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UPDATED 25 OCTOBER 2014: Liberal MP Neale Burgess' statement to the Victorian Parliament after tabling part of the CFA Volunteers' Cancer Petition, which calls on the Government to fix problems with the existing firefighters’ cancer compensation process.
Mr BURGESS (Hastings) -- Earlier this week I tabled a petition that represented half of a petition with a total of more than 60 000 signatures. The petitioners are seeking simpler cancer compensation arrangements for Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteer firefighters and their career colleagues.
Victorian firefighters, both paid and volunteer, are a very special breed of people; they are people who choose to put their lives at risk to keep ours safe. We are particularly fortunate in Victoria because, while we have some of the most dangerous fire conditions in the world, we also have some of the very best firefighters in the world.
The issue is one confronting all firefighters, paid and volunteer alike.
In Victoria, paid and volunteer firefighters work side by side, attend the same incidents, face the same risks and are exposed to the same toxins. Technically, all Victorian firefighters are already entitled to compensation for work-related cancer, but the current onus of proof arrangements require the firefighter to provide sufficient evidence to prove that the cancer arose from attendance at particular fires or incidents or other work duties. They may be events that occurred over the last 10 to 15 years, or even more. For most firefighters this is difficult because of the absence of sufficient records, data or analysis held by the CFA on each event a firefighter attends.
Under commonwealth jurisdiction and some state laws, the law lists 12 cancers known to be more common to firefighters, and presumes them to be work related if a firefighter has sufficient years of service, effectively reversing the onus of proof.
The CFA volunteers are asking for legislation that will take the burden of proof away from the sick firefighters and, importantly, that will treat all firefighters, volunteer and paid, as equals.
My own electorate is in an area protected by CFA volunteers, but that is not unusual -- CFA brigades protective 60 per cent of suburban Melbourne -- --
The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Morris) -- Order! The member's time has expired.
See the VFBV media release here
VFBV is hopeful the presentation of these petitions to the Victorian Parliament next week will help convince MPs of all parties to fix a problem that has now been fixed in most other States across Australia.
16,000 signatures are included in this first batch, making this one of the largest petitions to be presented to the current Parliament. In the meantime, the campaign continues and volunteers are urged to keep collecting signatures and posting completed petitions to VFBV, PO Box 453, Mt Waverley 3149.
The first batch of petitions was lodged with the assistance of Labor MP for Narre Warren North, Luke Donnellan, and Liberal MP for Hastings, Neale Burgess (Pictured).
Please post signed petitions to:
VFBV Cancer Petition, PO Box 453, Mt Waverley 3149.
CLICK HERE to download a copy of the petition kit, including instructions for its use and a leaflet explaining the issue to the public.
