RFS boss rejects calls for firefighters to be compensated nickbonyhady
NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has rejected calls for his members to be compensated for their work in the ongoing bushfire crisis, saying it would undermine the spirit of volunteerism underpinning the RFS.
A house and car damaged by a bushfire that swept through Balmoral in the NSW Southern Highlands on Saturday."What's important is that we give our fire commissioners the tools they need to best support and raise that volunteer force," Mr Morrison said on Monday. "And they've asked me to talk about some ideas and I am talking to them and we're having meaningful dialogue but for goodness sake, let's not take away from the extraordinary spirit that is volunteerism that underpins all that is good in our society.
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Volunteer Fire Fighters Association is a 'politically charged' group with 'unclear motives': NSW RFS commissioner | Sky News AustraliaCommissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service Shane Fitzsimmons says he would put 'very little store in anything the Volunteer Fire Fighters Association (VFFA) has to say,' due to the lack of 'access to information about who they claim to represent, how many they represent, and how they operate'.\n\nMr Fitzsimmons told Sky News the VFFA are 'highly politically-charged, their leader is a failed political candidate' with unclear motivations. \n\nMr Fitzsimmons said we cannot “take away from the extraordinary spirit that is volunteerism, underpinning all that is good in our society,' as it makes communities “so cohesive, valuable and precious'.\n\n“In my decades of service, volunteers don’t want payment, it doesn’t make them volunteers, and they have given me that message loud and clear,” he said. \n\nMr Fitzsimmons said 'meaningful dialogue' is underway between Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister David Elliott about ensuring 'unnecessary hardship isn't affecting too adversely our members'.\n\nNew South Wales fire fighters are taking advantage of easing Christmas Eve conditions, ahead of a weekend of soaring temperatures. \n\n“This is the most protracted, demanding, uninterrupted pattern of weather that we have experienced here in New South Wales, and the results, damage and destruction, as well as the commitment from volunteers is unwavering,” he said. \n\nImage: News Corp Australia
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