation, but so are all of them and I think that needs to be put into context. We have to make sure that our volunteer base is supported, that we have a very good recruitment program and that we give people and businesses the opportunity and the support that they need to allow those volunteers to attend as first responders.

My call to the Economic and Finance Committee is that potentially there should be an adjunct to what this report has given us today, to look at ways that we can make the emergency service organisations better and bigger, with the equipment and the technology that they need to be better and safer when they are responding.

The Presiding Member talked about climate change. I think we have always dealt with a variable climate, and nothing is more sure than having a fire tomorrow, nothing is more sure than a road trauma, sadly, and nothing is more sure than incidents in our marine and water settings. That is why we need to have that up-to-date equipment, whether it be a truck, a boat or personal equipment that our volunteers are using.

I want this government, or any government, to prioritise what is a declining volunteer base. As the shadow minister for emergency services, I note those numbers in the last two years. The exodus away from volunteering is alarming. That is now having a telling tale, putting more pressure on fewer people. As I said, people are prioritising their time. Businesses are doing it tough, allowing their staff and their personnel to down tools and go out to be first responders. I would like to think that the government will put more of a focus on making sure that they put some of that budget measure in place to recruit and retain our volunteers who are so very important.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:41): I rise to speak to this motion in regard to the emergency services levy. I just want to recount a story of, I guess, real activity on the Dukes Highway and an event that happened recently. I was just coming home from an event about 10 o'clock and I was listening to my UHF CB when I turned into my driveway, and I could tell something had happened not far up the road because of the volume. The truck drivers were saying there was a car that had gone sideways into the trees.

It was actually only about 500 metres up from my driveway so I flicked out and roared up the road. There were already two trucks stopped and a private citizen in a ute already rendering assistance to the lady who had come unstuck at an overtaking lane. I get sick of hearing these stories. Overtaking lanes do a job but they are a B-grade alternative to duplication of highways. Too often we see accidents where people misjudge.

I do not know the full story of what happened here, but she ended up facing the opposite way to where she was going. She was heading down to Naracoorte and ended up facing back towards Adelaide on that side of the road, going sideways into the trees. I must admit, I made a call asking the drivers where this accident was before I got up there, and they said, 'It's just up here.' A police officer was coming back from Bordertown on a nightly run out of Murray Bridge and he said, 'I am on the way.'

So I just want to commend the work of the police, the CFS and all the people who stopped and looked, and then the lad from Jaensch's Garage who came down with the tow truck and picked the car up once the issue was resolved. It was a delicate issue. The lady had back and neck injuries. She was conscious, she was talking, people were keeping her calm.

I commend the Tailem Bend ambulance operators who came down. They realised that they needed to basically dismantle what was, for the damage that had happened, a reasonably good-looking VT Commodore in reasonable shape. The Coonalpyn CFS had geared up with Road Crash Rescue. Just as an aside to note the closeness of communities, my second and third cousins were both on that truck with a few other locals I knew, and a Netherton truck turned up as well and promptly turned the VT into a roofless Commodore with expert work using the jaws of life and got rid of the roof and, in quite a reasonably long operation, making sure that the lady was in the best condition, got her onto that backboard and into the ambulance.

They then performed other protocols before taking her off to hospital to receive treatment, and I hope that lady is doing well. I just wanted to exemplify one matter that happened. I arrived there soon after 10 o'clock, I think it was, and we left at midnight once the Jaensch's Garage tow truck had skull-dragged the car out of the scrub—they are very professional at getting these things from all sorts of angles—and they had to be right across the Dukes Highway, with the police, obviously, with flashing lights.

I must commend the truck drivers. They do get a bit of a hiding sometimes, but most of the truck drivers did the right thing that night. There were so many flashing lights there with the CFS, ambulance and the police, and most of them slowed right down to 25 kilometres or were barely moving at times. Obviously when this car had to be dragged out of the scrub, and the truck was literally across three lanes, everyone just pulled up on either side from the Melbourne-based lane and the Adelaide-based lane.

This is just one of the events that people have to respond to in the country, and I just want to praise all of our CFS volunteers for what they do. As the member for Flinders said, we need to ensure their equipment and bases are kept up to scratch so that we can retain volunteers because it is vital work, and it will be someone's friend, someone's family member, sadly, who may need the support into the future.

The more I see of accidents I realise there are just too many fatalities in the near vicinity of that incident just up the road. There was one sadly involving a young girl from Keith in the last couple of years. That was a horrible incident involving another overtaking lane and she lost her life. We really need to move forward in this state to the duplication of our major roads, the Dukes Highway, the Sturt Highway and the Augusta Highway. I just want to take my hat off to all our emergency services and the police. They do magnificent work and sometimes that goes unnoticed, but they are truly worthy.

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (11:47): I thank the members for Chaffey, Hammond and Flinders for their contribution. I think the member for Hammond makes a very important point that often the lack of volunteer first responders would lead to far more deaths on our roads and elsewhere.

I can speak very personally about this. I was returning one time from a camping and fishing trip in the far west of the state. We were about 10 kilometres outside of Wudinna and my partner at the time was driving the car. She was an inexperienced driver, she was learning and she lost complete control of the car. The car was totally written off. I do not know how a number of us survived that accident.

She was incredibly, seriously hurt with a broken leg, a compound fracture to the thigh, a broken collarbone and she remained unconscious for 13 days. If it had not been for the volunteers who turned up very quickly on that day and took her to the Wudinna Hospital—we were fortunate that at that time there was actually a resident GP who stabilised her—if it was not for those volunteers and the GP who at that time was living in that community, she would have died in her 20s.

That emphasises just how important volunteers are in regional areas, where there is often a lack of professional services and volunteers. It is really a life-and-death situation for people. I take my hat off to them. The work they do is exemplary.

Motion carried.

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