By KATH GANNAWAY
AN INTERIM Parliamentary report into the CFA’s Fiskville training facility has vowed to provide answers and justice for those affected.
Parliamentary inquiry committee chairwoman Bronwyn Halfpenny MP said a conscious decision had been made to hear first up from firefighters and others affected by practices at Fiskville.
The next stage of the hearings will have government departments, agencies and other organisations presenting to the inquiry.
In the face of the release of the interim report yesterday, 23 June, United Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall and Country Fire Authority CEO Michael Wootten have each released statements flagging that there is still very much more to come.
Fiskville was closed on 26 March this year following evidence of water contamination, and after a long and active campaign by the United Firefighters Union to see issues around the use of dangerous materials addressed.
Over 450 submissions were received.
In an executive summary of the report, the inquiry committee said it was an opportunity to highlight some of the evidence received so far from individuals who had trained there, and from others who have worked and lived near Fiskville.
It identified a number of key themes including the high level of concern among witnesses about cancer and possible health impacts and concern also that those affected should achieve a sense of justice.
It recognised that there is broad support for presumptive legislation to address the occupational risk associated with firefighting but said further work must be done to identify an appropriate model.
Mr Wootten acknowledged that the CFA had rightly been under the microscope as part of the inquiry.
He said, while not on the frontline, CFA management was equally committed to the protection of people’s lives and property, including CFA members.
He said all CFA facilities were now subject to a rigorous safety regime of improved governance, independent oversight and ongoing monitoring of the health of impacted CFA members.
“If people need to be held to account, they will be, however, in the short term it is important to let the inquiry process run its course, and for CFA to respond to statements that have criticised CFA personnel as part of our further submissions to the inquiry,” Mr Wootten said.
He said CFA would take time to consider the report and would be visiting CFA regions to discuss the report and the CFA’s actions in response with their members.
“I encourage all CFA members, and members of the community, to hold us to account, to work with us to share concerns and improve practices,” he said.
The union today welcomed the report saying firefighters were encouraged, but also warning that the most significant part was yet to come.
Maintaining the union’s long-held stand, Mr Marshall said the second half of the year would see the CFA, WorkSafe, Environment Protection Authority, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade and other bodies grilled on why firefighters were exposed to dangerous substances.
The UFU has consistently maintained that firefighters were exposed to dangerous substances and that test results warning of the dangers were deliberately kept secret.
He said the interim report recommended easier access to records for those affected by Fiskville and said the full extent of documents previously released, but heavily redacted, may now be fully revealed.
Addressing the status of the CFA as a much-respected institution, Mr Marshall said the questioning would need to be skilful and objective.
“The inquiry will need to put that aside as it questions those responsible for the CFA’s dangerous operations and continued cover-up,” he said.
The committee’s final report is due by 1 December.
Read the full interim report, including recommendations, at bitly.com/FiskvilleReport.
