As Australia is lashed by its second month of an unprecedented bushfire crisis - with no end in sight - fireys are calling for something to change.
The row over compensation for volunteer firefighters, who are stretched after weeks of bushfires, continues as the government says the idea is against the spirit of volunteerism.
The president of NSW’s Volunteer Fire Fighters Association says the state and federal governments have ignored the fact members have racked up expenses, including petrol spent driving to fire fronts, fighting the blazes.The Sydney Morning Herald“They volunteer as much as they can afford, sometimes even more than they can afford. It is not sustainable.”Mick Holton has called for compensation.
His comments came as NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott rejected the idea that the volunteers should be paid. “Anyone who is arguing we have to pay them doesn’t understand the ethos of the volunteer in this country,” Mr Elliot toldPrime Minister Scott Morrison has said the government is taking advice, before noting that “Australia’s system all around the country has always, and will always, depend on having a large volunteer force” to deal with flood, fire and other relief efforts.
“I’m taking advice from fire commissioners on what is best needed to continue to support access to that important volunteer force that is out there,” he said, noting there had been no state recommendations on compensation for volunteers.
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