A report in the Canberra Times on 30 May 2018 quotes Greg McConville from the United Firefighters’ Union (UFU) as saying the government’s plans for resourcing ACT Fire and Rescue were “simply not good enough”.
That is, the budget allocations made by the ACT Government not good enough to fund the number of fire fighters needed for the growing city of Canberra and, while the UFU welcomes the proposed procurement of a new aerial pumper, not good enough to provide confidence it will be properly housed or crewed.
You can listen to Greg’s interview with Laura Tchilinguirian on ABC 666 on 31 May about the UFU’s concerns:
More details on the UFU’s views on fire fighting resourcing needs can be found in the 2018-19 UFU ACT Budget Submission to the ACT Government.
This submission covers issues like the recruitment of firefighters to address shortages, the purchase of a new pumper-aerial appliance, building of a new city fire station, and the purchase of modern personal protection equipment to ensure the fire safety of firefighters.
These proposals are further supported by the UFU presentation on the 2018 19 Budget Submission and associated data tables which provide a more complete understanding of the graphs contained in the presentation.