Latest news with #PeterMarshall
ABC News
17-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Firefighters pass no-confidence vote against Fire Rescue Victoria's leadership
Victorian firefighters have delivered an overwhelming vote of no confidence in Fire Rescue Victoria's (FRV) leadership, becoming the third Victorian emergency service to withdraw support for those in command in the past year. The United Firefighters Union (UFU) is stuck in a protracted industrial dispute with FRV and the Allan government over pay and conditions and it has also raised the alarm about aging and dangerous vehicles. The vote saw 2,896 members of the 3,700 eligible cast a ballot, with 90 per cent voting they did not have confidence in FRV commissioner Gavin Freeman, acting deputy secretary Tony Matthews and acting executive director Tom McPherson. Earlier this year, former Victorian police chief commissioner Shane Patton resigned following a no-confidence motion. Last year, Ambulance Victoria's chief executive Jane Miller also resigned following a similar vote of members. UFU secretary Peter Marshall has written to Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Emergency Services Minister Vicki Ward advising them of the ballot outcome and requesting that they consider the direction and performance of the leadership. Mr Marshall said the relationship with leadership was "untenable" and said membership had been hit by serious technical, operational and industrial failures. "We've seen an 800 per cent increase in consultancy fees and public statements about everything's okay when 42 per cent of fire trucks should be off the road, over a million dollars in the last quarter being spent litigating trying to remove safety conditions of firefighters," he said. "They are the people who are responsible for those actions." An industrial dispute of pay and conditions is now before the Fair Work Commission with the UFU and government unable to come to an agreement. Mr Marshall said members were sick of taxpayers' money being used on legal fees to fight firefighters. "Five solicitors, a barrister and a King's Counsel opposed an audit to look at the state of the fleet. Why is fire-service money being used to line lawyers' pockets to stop what are critical improvements in fire response equipment?" he said.
ABC News
11-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Braidwood resident Peter Marshall was forced to bid $19,000 to buy the strip of land on which his driveway sits.
Braidwood resident Peter Marshall was forced to bid $19,000 to buy the strip of land on which his driveway sits
ABC News
10-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
'Astounding' land sales at Queanebeyan Palerang Council auction to recoup unpaid rates
A forest farmer in rural New South Wales has paid $19,000 at auction to buy a tiny slice of his driveway that he always thought he owned, but actually belonged to a man who died 65 years ago. A legal bungle meant the driveway, which measures roughly four-metres wide by a couple of hundred metres long, was not technically part of the farm Peter Marshall bought in the 1990s. He has spent years transforming the property in the state's Southern Tablelands into an award-winning truffle and forest farm, with no idea that the rates on that tiny slice of land had gone unpaid for decades, racking up a debt of tens of thousands of dollars. "I wasn't informed by [the] council." Peter's slice of land was one of 24 properties auctioned off by the Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) in May as part of a crackdown on unpaid rates. Most were obscure rural lots, like Peter's, that had fallen through the cracks over generations, with no building entitlement, water, electricity connection, or proper access. For that reason, the auction was treated as a casual affair by the affected landholders, like Peter, who presumed they would be the only parties interested in bidding. Even the council — who is required by law to sell the properties via public auction before it can sell them privately — wasn't expecting much interest. "Normally the neighbour can come along … and there's no other interest, so that's generally how it has worked in the past," QPRC general manager Rebecca Ryan said. "But this was certainly a different experience," she said. On auction day, 87 bidders registered across all the properties. Peter Marshall was nervous — it was important he bought the driveway up for sale to ensure he'd maintain access to his property. "I couldn't have the conflict of having somebody I don't know owning a tiny fragment in the middle of my place," Mr Marshall said. "They'd have to trespass on me to get access to it, and then I'd have to trespass on them to get access to my tractor shed. But there was frenzied bidding. "It was quite terrifying," Ms Ryan said. "The bids were coming from everywhere and every direction and very fast. "There was a property in Mongarlowe, 400 square metres, we thought it might go for $1,000 or about $500. It went for $18,100." One group of bidders drew particular attention. "There was a group of people there who were bidding on almost everything, including landlocked pieces of land like this one which they could never have access to," Mr Marshall said. "They bid it up on $1,000 increments, and I had to bid back … and it ended up at $19,000." Some of his neighbours paid twice as much as that for similar parcels, while others couldn't afford to bid high enough to secure the blocks at all. "They're creating two really unhappy ratepayers — the people who bought it can't use it for anything, and the people who surround it now can't use their own land." Ms Ryan said similar auctions in other local governments in rural NSW also recorded a surge in interest. But the interest also sparked fears that nefarious actors were moving into the region. "We knew of two people who have been attending a lot of these auctions throughout