An important part of our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania's Future is to prioritise the essential services Tasmania needs to help develop stronger communities and enhance our regions.
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will employ an additional permanent firefighter day-crew on the North-West Coast.
"In 2023, the Tasmanian Liberal Government trialled a dedicated day crew for the North-West, based out of Devonport Station.
"The North-West is now served by two 24/7 Fire Stations, as well as many surrounding volunteer brigades, and we will bolster this by adding an additional permanent day crew.
"We will consult on the best location for this crew, with the crew to commence from 2025-26 when a full time complement of staff can be recruited."
Minister Ellis said a re-elected Liberal Government will also invest a further $3 million to upgrade the State Emergency Service's vehicle fleet, building on the $2 million already provided, taking total investment to $5 million.
"This will support the procurement of seven heavy rescue vehicles, five medium response vehicles, 11 light rapid response vehicles and 12 tactical vehicles for our SES.
Planning for the staged rollout of the vehicle fleet upgrades will commence in the first 100 days and the replacement program will see the fabrication of new vehicles to support road rescue, search and rescue, flood and storm response operations, and distributed across Tasmania.
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will also invest $1.5 million over three years to support the recruitment of additional field officers across Tasmania.
"Our Field Officers are critical in the coordination of support and training to our fire and emergency services volunteers across Tasmania, and support our hard-working District Officers, so we are committed to commencing recruitment for these important roles in our first 100 days," Minister Ellis said.
As part of our Strong plan to support our firefighters, a re-elected majority Liberal Government will:
- Establish a permanent additional day firefighter crew on the North-West Coast;
- Boost the SES Vehicle fleet with modern fit for purpose vehicles;
- Invest $1.5 million to recruit additional field officers across Tasmania;
- Invest $28 million to develop Emergency Services Hubs in Kingston, Wynyard and Rosebery, co-locating Tasmania Police, the Tasmanian Fire Service and State Emergency Service into one location;
- Continue our $9 million a year investment in the Fuel Reduction Program, with an online permit system to make it easier for farmers and rural landowners to undertake fuel burns,
- Increase funding to $4 million a year for our Health and Wellbeing Program for frontline Emergency Services personnel; and
- Trial a new Emergency Services Cadet Program for young Tasmanians aged 12 to 17 to learn and train alongside our emergency services.
