CFA volunteers rally in Vic over deal

The CFA has gained a new board and chief executive in less than 24 hours.

Some volunteer firefighters feel left in the dark after the CFA's board and chief executive were replaced within 24 hours.

Hundreds, including Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, attended a local rally outside the Belgrave electorate office of new Emergency Services Minister James Merlino on Saturday.

Among the crowd was Olinda CFA captain, Phil Skiller, who believed volunteers weren't getting enough information.

"We're not sure of anything at the moment. There is so much up in the air," he told AAP.

Mr Skiller said his brigade stood behind the CFA and original board members, sacked after refusing to support a controversial union pay deal.

"And we're 100 per cent committed to our community," he said.

The CFA board was officially dropped on Friday after Mr Merlino announced their replacements.

Neville Aldham, the captain of Selby CFA, said some people were becoming emotional about the dispute.

He believed there were clauses in the EBA that took away the CFA's ability to run its own operation.

"There is a lot of anger toward what has happened," Mr Aldham told AAP.

"And probably especially that they sacked the board, even though there was an injunction."

Former Fair Work commissioner Greg Smith is now the board's chair and he has already appointed Victorian health sector executive Frances Diver the new CEO.

Ms Diver's predecessor, Lucinda Nolan, resigned on Friday after refusing to support the government's proposed deal with the United Firefighters Union.

Former emergency services minister Jane Garrett also quit last week rather than support the deal, which she believed gave too much power to the union and threatened the volunteer nature of the CFA.

A legal injunction means the deal can't be signed until June 22, when it will go to the 800 professional CFA firefighters for a vote.

Asked whether the dispute could affect Labor's chances in key marginal seats, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the focus was safety, not the election.

"Our volunteers are the heart of the CFA and I am more than confident that there will be a resolution to this matter," he told reporters on Saturday.

State government spokesman Martin Foley MP said Ms Bishop and the Liberals were politicising career firefighters "for their own gross political needs".

Firefighter Elise De Lany, who volunteers with the Patterson River brigade, also felt the CFA was becoming "political fodder" for the federal election, which is just a fortnight away.


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Source: AAP



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