Fireys’ compo scheme unveiled

PRIME Minister Scott Morrison says compensation payments for volunteer firefighters are not about paying them to turn out but to cover income losses so they can keep fighting fires.

Volunteer firefighters battling long-running NSW blazes will receive up to $6000 in financial compensation for putting their lives on the line, he announced yesterday.

The Federal Government has bowed to pressure to provide payments to those on the fire ground this bushfire season, which has already cost eight lives in NSW, as many as 1000 homes and millions of hectares of bushland.

The payments of up to $300 a day will be available to Rural Fire Service NSW volunteers who are self-employed or work for small and medium businesses. The payments will be equivalent to 20 days of emergency leave for the eligible volunteers, are capped at $6000 a person, are tax-free and retrospective for the financial year.

“This basically equates to around 20 days of emergency services paid leave for selfemployed people and for people working for small and medium-sized employers,” Mr Morrison told reporters at Rural Fire Service NSW headquarters in Sydney.

“This is more extensive than any other response we’ve seen for income loss to any previous natural disaster event. But equally, it’s extremely targeted.”

The compensation move follows the government’s announcement last week that Commonwealth public service volunteers would get at least four weeks of paid leave.

Mr Morrison stressed it wasn’t about paying volunteers who have been on the fire ground for at least 10 days, rather it was a safety net for their income loss.

“This is about helping fight the fires,” Mr Morrison said.

THIS IS MORE EXTENSIVE THAN ANY OTHER RESPONSE WE’VE SEEN FOR INCOME LOSS TO ANY NATURAL DISASTER

SCOTT MORRISON

“This is about resourcing a firefighting effort, to ensure that the commissioner is in the best place possible to be able to do those call-outs.”

The Commonwealth will cover the payments to be administered by the NSW government, with an initial $10 million to be handed over next month. Other states and territories who wish to enter into a similar payment scheme are invited to speak with the Federal Government which has $50 million set aside.

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the payments would provide comfort to those battling the blazes.