Morrison under pressure from minister to compensate firefighters | nickbonyhady
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is facing pressure from within his ministry over compensation for volunteer firefighters.
Nationals MP and Minister for Veterans Darren Chester said he believed volunteer firefighters should be paid the same as professionals when they are forced to fight long-running blazes, which have characterised this year's horror fire season, echoing calls from Labor leader Anthony Albanese. Nationals MP Darren Chester has backed calls for volunteer firefighters to be compensated in severe fire seasons, which has so far not been ruled out by the government."On these 'campaign' fires which could take weeks and months to extinguish, it becomes unrealistic to expect volunteers to spend so much time away from their workplace, small business or family farm, without compensation," Mr Chester said on Facebook in a post he stressed was his personal view.
"And we need to pay volunteers exactly the same as state government employees for attendance at these long-term bushfire events."Across Australia bushfires have burnt out 5 million hectares, including in Mr Chester's Victorian electorate of Gippsland, and killed nine people this fire season. Mr Albanese reiterated his call for volunteer firefighters to be compensated on Friday but acknowledged the importance of rural fire services' volunteer ethos."There's no doubt that people when they expect to volunteer will do so for a day, a week, and many of these people for months," Mr Albanese said. "But ethoses don't put food on the table. They don't pay your mortgage or your rent.
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