The Victorian Farmers Federation has told the Fire Services Bill Select Committee that the CFA needed to keep full contract of resources needed for volunteer firefighters under any new structure.

The government needs to ensure that career firefighters engage well with volunteers and the CFA gets the final say on who is appointed to oversee operations of the volunteer service. 

Volunteer firefighters deserve respect and should be given the equipment and training they need, not the resources that headquarters thinks is appropriate.

Our submission to the parliamentary inquiry said farmers were concerned the new structure would leave a weaker volunteer service which would be funded by a rise in the Fire Services Property Levy.

We need to ensure that costs do not blow out for farmers and they end up shouldering the costs of a community good for Victoria. The amount we pay in the FSPL needs to recognise the value the CFA contributes to private and public land.

David Jochinke, president, Victorian Farmers Federation

THANK YOU for publishing my letter in Wednesday’s Mail-Times (Titled: Changes could hurt) about the campaign by the Health and Community Services Union and the disability workforce concerning privatisation of public disability services by the state government.

What the public needs to understand is that due to the low NDIS fixed prising, 45 NGO providers – some from the Wimmera – are at Fair Work Australia trying to slash wages and conditions for their already underpaid workforce.

This, in reality, only makes a mockery of the real intentions of the NDIS that it will shape and transform the lives of people with a disability. Regional and remote areas are crying out for disability workers under the increased services being driven by the expansion of the NDIS rollout. Recruiting staff to a low-paid and profit-driven workforce will be difficult and the wider community need this to be reported.

This decision goes against the intentions of the NDIS to provide choice for people with a disability as privatisation removes all the choice the residents and family have.

The workforce is passionate in the Wimmera and the only avenue to getting our campaign public is via the media outlets supporting our area.

We have families willing and able to make this a public campaign before the next state election to pressure the Andrews Government to reverse this terrible inhuman decision. The more this topic is reported, the more we can get the local community to understand and support our campaigns.  

Name withheld 

I ENCOURAGE local councils and kindergarten operators across the Lowan electorate to apply for major grant funding under the 2017-18 Children’s Facilities Capital Program.

The program is offering funding to build and refurbish centres across three categories: integrated children’s centre grants, new early learning facilities grants and early learning facilities upgrade grants.

The quality of a child’s earliest environments and the availability of appropriate facilities at the right stages of development are crucial in determining the way each child develops. 

We also know that we need great early learning facilities to help attract and retain young families to our region and better manage population growth in Victoria.

For further information, visit www.education.vic.gov.au/childhood/providers/funding or phone 9651 3399.

Applications close on September 15.

Emma Kealy, Member for Lowan