Volunteer firefighters' have slammed Labor's plan to recruit 350 extra career firefighters to the Country Fire Authority, warning it will have a "disastrous" effect on volunteers.
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In a letter sent to all MPs on the eve of the state election, the board of the Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria said Labor's policy had the potential to destroy the CFA because it would hand over undue control to the United Firefighters Union.
The VFBV is a non-profit organisation established under the CFA Act to represent the interests and concerns of volunteers.
The news came as Labor announced it would spend $18 million in its first budget to buy 50 new fire trucks for the CFA to replace what it said was an ageing and unsafe fleet.
"Under the Liberals, CFA firefighters are working in trucks that wouldn't be on the road in other states," Labor's emergency services spokesman Wade Noonan said.
"Firefighters risk their lives to keep our community safe and we'll help give them the tools and trucks they need to do their job."
Last week Labor pledged $141 million over four years to recruit 450 extra firefighters, 350 in the CFA. Much of the extra CFA professional firefighters would be deployed to rapidly growing outer suburban and regional centres, outside of the MFB zone.
The volunteers' association is worried that Labor policy will undermine the role of volunteers in the CFA and give the union power over decision making by the chief officer.
"Make no mistake – this policy is a direct attack on CFA as a statutory volunteer-based fire and emergency service where volunteers are supported by sufficient paid staff as expertly determined by the chief officer and who form a fully integrated workforce to deliver CFA services," the cover letter to MPs says.
It says Labor's policy will reduce the CFA's volunteer firefighting force by thousands, pushing volunteers out of CFA stations and hundreds of trucks off the road "when we need them for major fires such as Black Saturday".
"Don't be fooled, the plan announced by Labor is not about improving community safety in Victoria, the detail included in their announcement is about giving the control of CFA to a union," the letter says.
The group instead calls for a better plan to recruit and train more volunteers to the CFA's ranks, as well as further investment in resources.
Labor says its policy is designed to help boost fire coverage for the rapidly expanding outer suburbs of Melbourne and growing regional urban centres such as Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Latrobe Valley.
"To have a growing population, particularly on Melbourne's fringe, and to not provide additional fire protection is quite frankly irresponsible," Mr Noonan said.
He attacked the Coalition's track record on CFA funding, saying it had been cut.
Emergency Services Minister Kim Wells dismissed the pledge as undermining volunteers and handing power over to the "militant" firefighters' union.
Mr Wells said the VFBV's letter was further evidence that Labor's policy would alienate CFA volunteers.
