00:02Underfunded, under-resourced, unsustainable.
00:05That's the verdict of ex-Tasmanian Fire Chief Dermot Barry, handed down 18 months ago, now public.
00:12It hasn't had a comprehensive response to it in my view and it certainly hasn't had a solution.
00:17In the review, 80% of regional firefighters say stations, trucks and equipment aren't fit for purpose.
00:24And 80% of part-time staff, the Balkan regions, say they're insufficiently trained.
00:30And their course applications are often denied.
00:33If the government does not seriously reconsider the funding for emergency services, there will eventually be a catastrophic event that
00:39could have been prevented.
00:41The firefighters' union says skills like heavy rescue, hazmat and using breathing gear aren't being kept up to date.
00:48The difficulty is, the MFS tells us, it simply does not have the funding to do these things.
00:54For years, Mount Gambier councillor Paul Jenner has been independently pushing for better conditions at the local station.
01:01We don't have the adequate amount of full-time staff.
01:08They don't get trained and we don't have the proper appliances.
01:15The MFS says it's acted on more than half the recommendations, is continuing to roll out new appliances and a
01:21further training review will begin this year.
01:24But the opposition wants the government to reveal how it's responded.
01:28This review is almost two years in the making and it's been in the bottom drawer of several ministers' deaths.
01:35And it really is alarming for a number of regional stations.
01:39The Emergency Services Minister wouldn't comment on the review, but in a statement said the government is ensuring firefighters have
01:46the support, recognition and compensation needed for their work.
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