CODE 2, VOL 30, NO 5 : 17 FEBRUARY 2016

Keelty fiddled, but now the PSBA has been burned!

You will recall that in 2013 your Union received a written commitment from then Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk and current Fire and emergency Services Minister Bill Byrne to undertake a review of the structure of the fire service, including the PSBA.

I reported to you in December 2015 that your union was supportive of Minister Bill Byrne’s comments regarding the review of the PSBA.

I can now report to you that in parliament on Wednesday 17 February 2016, the Minister tabled the completed review into the PSBA.

The Minister reported that the following functions will be returning to QFES by 1 July 2016;

i. Operational functions
ii. Strategy
iii. Recruitment
iv. Education and training
v. Local workplace health and safety
vi. Ethical standards
vii. Media services
viii. Legal services
ix. Right to information
x. Ministerial services
xi. Cabinet legislation liaison

The Keelty report was a transparent attack on Queensland Firefighters and your Union.  The recommendations were opinions based around hidden agendas, gripes and a lack of fire and rescue service delivery knowledge.

The ability of our members to properly protect Queensland in times of need has been compromised and your union continues to deal with the damage done by the Keelty Report.  

Taking the above functions away from the QFES was an expensive and failed experiment, and the fact the PSBA arose from the ‘cut and paste’ Keelty review and report is further demonstration of how that review and report are now totally discredited.

I have posted a copy of the PSC report of the review of the PSBA on the UFUQ website, which you can access here.

John Oliver - State Secretary