Scott Morrison bows to pressure from Labor and his own minister over those who lose income while fighting fires
The Morrison government has announced that rural New South Wales fire
service volunteers will be compensated for loss of income, after weeks
of mounting pressure from the community, political rivals and within its
own party.
Just days after the minister Darren Chester broke ranks and joined Labor calls for volunteer firefighters to be paid, the prime minister announced eligible volunteers would receive $300 a day up to $6,000 if called out for more than 10 days this fire season.
Morrison had previously resisted the idea of paying volunteers, at first calling it a distraction before saying it was the domain of the states and something that would be examined in conjunction with state and fire authority leaders after the crisis had passed.
Despite growing community unrest over the amount of paid work volunteers were being forced to give up in order to continue tackling the wildfire emergency, Morrison said the announcement was not about paying volunteers but “sustaining volunteer effort” and came as a result of a direct request and consultation with fire chiefs and the NSW government.
Under the plan, RFS volunteers who are self-employed or working for small or medium businesses will be able to apply for tax-free financial support from the federal government to cover lost wages. It will not be means-tested and the NSW state government has agreed to administer the payments.
“Earlier this week, I announced the federal government would be providing paid leave for up to four weeks for Commonwealth public servants fighting these devastating fires,” Morrison said in a statement.
“This announcement provides employees of small and medium sized businesses and self employed volunteers with the same level of support. We expect larger companies to provide their employees with 20 days of emergency services leave.”
Morrison has not ruled out other states joining the scheme if the
bushfire crisis reaches the same catastrophic levels NSW has
experienced.Just days after the minister Darren Chester broke ranks and joined Labor calls for volunteer firefighters to be paid, the prime minister announced eligible volunteers would receive $300 a day up to $6,000 if called out for more than 10 days this fire season.
Morrison had previously resisted the idea of paying volunteers, at first calling it a distraction before saying it was the domain of the states and something that would be examined in conjunction with state and fire authority leaders after the crisis had passed.
Despite growing community unrest over the amount of paid work volunteers were being forced to give up in order to continue tackling the wildfire emergency, Morrison said the announcement was not about paying volunteers but “sustaining volunteer effort” and came as a result of a direct request and consultation with fire chiefs and the NSW government.
Under the plan, RFS volunteers who are self-employed or working for small or medium businesses will be able to apply for tax-free financial support from the federal government to cover lost wages. It will not be means-tested and the NSW state government has agreed to administer the payments.
“Earlier this week, I announced the federal government would be providing paid leave for up to four weeks for Commonwealth public servants fighting these devastating fires,” Morrison said in a statement.
“This announcement provides employees of small and medium sized businesses and self employed volunteers with the same level of support. We expect larger companies to provide their employees with 20 days of emergency services leave.”
“The early and prolonged nature of this fire season has made a call beyond what is typically made on our volunteers firefighters,” Morrison said. “While I know RFS volunteers don’t seek payment for their service, I don’t want to see volunteers or their families unable to pay bills, or struggle financially as a result of the selfless contribution they are making.
“This is not about paying volunteers. It is about sustaining our volunteer efforts by protecting them from financial loss. It’s targeted and is the result of a direct request and consultation with the NSW RFS and NSW government, following the Commonwealth’s announcement of increased emergency services leave for Commonwealth public servants earlier this week.”
The about-face came after the Morrison government weathered weeks of criticism over the issue, which reached a crescendo late last week as some firefighters entered their third month of lost wages with fire conditions expected to worsen.
Chester broke ranks late last week to say he believed it was a good idea volunteer firefighters were paid, but stressed it was his personal opinion and not the government position.
Anthony Albanese, the Labor leader, pointed to Paul Keating and John Howard’s one-off payment schemes for volunteers, noting the opposition had been calling for the issue to be addressed since November.
He said on Saturday: “This has been an issue and you have had, quite frankly, statements like it is all about the ethos of volunteerism. Well, let me tell you, ethos doesn’t put food on the table for families, doesn’t pay mortgages, it doesn’t pay rent.
“The problem here, is that the prime minister has continued to argue, essentially, that this is normal, that this is business as usual, in order to not want to change tack when it comes to climate change, when it comes to support for our volunteer bush firefighters. But this is not business as usual.”
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