The short timeframe for submissions to the Fire Services Review has fuelled concerns country brigades and their volunteers will have little say through the submission process.

Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, said local CFA volunteers and communities have been given just three weeks to write and lodge their submissions to the State Government’s Fire Services Review

“Following that, there’s only four weeks for all of those submissions to be considered and for the final report to be developed, so it seems an incredibly short time-frame for such an important matter relating to the future structure of an organisation as important to country Victoria as the CFA.

Mr Bull said if the Labor Government took CFA volunteers’ views seriously, it would provide them with adequate time to make submissions.

“To provide just a few weeks for written submissions to this review is offensive to our CFA volunteers and country communities,” Mr Bull said.

“At the same time, the government is taking more than 12 months to look into gaming machine arrangements, so why the rush for this review?

“Our CFA volunteers dedicate their time and risk their safety to protect others – and they deserve to be treated with far more respect by this government.”

“I am urging all of our CFA volunteers to have their say by lodging a submission before the August 31 deadline as there remains concerns there will be a shift to merge the CFA and MFB, or aspects of them and that would not be a good outcome for country brigades,” Mr Bull said