Scott Morrison bows to pressure from Labor and his own minister over those who lose income while fighting fires

The Morrison government has announced that rural New South Wales fire service volunteers will be compensated for loss of income, after weeks of mounting pressure from the community, political rivals and within its own party.

Just days after the minister Darren Chester broke ranks and joined Labor calls for volunteer firefighters to be paid, the prime minister announced eligible volunteers would receive $300 a day up to $6,000 if called out for more than 10 days this fire season.

Scott Morrison had previously resisted the idea of paying volunteers, at first calling it a distraction before saying it was the domain of the states and something that would be examined in conjunction with state and fire authority leaders after the crisis had passed.

Despite growing community unrest over the amount of paid work volunteers were being forced to give up in order to continue tackling the wildfire emergency, Morrison said the announcement was not about paying volunteers but “sustaining volunteer effort” and came as a result of a direct request and consultation with fire chiefs and the NSW government.

Under the plan, RFS volunteers who are self-employed or working for small or medium businesses will be able to apply for tax-free financial support from the federal government to cover lost wages. It will not be means-tested and the NSW state government has agreed to administer the payments.

“Earlier this week, I announced the federal government would be providing paid leave for up to four weeks for Commonwealth public servants fighting these devastating fires,” Morrison said in a statement.

“This announcement provides employees of small and medium sized businesses and self employed volunteers with the same level of support. We expect larger companies to provide their employees with 20 days of emergency services leave.”

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Morrison has not ruled out other states joining the scheme if the bushfire crisis reaches the same catastrophic levels NSW has experienced.

“The early and prolonged nature of this fire season has made a call beyond what is typically made on our volunteers firefighters,” Morrison said. “While I know RFS volunteers don’t seek payment for their service, I don’t want to see volunteers or their families unable to pay bills, or struggle financially as a result of the selfless contribution they are making.

“This is not about paying volunteers. It is about sustaining our volunteer efforts by protecting them from financial loss. It’s targeted and is the result of a direct request and consultation with the NSW RFS and NSW government, following the Commonwealth’s announcement of increased emergency services leave for Commonwealth public servants earlier this week.”

The about-face came after the Morrison government weathered weeks of criticism over the issue, which reached a crescendo late last week as some firefighters entered their third month of lost wages with fire conditions expected to worsen.

Chester broke ranks late last week to say he believed it was a good idea volunteer firefighters were paid, but stressed it was his personal opinion and not the government position.

On Sunday the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, welcomed the government’s decision, but said it had been late in coming, and should have been done on a national basis.

“Labor has been calling this since November, when I wrote to the prime minister … saying Coag needed to be convened to have a national approach to the bushfire emergency. This is a national crisis. It is one that doesn’t recognise state boundaries,” Albanese said.

“The least we can expect is that just as volunteer firefighters have put in for local communities and for their nation, the nation should give back to them and they shouldn’t be forced into a position of being in poverty, being unable to pay their bills, take out their mortgages, pay for food for their families.

“So, I welcome the fact that New South Wales volunteer firefighters will be able to receive up to $6,000. But what we need here is a national approach. I don’t understand why it is that the prime minister has just negotiated with the New South Wales premier, rather than convening Coag and getting an approach across the nation. One of the things that I’ve seen on the ground is that many of the firefighters I have met have been from interstate. People from Victoria helping out on the north coast [of NSW]. People from Queensland helping out. People in South Australia helping out here in New South Wales before they return home to defend their own local communities.”