Corangamite Shire Council backs motion, Port Campbell volunteer squeeze goes to parliament

Corangamite councillor and Port Campbell CFA volunteer Simon Illingworth moved the motion at Tuesday night's meeting following the devastating double drowning of father and son lifesavers Ross and Andy Powell near Port Campbell on Easter Sunday.

Cr Illingworth was one of the first responders to the tragedy, and was spurred into action after experiencing firsthand the squeeze put on Port Campbell's dwindling volunteer base.

READ MORE:

'We are playing high stakes': double drowning first responder nominated for bravery award

The council will now send a letter to the state government asking it to address the negative impacts caused by recent declines in emergency service volunteer numbers.

"I'm rapt, may the conversation begin," Cr Illingworth said after the meeting.

"Let's get everyone together, there's no right or wrong answers in this, we just have to get people's ideas and we have to rebuild the numbers and rebuild the skills.

"Realistically this is seeing a problem that's on the near horizon and alerting the government. They've got to fix this before we find that we can't put any trucks on the road. It's as simple as that.

"For people's well-being and community safety. There's a lot of older crew that have been volunteers for a long time, and now's the time they actually need to step up and tell it like it is.

"Let's also get the young people on board."

He hopes that Emergency Management Victoria or the state government will lead the charge going forward.

Cr Illingworth also announced he had bowed out of the running for the CFA Valor Medal.

"I have asked not to be nominated for the bravery award," he said.

"My life has been judged by many people over the years and I'm just over it.

"This motion is about the future of the people we love who go out to these jobs, it's about the people who put a foot into a firetruck knowing the risks ahead.

"We need to send this letter to get together and work this thing out."

The council motion highlights a number of issues hampering emergency service volunteers in Port Campbell including the diverse emergency environment, the ageing volunteer pool, 'selfie' tourism culture and increasing numbers of non-driving international tourists choosing to drive hire cars.

Suggestions to the state government include reimbursing volunteers for out of pocket expenses, a financial allowance to attend training, waiving car registrations payments for active emergency service volunteers and creating a 'mega hub' of emergency services at Port Campbell that include SES, fire, coast guard rescue and Parks Victoria vehicles.

"You only have to look inside today's $800,000 firetrucks to realise it looks like a 747," Cr Illingworth said.

"These high tech machines, while great, are daunting for volunteers and require a lot of training.

"Whether we like it or not there is a cost, it may be that you have to give people an allowance."

The high stakes jobs are costing volunteers in more ways than one, Cr Illingworth said.

"These are high stakes jobs and they are horrible jobs to go to," he said.

"The PTSD risks are so high, if you're a self-employed farmer then you will likely go to milk the cows and have no-one to talk to about what you may have seen on a job.

"I don't think that's right, it would not happen to a paid employee."

He is calling for bipartisan support from the state government.

"Recent politics has been damaging the numbers and the feeling amongst volunteers," he said.

"If only we had Bob Hawke to bring people together, he would tell us to get together and actually sort things out."

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.