Albury deputy mayor Steve Bowen has referred to his volunteer firefighting in supporting a push to change a NSW government policy that insists Rural Fire Service trucks and equipment are the property of councils.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A ruling by the state treasury that RFS assets are deemed to be vested to councils under the Rural Fires Act 1997 has long frustrated local government bodies.
The NSW Lower House's public accounts committee has now launched an inquiry which will examine RFS asset management and operation.
At Monday night's council meeting, a letter to that forum from mayor Kylie King was endorsed
In part it reads: "Albury City re-affirms its complete support of and commitment to local RFS brigades noting that council's action is entirely directed towards the NSW government's nonsensical position that rather than being controlled by local brigades, RFS assets are somehow controlled by councils, which is considered by the local government sector as a cynical financial sleight of hand abdicating the NSW government's responsibilities at the cost of local communities."
Cr King suggests that a change in legislation is needed as a "circuit breaker", so councils do not incur and fund the depreciation costs "associated with assets for which it has no control".
Cr Bowen, who is a member of the Glenellen RFS brigade north of Jindera and fought the Black Summer Green Valley blaze, said it was wrong to say councils held sway.
"Being an RFS member, there is no control from a council point of view, RFS do control where the trucks, where the infrastructure goes as well, in terms of other equipment, so I strongly support this motion to write this letter to the parliamentary inquiry and get this sorted as quickly as we can," Cr Bowen said.
Councillor David Thurley said the situation was "quite ridiculous".
"We have no control of when they buy them, when they sell them, how they maintain them and yet we're expected to put them on our books and do the depreciation," Cr Thurley said.
"It's ludicrous and our submission makes that pretty clear."
Albury Council will also make a submission to a federal parliamentary inquiry into local government sustainability, with Cr King having written a letter outlining general concerns.
The committee on regional development, infrastructure and transport will undertake the examination, with member for Indi Helen Haines to be on the panel.
"While we cannot pre-empt what the inquiry will learn from public submissions and hearings, I look forward to working with my parliamentary colleagues to find solutions to current challenges and make recommendations for the federal government to act upon," Dr Haines said.
The same committee held a hearing in Wodonga in July 2023 as part of an inquiry into the impact of severe weather events on regional roads which later made 26 recommendations.
They included doubling Roads to Recovery funding and reviewing council funding.
