With Queensland enduring devastating back to back bushfire seasons, serious concerns have been raised over the rollout of new rural fire trucks promised by the Palaszczuk Labor Government.
According to the Rural Fire Brigade Association Queensland, none of the 25 trucks scheduled to be delivered to rural fire brigades in 2019/20 have been handed over.
Liberal National Party Shadow Minister for Fire and Emergency Services Lachlan Millar said rural firefighters and the communities they serve deserved to know when the fire trucks would be ready or if the Palaszczuk Labor Government was set to break its promise.
“Firefighters deserve to do their job with the best resources, equipment and appliances possible,” Mr Millar said.
“The Palaszczuk Labor Government is well behind schedule on issuing P3 masks to personnel and now it seems Labor will fail to deliver new fire trucks on time.
“The Palaszczuk Labor Government has a culture of not hitting targets.
“By the Rural Fire Service’s own calculations, 60 new fire trucks would need be purchased per year to replace the existing fleet in a 15-year window.
“It was bad enough when Labor cut $13 million in Rural Fire funding, but to now discover none of the urgently-needed fire trucks have been delivered is a disgrace.
“Labor needs to come clean on whether it will break its promise to rural firefighters.”
