A MAJORITY LIBERAL GOVERNMENT WILL:
- Invest a further $18 million to ensure our communities are bushfire safe and support our career firefighters and 5,600 volunteers in our fire brigades and State Emergency Service units around the State.
- Double investment in the successful “Red Hot Tips” Program to support farmers and large landholders to conduct private burn-offs with total funding of $2.5 million.
- Further boost our nation-leading Fuel Reduction Program with an additional $2.5 million to support mechanical clearing.
- Fund a dedicated team of staff in the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management to bolster volunteer recruitment and administration in remote and regional communities, with new funding of $2.4 million.This funding will also provide for a dedicated secretariat support to the volunteer fire and SES associations.
- Provide an additional $1.5 million per annum for the Health and Wellbeing of emergency service workers and volunteers.
- Fund access to new-generation defibrillators for volunteer fire trucks with an investment of $250,000.
- Stand up a permanent multi-hazard intelligence team in the new State Operations Centre, with an investment of $900,000 to provide minute-by-minute monitoring of hazards and provide rapid advice to commanders when planning incident responses.
- Roll-out enhanced standard equipment for volunteer brigades and units including for personal protective equipment and communications, with an additional $2 million.
- Continue our $500,000 per annum grants program for Tasmania’s volunteer fire brigades and State Emergency Service units.
- Guarantee continuation of the existing policy that no fire brigades will be forced to close or amalgamate.
- Deliver a new contemporary Fire Service Act.
The Tasmanian Liberals are committed to keeping Tasmanians safe from fires and bushfires.
Our Majority Liberal Government has ensured our firefighting readiness is greater than ever through –
- Delivering our nation-leading Fuel Reduction Program.
- Funding state-of-the-art aerial firefighting appliances.
- Introducing Tasmania’s first TFS volunteer remote area firefighting teams.
- Better-resourcing and supporting volunteer brigades through the provision of new grants funding.
- Supporting the recruitment of 45 new firefighters in 2021 to boost our frontline to 355 – the highest number in ten years.
In addition, we will –
Double investment in the successful “Red Hot Tips” Program to support farmers and large landholders to conduct private burn-offs with total funding of $2.5 million
Red Hot Tips is another Liberal Majority Government initiative which has been incredibly successful in assisting landholders, including farmers, to understand and manage bushfire risk on their properties.
The program aims to educate, engage and support farmers and rural landholders.
Since August 2020, registered landholders under this program have completed 97 planned burns, covering over 1700 hectares of privately-managed land.
The successful program will receive additional funding to expand so that more landholders and farmers can seek assistance to undertake bushfire planning and burning that will enhance business, property and community safety.
Further boost our nation-leading Fuel Reduction Program with an additional $2.5 million to support mechanical clearing
The Majority Liberal Government implemented a nation-leading Fuel Reduction Program on our election in 2014, and since that time has invested over $55 million to make communities safer.
This is a tenure-blind, strategic risk-based approach to fuel reduction, targeting key locations around the State to protect our natural and strategic assets.
In 2020, there were 188 fuel reduction burns completed, across almost 35,000 hectares.
Our Government has also delivered two new fuel reduction teams, with 12 additional staff, to assist with reducing fuel loads across the State.
We are establishing a new Division in the Tasmania Fire Service to manage the planning and response to bushfires and to focus more support on volunteers.
Additional funding is being provided for mechanical clearing as an alternative to burn-offs, where machinery is used to remove trees and undergrowth.This funding will also be available to support local councils seeking clearing of breaks and fire trails in high risk areas and brings total funding committed to fuel reduction since 2014 to $94 million.
Fund a dedicated team of staff in the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management to bolster volunteer recruitment and administration in remote and regional communities, with new funding of $2.4 million
Tasmania is fortunate to have around 5,600 volunteers in our fire brigades and our State Emergency Service around the State and we are thankful every day for their magnificent dedication and contribution to our communities.
It’s important, especially for our rural communities, that our highly trained volunteers are supported by our career firefighters and state emergency service personnel.
A re-elected Majority Liberal Government will further support our volunteers, with a dedicated team to recruit and support our volunteers across the State.
New staff will be recruited specifically to work with communities and brigades to recruit new members.In addition, a permanent executive officer will be allocated to support the volunteer associations.
Additional $1.5 million for Health and Wellbeing of emergency service personnel and volunteers
Since 2018, the Government has provided $6 million into a nation-leading Health and Wellbeing Program for our emergency service personnel.This is in recognition of the challenging work that our emergency service personnel undertake and the risk factors that can impact their mental and physical health.