NSW, particularly rural NSW," Ms Ryan said. "They go to the auctions, they'll purchase lots, and then use that purchase to then either try and sell it at a higher price or the deposit they pay falls through. Ms Ryan said she did not think those two people attended the auction, but she was not aware of whether their associates were there. The ABC has seen reports lodged by residents to NSW Police, who said they were aware of the Queanbeyan-Palerang auction, but were not investigating and would not comment further. Seven buyers who signed contracts for the lots at the auction have since reneged on their offers, forfeiting the deposits. In those cases, the council has negotiated with the adjoining landholder to buy the property through a private sale. But the bungled auction process has raised eyebrows among key stakeholders, including QPRC councillor Mareeta Grundy. "At the auction, the frenzied bidding that went on was so astounding to me that I did write to the general manager expressing my concerns about the auction and the bidding wars that went on," Ms Grundy said. "I've asked for an investigation and a review of proceedings on that day." She said the council needed to establish the identities and motivations of those bidding. "What transpires from here, it must pass the test of accountability and transparency," Ms Grundy said. Peter Marshall backed her calls for an investigation, particularly into the group of people who bid on most of the properties. "I'd really like for [the] council — who know these people because they've just sold property to them — to make enquiries about their intentions. "I can't know if there was criminal activity, but there was destructive and pointless activity … I would really like to see some investigation, possibly anti-corruption." The council said it would review the auction process. "The only way that these properties can be transferred is via public auction," Ms Ryan said. "It would be good to have a clause in there that says that if that little lot is part of a general farming area … we could go through the process of a private treaty." Ms Ryan said the council was considering putting forward a motion at a New South Wales conference of councils later in 2025 proposing the state government review the legislation.
The Advertiser
01-06-2025
- General
- The Advertiser
Firies forced to use paper maps to find emergencies
More than two years after a cyber attack crippled communication systems, firefighters in one state are still being forced to use personal phones and printed maps to navigate to emergencies. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of five system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety, a claim FRV strongly denies. The Station Turn Out (STO) system, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen and paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred in late April, followed by the five in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." On Sunday, Fire Rescue Victoria confirmed it had experienced "intermittent technical issues" since May 24. "We are working closely with Triple Zero Victoria and external experts to investigate the underlying cause of these STO/Firecom outages and resolve the ongoing issue," a spokesperson said in a statement. "When STO/Firecom outages occur, FRV has contingency plans in place which ensure there is no impact to emergency response. "At no time has public safety been compromised and the community should continue to contact Triple Zero (000) as usual in an emergency." Victorian health minister Mary-Anne Thomas said cyber attacks were a real and present threat to both the private and public system. "It's important that all our public services have contingency plans in place should there be an incident, and that's what FRV implemented," Ms Thomas told reporters on Sunday. Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the Firecom firefighting information system offline for a year, and affected the rostering system for much longer. More than two years after a cyber attack crippled communication systems, firefighters in one state are still being forced to use personal phones and printed maps to navigate to emergencies. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of five system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety, a claim FRV strongly denies. The Station Turn Out (STO) system, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen and paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred in late April, followed by the five in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." On Sunday, Fire Rescue Victoria confirmed it had experienced "intermittent technical issues" since May 24. "We are working closely with Triple Zero Victoria and external experts to investigate the underlying cause of these STO/Firecom outages and resolve the ongoing issue," a spokesperson said in a statement. "When STO/Firecom outages occur, FRV has contingency plans in place which ensure there is no impact to emergency response. "At no time has public safety been compromised and the community should continue to contact Triple Zero (000) as usual in an emergency." Victorian health minister Mary-Anne Thomas said cyber attacks were a real and present threat to both the private and public system. "It's important that all our public services have contingency plans in place should there be an incident, and that's what FRV implemented," Ms Thomas told reporters on Sunday. Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the Firecom firefighting information system offline for a year, and affected the rostering system for much longer. More than two years after a cyber attack crippled communication systems, firefighters in one state are still being forced to use personal phones and printed maps to navigate to emergencies. