Prime Minister Scott Morrison is facing renewed calls to pay volunteer firefighters for their service during major bushfire events after a government minister said it was not sustainable to expect people to take months off work without compensation.
Appearing on ABC News on Friday, Veterans’ Affairs Minister Darren Chester said the feedback in his electorate of Gippsland, where fires have been burning since 21 November, had been “quite positive”.
While acknowledging it would not be possible to pay volunteer firefighters for every one-off job, such as attending a car accident, the Nationals MP said compensation should be considered for those fighting “campaign fires” that go for weeks and months.
“We’ve got volunteers now taking a long time away from their workplace, whether they are small business people, whether they are farmers, whether they are employed in the towns,” he said.
“Expecting them to take away all those weeks and months to be on the fire grounds, side by side with state government employees who are being paid, I think in the longer term we need to have this conversation.”
Bushfires have been burning across the country since November, with close to 1,300 NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) volunteers on duty across the state on Friday morning.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison meets crews from Woodside Community Fire Service in South Australia. Source: AAP
On Tuesday, Mr Morrison announced federal government employees who were volunteer firefighters would be given four weeks extra paid leave to ensure they are able to continue battling the massive blazes across the country’s east coast.
Any additional leave will be provided for as needed.
"With bushfire seasons starting earlier, one of the things I've heard on the ground is that some people are dipping into their other leave entitlements to stay out there battling blazes," Mr Morrison said.
The PM has also called on large employers to follow the government's lead on volunteer leave arrangements, to ease the load on those who are self-employed or run small businesses.
Following his call for pay for firefighters, Mr Chester said there was “no clash” between himself and the prime minister, pointing to Tuesday’s announcement as proof of his support of greater compensation.
On Friday morning Labor leader Anthony Albanese once again reiterated his calls for volunteer firefighters to receive payment during significant emergencies.
“There's no doubt that people, when they expect to volunteer, will do so for a day, a week, and many of these people for months. But ethoses don't put food on the table. They don't pay your mortgage or your rent,” he said.
“The fact is that wherever I have been, this issue has been raised with me.”
Mr Albanese said there were a “range of measures” that could be introduced, including tax arrangements, one-off payments and leave entitlements.
The calls for payment were earlier this week rejected by the NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, who said the suggestion was not within the longstanding spirit of the organisation.
"Overwhelmingly in my decades of service and even getting around some of these fire grounds in the last few days, the volunteers don't want payment. It doesn't make them volunteers," he said, adding that he was having regular conversations with the Prime Minister and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
"They have given me that message loud and clear again and again."
