News

More firefighters and less station closures

May 22, 2009

In Order 2008/22 Rolled Back Again

On Tuesday 19th May FBEU members pressured the NSW government to commit to employing more retained firefighters, and to keep Ingleburn fire station open at all times.

Permanent and retained firefighters, along with the State Secretary, attended a ‘community cabinet’ meeting in Campbelltown, and directly lobbied the Premier Nathan Rees, and Emergency Services Minister Steve Whan, with great success.

Senior Firefighter Mick Nairn, from the Burwood brigade, was instrumental in putting the heat on the government when he raised the issue of a slow response to a house fire because of Ingleburn station was closed last week. After a roar of support from the crowd, Premier Rees was forced to deal with the policy he had approved.

The Minister Steve Whan then publicly stated the government would:

• Employ more retained firefighters across NSW
• Not let Ingleburn fire station be taken ‘offline’ again

This is another great result in our ongoing strategy to put political pressure on the decisions makers in government.

The result follows similar success in the Blue Mountains, western Sydney and southern Sydney, where FBEU members forced their local MPs to make sure Leura, Merrylands and Mortdale stations would not close.

We will continue our campaign against the NSW government’s policy of closing retained fire stations, and I encourage all members to get involved.

Simon Flynn
State Secretary