State dispute flares into federal poll

Earlier this week a volunteer firefighter captain from central Victoria issued a warning which would have sent chills down the spines of Labor MPs in the state’s marginal seats. 

“We’re only getting started,” Country Fire Authority Maryborough captain Darryl Wagstaff said.  

The dispute between the United Firefighters Union – backed by the state Labor government – and the CFA has consumed Victorian politics for weeks leading up to tomorrow’s poll. 

It has been pounced on by the Liberal state opposition, made a federal issue by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and splashed on the front page of the Herald Sun on an almost daily basis. 

But it is an issue which has struck a chord among many of the states 60,000 volunteers, who fear a union takeover of the institution.

 And no where is it felt more keenly then Maryborough. The words ‘100 per cent volunteer’ have been splashed across the front of the CFA station for weeks and many of the local stores have banners in their windows attacking the state government. 

Last week a parade of several hundred volunteers and supporters and a number of firetrucks went down the mainstreet of town.

Expect to see a presence around polling stations tomorrow.  

“I’m quite sure it will affect the way people vote,” Mr Wagstaff said. “The people I’ve spoken to are absolutely livid.” 

For the local businessman – Mr Wagstaff runs a funeral parlour – his role as a volunteer goes to the core of his identity. 

“I’ve had family connections with the [Maryborough] fire brigade dating back to 1880,” he said. “I’ve been a member for 37 years and a captain for 27.” 

Career firefighters say the CFA hierarchy have manipulated that sense of identity with misinformation to stoke fear among the grassroots volunteers for political purposes – the website, 'Hands Off the CFA', is authorised by the Victorian Liberal Party. 

The CFA dispute is not the only state issue which will influence the way central Victoria votes.

Dean Mortimer runs a prospecting business in Dunolly. He said he feared the proposed Great Forest National Park would spell the death of the prospecting industry and close of swathes of land for human use. 

“Once the greenies get start on that they will move to lock propsectors out of other places too,” he said. 

“I don’t like the Liberals, I don’t like Labor, but I especially don’t like the Greens.

“Prospecting draws a lot of people to this town, we get a lot of business from it. 

“We rely on people going out there to try and find their fortune and people need to be able to keep doing that.” 

Hunting, fishing and outdoor store owner in Maryborough, Mary Woodlock said boating and fishing licences could sway her vote. 

She said many inland boaters were fed up with having to learn skills required for open ocean boating.

“They just went to go up and down the river,” she said.

“And I have heard they’re talking about increasing fishing fees.

“I’m still undecided … I’m leaning towards the Hunters and Fishers Party though.”