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of five system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety, a claim FRV strongly denies. The Station Turn Out (STO) system, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen and paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred in late April, followed by the five in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." On Sunday, Fire Rescue Victoria confirmed it had experienced "intermittent technical issues" since May 24. "We are working closely with Triple Zero Victoria and external experts to investigate the underlying cause of these STO/Firecom outages and resolve the ongoing issue," a spokesperson said in a statement. "When STO/Firecom outages occur, FRV has contingency plans in place which ensure there is no impact to emergency response. "At no time has public safety been compromised and the community should continue to contact Triple Zero (000) as usual in an emergency." Victorian health minister Mary-Anne Thomas said cyber attacks were a real and present threat to both the private and public system. "It's important that all our public services have contingency plans in place should there be an incident, and that's what FRV implemented," Ms Thomas told reporters on Sunday. Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the Firecom firefighting information system offline for a year, and affected the rostering system for much longer. More than two years after a cyber attack crippled communication systems, firefighters in one state are still being forced to use personal phones and printed maps to navigate to emergencies. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of five system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety, a claim FRV strongly denies. The Station Turn Out (STO) system, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen and paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred in late April, followed by the five in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." On Sunday, Fire Rescue Victoria confirmed it had experienced "intermittent technical issues" since May 24. "We are working closely with Triple Zero Victoria and external experts to investigate the underlying cause of these STO/Firecom outages and resolve the ongoing issue," a spokesperson said in a statement. "When STO/Firecom outages occur, FRV has contingency plans in place which ensure there is no impact to emergency response. "At no time has public safety been compromised and the community should continue to contact Triple Zero (000) as usual in an emergency." Victorian health minister Mary-Anne Thomas said cyber attacks were a real and present threat to both the private and public system. "It's important that all our public services have contingency plans in place should there be an incident, and that's what FRV implemented," Ms Thomas told reporters on Sunday. Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the Firecom firefighting information system offline for a year, and affected the rostering system for much longer.
The Advertiser
01-06-2025
- General
- The Advertiser
Firefighters using paper maps to find emergencies
Firefighters are being forced to rely on personal phones and printed maps to find their way to emergencies, more than two years after a cyber attack damaged communication systems in one state's fire services. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of four system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety. The Station Turn Out System, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen & paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred on April 26, followed by the four in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the FIRECOM firefighting information system offline for a year, affected the rostering system for much Rescue Victoria has been contacted for comment. Firefighters are being forced to rely on personal phones and printed maps to find their way to emergencies, more than two years after a cyber attack damaged communication systems in one state's fire services. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of four system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety. The Station Turn Out System, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen & paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred on April 26, followed by the four in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the FIRECOM firefighting information system offline for a year, affected the rostering system for much Rescue Victoria has been contacted for comment. Firefighters are being forced to rely on personal phones and printed maps to find their way to emergencies, more than two years after a cyber attack damaged communication systems in one state's fire services. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of four system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety. The Station Turn Out System, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen & paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred on April 26, followed by the four in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the FIRECOM firefighting information system offline for a year, affected the rostering system for much Rescue Victoria has been contacted for comment. Firefighters are being forced to rely on personal phones and printed maps to find their way to emergencies, more than two years after a cyber attack damaged communication systems in one state's fire services. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of four system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety. The Station Turn Out System, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen & paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred on April 26, followed by the four in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the FIRECOM firefighting information system offline for a year, affected the rostering system for much Rescue Victoria has been contacted for comment.