Additionally, the Government has also provided $250,000 to provide preventative mental health and wellbeing services for the emergency service volunteer workforce.
A re-elected Majority Liberal Government will provide an additional $1.5 million per annum into this Health and Wellbeing Program, which will take the funding to $3 million per annum.
This additional funding will allow for additional services, such as psychologists, and to ensure that all our emergency service personnel and volunteers are able to receive the support that they require from the Health and Wellbeing Program.
Fund access to new-generation defibrillators for volunteer fire trucks with an investment of $250,000
A re-elected Majority Liberal Government will provide additional funding to keep our volunteer firefighters safe by funding defibrillators for volunteer brigade fire trucks. This not only increases safety for volunteers, it prioritises an added level of coverage to support communities in rural and remote areas.
This adds to the Government’s $500,000 commitment to provide more lifesaving defibrillators to local communities, through a third round of the highly successful Community Defibrillator Fund, which has delivered 180 since 2014.
Stand up a permanent multi-hazard intelligence team in the new State Operations Centre, with an investment of $900,000 to provide minute-by-minute monitoring of hazards and provide rapid advice to commanders planning incident response
The Tasmanian Liberals understand our climate is changing and that we face increasing climate-related threats and challenges, including floods and fire.
A re-elected Majority Liberal Government will provide $900,000 to expand the team of skilled staff with a permanent presence based out of the State Operations Centre.This will provide a head start for planning responses to all types of hazards that impact our State and activation of the Centre in emergencies.
Roll-out enhanced standard equipment for volunteer brigades and units including for personal protective equipment and communications, with an additional $2 million
Our volunteer firefighters rely on special equipment to do their jobs and on their protective equipment, as they work to keep our communities safe.
A re-elected Majority Liberal Government will invest a further $2 million to advance the roll-out of the mission-critical equipment our volunteer firefighters need.
Continue our $500,000 per annum grants program for Tasmania’s volunteer fire brigades and State Emergency Service units
The Tasmanian Liberals have already invested $2 million into a grants program for fire and emergency services volunteers.
A re-elected Liberal Majority Government will continue this program, providing $500,000 each year to further support our hard-working and dedicated volunteers, providing them with equipment, amenity and facility improvements.
Guarantee no rural fire brigades will be forced to close or amalgamate
A re-elected Majority Liberal Government guarantees there will be no forced closures of rural fire brigades in Tasmania, now or into the future.
Further, no rural fire brigades will be forced to amalgamate.
Our rural fire brigades play a critical role in our overall response to bushfire risk, and volunteerism in our fire brigades and the SES is strong. We are investing more in our volunteers to keep it that way.
Deliver a new Fire Service Act
A new contemporary Fire Service Act will be legislated, which will involve full consultation with stakeholders.
Current work underway right now
- Rolling out the 2021 Fuel Reduction Program, with 130 burns planned across the State.
- Continued implementation of the Tasmanian Flood Mapping Project.
- Building a new Emergency Services Hub at Sorell for the Tasmania Fire Service, State Emergency Service and Tasmania Police.
- Recruitment of 45 new career firefighters in 2021 to boost our frontline firefighters to 355, the highest number in 10 years.
Our record in Government:
- Delivering our nation-leading Fuel Reduction Program with two new teams providing 12 extra staff to reduce fuel loads cross the State.
- Completed 188 fuel reduction burns across 35,000 hectares last year alone with a total investment of over $55 million since 2014.
- Funding state-of-the-art firefighting appliances with funding of $3.75 million.
- Better resourcing and support for volunteer brigades with over $1.1m in grant funding for TFS and SES volunteer stations.
- Recruiting 45 new firefighters in 2021, to boost frontline to 355 – the highest number in ten years.
- $595,000 to deliver successful “Red Hot Tips” Program to empower and support farmers to manage bushfire risk on their properties.
- Introduced Volunteer Remote Area Firefighting Program through funding of $1.27 million.
- Implemented Remote Area firefighting winch capability for Parks with an investment of $2.1 million over four years.
- Implemented the State Air Desk to manage aerial operations.
- $2 million in Volunteer Support Fund.
- $8 million to the State Fire Commission in 2020-21, including $4 million for the TFS to create a new bushfire division to focus on planning, response and volunteer support.
- Implemented all nine recommendations from the Australian Fire and Emergency Services Authority Council Review into the 2018-19 bushfire season.
- $1.7 million to State Emergency Service for community protection planning for flood and storms.
- $1 million towards flood mitigation for the township of Latrobe.
Costings:
The cost of this policy is $18.05 million over four years.