Scott Morrison could pay volunteer firefighters under government law

Scott Morrison has so far resisted paying all volunteer firefighters tackling Australia’s raging bushfires – but there could be a loophole to help him compensate our heroes.

Former prime ministers Paul Keating and John Howard used the Social Security Act of 1991 to pay volunteers without making a sweeping change to the law. 

The act allows a government to declare a ‘major disaster’ and offer financial support to people affected.

For months, volunteer firefighters have been working for nothing to put out blazes tearing through the country, which have seen nine people killed and hundreds of homes destroyed.

Mr Morrison has faced pressure to pay the volunteers and announced on Christmas Eve that all government employees who were fighting the fires would be granted an extra four weeks of annual paid leave a year.

Volunteers who work for private companies, however, are not eligible for the extra holiday unless their employer pays it out of their own pocket.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured) is under pressure to pay volunteer firefighters who have spent months battling blazes that have torn through Australia

The Social Security Act law first came into play when Mr Keating provided relief to those battling blazes in Sydney in 1994, after fires destroyed more than 200 homes and killed four people.

Mr Howard then used the law to pay firefighters battling the Black Christmas Fires in 2001 up to $160 a day, after more than 100 homes burnt to the ground.

According to the act, the law states that if ‘the event is a disaster that has such a significant impact on one or more industries and/or one or more areas that a government response in the form of income support is required’.

Mr Morrison’s decision to offer extra paid leave was made three days after he cut short his annual leave to return from a holiday in Hawaii with his wife and children.  

Veterans Affairs Minister Darren Chester broke rank and said there needed to be a conversation about the volunteers who had spent weeks away from work and were struggling to get by.

‘Expecting them to take away all those weeks and months to be on the fire grounds, side by side with state government employees who are being paid, I think in the longer term we need to have this conversation,’ he told ABC News on Friday.

Morrison announced on Christmas Eve that volunteers who were public servants would gain an extra four weeks of paid leave (pictured: firefighters taking a break at Garie Beach, South of Sydney)

Morrison announced on Christmas Eve that volunteers who were public servants would gain an extra four weeks of paid leave (pictured: firefighters taking a break at Garie Beach, South of Sydney)

For months, volunteer firefighters have been working for nothing to put out blazes tearing through the country, which have seen nine people killed and hundreds of homes destroyed (pictured: firefighters in Angourie, Northern NSW)

For months, volunteer firefighters have been working for nothing to put out blazes tearing through the country, which have seen nine people killed and hundreds of homes destroyed (pictured: firefighters in Angourie, Northern NSW)

‘It’s about the sustainability of the volunteer model. How do you keep the best of the volunteer model, the ethos, the culture of the volunteers but also recognising that we need to get younger people engaged in supporting our firefighting efforts.’ 

The federal government, meanwhile, extended the Australian disaster recovery payment to the Mid-Western local government area of NSW, enabling payments of $1000 per adult and $400 per child to those worst hit by bushfires.

Two firefighters were killed and as many as 100 houses destroyed when bushfires ripped through New South Wales on Thursday and Saturday last week.  

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, speaking from Nowra on Friday, said the government needed to consider providing some form of financial compensation.

‘This is the best of Australia, people helping out their fellow neighbours, their communities and their cities and towns and regions,’ he said.

The Rural Fire Service is made up of volunteers taking time off work to fight blazes as more than 75 fires were still burning across NSW on Thursday night

The Rural Fire Service is made up of volunteers taking time off work to fight blazes as more than 75 fires were still burning across NSW on Thursday night

‘It is unsustainable, however, to not have an income for a period not of days, not even of weeks but of months. And this is an issue that does have to be addressed.’ 

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, when asked about Mr Chester’s comments on Friday, said it was an issue that she’d just discussed again with the prime minister.

‘It is an issue that the prime minister is acutely conscious of and he has been discussing with the premier of NSW and other state and territory leaders,’ she told reporters in Perth.

‘The prime minister understands that sometimes in circumstances like this volunteers go well beyond the leave that they have and come under financial strain.

‘So the prime minister is looking at this issue further on how we can provide targeted support in these extreme circumstances so that our volunteers get the support they need to keep volunteering.’

Woolworths announced on Friday that its workers who volunteered in the fires would also receive extra paid leave, following the tragic death of one of its employees in the bushfires. 

More than 75 fires were burning across New South Wales on Thursday night, with 30 yet to be contained. 

More than 1,700 firefighters were in the field on Christmas Day. 

Two firefighters were killed and as many as 100 houses destroyed when bushfires ripped through New South Wales on Thursday and Saturday last week (pictured: fire at Ulladulla south of Sydney)

Two firefighters were killed and as many as 100 houses destroyed when bushfires ripped through New South Wales on Thursday and Saturday last week (pictured: fire at Ulladulla south of Sydney)

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