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AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejected calls today to provide more help to firefighters battling blazes across the state of New South Wales (NSW), as Sydney was engulfed in a haze 11 times worse than conventionally “hazardous” levels.
About 2,700 firefighters, many of whom are volunteers with the NSW Rural Fire Services, are battling over 80 wildfires across the state.
When asked today how long the volunteers were expected to work without pay and whether they should be professionalised, Mr Morrison said: “The fact is these crews — yes, they’re tired, but they also want to be out there defending their communities.
“We do all we can to rotate the shifts to give them those breaks, but in many cases you’ve got to hold them back to make sure they get that rest.
“We are constantly looking at ways to better facilitate the volunteer effort, but to professionalise that at that scale is not a matter that has previously been accepted and it’s not currently under consideration by the government.”
