Bushfire prevention burns – Victoria’s latest strike target
Fuel-reduction burns to help prevent bushfires are now Victoria’s latest target for strikes and bans.
The Australian Workers Union has announced its members will refuse to carry out these burns on three days of every week.
As my colleague Brad Battin MP, the Shadow Minister for the Environment for Emergency Services, says –
“Hot on the heels of the train and tram strikes, Victorians are now facing bans on critical works to reduce the risk of catastrophic bushfires.
“Daniel Andrews must resolve this strike as soon as possible because the protection of volunteer firefighters and communities is being put at risk by the ban on planned burning.
“It’s not good enough for the minister supposedly in charge to just ask the parties to keep talking, especially when another Labor minister is already warning of a dire bushfire season ahead.”
For the report in today’s Age, see Forest firefighters refuse to conduct planned burns, and for the Weekly Times’ report, see Firefighters on strike.