Strathfield Electorate State Emergency Service Volunteers

Ms VIRGINIA JUDGE (Strathfield—Parliamentary Secretary) [5.32 p.m.]: Last night I had the great pleasure to host a dinner at Parliament House with the State Emergency Service volunteers from my electorate of Strathfield. The generous nature of our volunteers reminds us all that society's needs come first. They really are our modern-day superheroes. These State Emergency Service volunteers are great models for future generations. On behalf of the New South Wales Government and the people of this great State of ours, the Minister for Emergency Services, the Hon Nathan Rees, took time from his hectic schedule to join us for part of the dinner to express appreciation to the State Emergency Service volunteers for their outstanding work in the community.

Among those who attended from the Ashfield-Leichhardt State Emergency Service were Deirdre Affleck, Gavin Bale and partner Francoise Bale, Andrew Bokor and partner Narelle Haken, Trevor Christie, David Hull, Peter Kaye, Nicholas Dixon-Wilmhurst, Stephen Sanson, Paul Keogh, Sharon Buckley, Jamie Kennedy, Claudine Kimber, Pilar Lorenzo and partner Carlos Barra, Chris Sulter, Denise Tierney and Inspector Graham Cope, Yvonne Brake, Alexander Bailey, Malcolm Little and Gerrie Little, Bill Garside and Sue Szabo and Mike Pinter. Also in attendance from the Strathfield State Emergency Service were Stan Wall, Rhonda Sclanders, Clinton Wright and June Khaw, Alex Todd and Megan Bussing, Leonie Latimer and Jacob Macklin. The Burwood State Emergency Service was represented by Stephen Anderson.

The greatest strength of the State Emergency Service is the combined effort of the 10,000 volunteers who make up the organisation's ranks. The fact that these men and women are always willing to turn out in times of natural disasters and emergencies—usually in terrible weather, often in traumatic conditions, and at some risk to their own safety—is truly remarkable. The fact that they do this for no reward, except the thanks of those they help along the way, is testament to their community spirit and dedication to volunteering. I believe everyone should take every opportunity possible to echo the gratitude of those who are helped by the State Emergency Service. Our community would be far poorer without these volunteers in bright iridescent orange overalls and the contribution they make to our safety and protection.

Over the past 52 years New South Wales has come to need the State Emergency Service in times of crisis. This has included many of the worst natural disasters to affect this State. The Newcastle earthquake, the Thredbo landslide, the Sydney hailstorm and the recent Hunter and Central Coast floods come to mind. As well as responding to the calls for help in my own local area, the members of the Strathfield, Ashfield-Leichhardt and Burwood units have taken part in providing assistance during all those disasters. In the past eight months, the members of the Burwood, Strathfield and Ashfield-Leichhardt units have devoted almost 13,000 hours of their time in responding to storms, taking part in community events and other activities.

The willingness of these volunteers—and, indeed, all the members of our emergency services—to help those in trouble in our community is in the best tradition of Aussie mateship and Aussie willingness to lend a hand in time of need. However, an effective and responsive emergency service does not rely only on its volunteers. To be able to meet the needs of the community, volunteers need appropriate accommodation, training, equipment and vehicles. Our State Government has provided the State Emergency Service with unprecedented levels of funding totalling more than $365 million over 13 years. This year's budget allocation is a record $51.5 million, which includes $2.4 million for upgraded communications and paging systems for volunteers; $1.7 million for rescue equipment, including new motorised hydraulic cutters for road crash rescue units; $542,000 for 20 new flood boats; and $800,000 to assist with the cost of purchasing emergency response vehicles for units around the State.

This is part of an ongoing program to upgrade the State Emergency Service vehicle fleets to ensure the volunteers have quick, safe and reliable transport so they can travel to places they need to go to safely and efficiently. Therefore, last night I was absolutely delighted to present a cheque for $30,000 to members of the Strathfield unit towards the cost of their latest vehicle—an Isuzu truck, I believe. I understand this truck has already given invaluable service as part of the Hunter and Central Coast response operation by transporting a team of volunteers and necessary equipment, such as ladders, tarpaulins, chainsaws and ropes.

In conclusion, I once again thank from the bottom of my heart all of our volunteers, particularly those in the Strathfield electorate, which I am very honoured and privileged to represent, for their incredible hard work and commitment. I often fondly refer to them as the orange angels, albeit angels without wings. I wish them all the very best for the coming summer storm season. Hopefully, they will not need to be called out too many times and be taken away from their families. As I said earlier, they often place themselves in danger while rendering assistance to others. I ask them all to keep safe and return home safely to their beloved families and friends because they are indeed our wonderful proud and selfless volunteers.

Ms LINDA BURNEY (Canterbury—Minister for Fair Trading, Minister for Youth, and Minister for Volunteering) [5.37 p.m.]: I thank the member for Strathfield for her private member's statement on volunteers, which reflects the pride, respect and gratitude we have for volunteers in New South Wales, in particular the State Emergency Service. An important point made by the member for Strathfield is that State Emergency Service volunteers often provide assistance at their own risk in extremely difficult circumstances. The Strathfield, Burwood and Ashfield-Leichhardt State Emergency Service teams are volunteers of whom we can be justly proud. I acknowledge that the member for Strathfield has a personal commitment to and experience in volunteering. I thank her for bringing important points about volunteers to the attention of the House.