Fire Rescue Victoria sues United Firefighters Union over $1.6m in taxpayer-funded 'service fees'

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The state's fire chief says Victorians should be outraged that 1.6 million dollars in taxpayers' money has been allowed to flow to the firefighters union. Fire Rescue Victoria is suing the union in a bid to recoup money paid through secret commissions and is considering referring the matter to anti-corruption bodies.

Transcript

00:00Burning buildings and toxic fumes are just some of the risks that make firefighting a dangerous job.

00:07We will always provide income protection for them.

00:10But the taxpayer-funded insurance for firefighters in Victoria is now under intense scrutiny.

00:15Then it became apparent that some of the funds were being used for things other than income protection.

00:20Two years ago, at the request of the United Firefighters Union, the income protection provider changed,

00:26but the regular contributions from Fire Rescue Victoria continued.

00:30Documents show that the new provider has been paying the union $60,000 a month in service fees under the arrangement.

00:37They've been labelled secret commissions in court.

00:391.6 million had been diverted into the United Firefighters Union for their own purposes,

00:46so I have an obligation to challenge that.

00:50FRV is suing the union for deceptive and misleading conduct and is seeking restitution payments.

00:55Gavin Freeman says Victorians should be concerned.

00:58I think they should be outraged.

01:00If that money's been used for anything other than its intended purpose, well clearly that's not right.

01:07The new provider was also dispensing other benefits, which resulted in FRV's fringe benefit tax bill blowing out by $10 million a year.

01:15And that's something Victorians have to pay for.

01:18The allegations come at a turbulent time for firefighting.

01:20For months the union has been warning about safety issues in the new Westgate and Metro tunnels,

01:25saying its equipment is not up to scratch.

01:27FRV is now updating radio communications.

01:30Secretary Peter Marshall wants a parliamentary inquiry into the tunnel openings,

01:34but he brushed off questions about the income protection scheme.

01:38Firefighters need to be given equipment to make sure they're actually safe.

01:41The Premier did not do that.

01:43On top of that, lots of public money's been spent on litigating firefighters.

01:47That's just another day in our reality.

01:50The State Government says it backs FRV's leadership and it expects swift action whenever public money is not appropriately used.

01:57Gavin Freeman says this is not an attack on firefighters and he's urging the public to back them.

02:02Please listen to them because that can help save your life.

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