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Katie Woolf spoke with Gerry Wood on the changes with our local NTFS volunteer fire brigades · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Mix one O four point nine dot com DOTU for
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  Speaker 1: all the latest news and information. Now three sixty with
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  Speaker 1: Katie Wolf. Everyone is listening Mix one O four point
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  Speaker 1: nine one hundred percent NT.
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  Speaker 2: Joining us in the studio though, is our old mate
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  Speaker 2: Jerry Wood.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning, Good morning, Katie.
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  Speaker 2: Good to have you in here. Jerry.
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  Speaker 3: I'm very well, thank you.
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  Speaker 2: It's good you're looking relaxed.
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  Speaker 4: Oh yep, complenty of work, but I don't have to
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  Speaker 4: sort of do it right now.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, if you know what I mean.
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  Speaker 2: Live in the dream, mate, live in the dream.
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  Speaker 3: And you worked hard to be able to retire.
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  Speaker 2: There's no doubt about that, so you deserve to be
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  Speaker 2: living the dreape.
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  Speaker 3: I still take an interest in things that I know.
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  Speaker 1: You do now, Jerry.
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  Speaker 2: One thing that you have taken an interest in, and
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  Speaker 2: I think that this is something rightly so that you have,
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  Speaker 2: is that it seems as though, well, my understanding is
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  Speaker 2: that bushfires, bushfire trucks have names on them for the
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  Speaker 2: areas that they that they're from. Now those names have
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  Speaker 2: been removed, Is that right? What's happened?
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  Speaker 3: Well, that's my understanding.
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  Speaker 4: I've been in touch with a couple of people in
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  Speaker 4: with the volunteer Fibrigade in the Northern Territory Fire Service.
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  Speaker 4: And as you would know normally if you go out
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  Speaker 4: our way, there's the bush Fires Council fire trucks, they've
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  Speaker 4: got their name on the side. But the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 4: Fire Service, which does the more closer into Darwen areas,
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  Speaker 4: they've all got their names on and so you've got Kilpena, Virginia,
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  Speaker 4: Beees Creek, Humpty Do Howard Springs, and there's other places
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  Speaker 4: in the territory that have their name on it. And
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  Speaker 4: that's really important because these people that the volunteers on
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  Speaker 4: those fire units are all locals and we very much
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  Speaker 4: appreciate the work they do. So when they're out either
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  Speaker 4: back burning or controlling a fire or an accident, you
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  Speaker 4: see their names and you know that our local people
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  Speaker 4: are out there volunteering their time and you appreciate that
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  Speaker 4: in your way to them sometimes. In fact, I had
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  Speaker 4: a friend ring me today from Central Victoria. He's on
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  Speaker 4: the local fire brigade there, and he said, ah, you
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  Speaker 4: can't take the names off those truck trucks, especially in
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  Speaker 4: their cases where they had big fires. There'd be people
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  Speaker 4: coming in from interstate and they know that they've come
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  Speaker 4: in from interstate and they'd appreciate that there are people
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  Speaker 4: coming in to help them in that area. And it's
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  Speaker 4: the same in the rural area. So how do you
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  Speaker 4: do come down and help the Howard Springs and Virginia
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  Speaker 4: and bees Creek and all those people. They get together
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  Speaker 4: and fight fires and we appreciate what they do. Now
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  Speaker 4: to take the names off for what, I don't have
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  Speaker 4: no idea what the reason thening is for.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, the name doesn't cause an accident.
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  Speaker 2: So have they've taken the names off all of the trucks.
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  Speaker 4: And they're going to replace it with something now, I
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  Speaker 4: don't know where they're going to have those get the
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  Speaker 4: yellow signs with the initials on the side, you know,
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  Speaker 4: HS one, seven three or something.
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  Speaker 3: But the name is important.
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  Speaker 4: The name is very much part of the rural area,
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  Speaker 4: and it is important that we also recognize our volunteers,
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  Speaker 4: and that's one way to recognize them. So I have
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  Speaker 4: no idea why the bureaucracy has told them after twenty
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  Speaker 4: or so many it's probably long on that for how
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  Speaker 4: it's been probably thirty years now at least I went
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  Speaker 4: to their anniversary not so long ago. They've always had
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  Speaker 4: their names on the side of the truck and.
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  Speaker 2: So Jerry, are they names of people and names of
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  Speaker 2: locations or.
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  Speaker 4: What are Howard Springs Volunteer Fibrogade Kilpinia Volunteer fi Progade
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  Speaker 4: hump to do fibrigate So we know they're the volunteers
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  Speaker 4: and that's not we haven't got anything against the regulars
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  Speaker 4: and they came out and fight fires too. But you know,
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  Speaker 4: it's good to know that we've got people out there helping,
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  Speaker 4: helping fellow rural people look after property and and I
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  Speaker 4: think that's really important that they're recognized by having their
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  Speaker 4: name on the vehicle.
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  Speaker 2: So what do you reckon the government needs to do here?
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  Speaker 4: I think the minister just tells whoever made the decision.
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  Speaker 4: I don't know whether why that person made the decision.
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  Speaker 4: I think we've got more important things to do besides
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  Speaker 4: moving signs off trucks. Were the most important thing at
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  Speaker 4: the moment is to go back burning, to make sure
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  Speaker 4: fires don't get out of control, to educate people about
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  Speaker 4: you know, when you can burn and when you can't burn.
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  Speaker 4: They're the important things, not whether you take a sign
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  Speaker 4: off the side track.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I've got a message here from Zach and it says,
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  Speaker 2: as a previous cool Pinia volunteer, the name on the vehicle.
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  Speaker 2: The name on the vehicle lets people know they're close
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  Speaker 2: to them and get other volunteers involved when they know
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  Speaker 2: that that's the vehicle in their area.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 2: So, look, this is something that I've no doubt a
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  Speaker 2: lot of volunteers are going to feel pretty passionately about.
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  Speaker 3: I would suggest, I know they do.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, they don't even know why, and they haven't been
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  Speaker 4: involved in the decision making process. Yeah, and I think
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  Speaker 4: if they had to make a decision, they'd say leave them.
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  Speaker 4: And I'm asking the minister, Minister Laula, I think I'm
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  Speaker 4: not sure who's in charge of the fire brigade, but
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  Speaker 4: whoever is, I think just should step in and say, hey,
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  Speaker 4: leave them alone.
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  Speaker 1: Jerry.
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  Speaker 2: We haven't got a huge amount of time, but I
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  Speaker 2: do also want to ask you, because you are well
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  Speaker 2: when we think of the rural area, we certainly think
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  Speaker 2: of you. Jerry would and there has been some concerns raised.
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  Speaker 2: Kezi Epiric joined us on the show last Friday about
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  Speaker 2: these concerns about Palmerston Council. You know, their area being
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  Speaker 2: becoming larg and incorporating some of those areas which are
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  Speaker 2: previously rural.
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  Speaker 3: Well, there's two issues there.
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  Speaker 4: One is whether Parmesan expands its boundary, of course, the
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  Speaker 4: other areas whether parts of Litchfield turn into being a suburb.
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  Speaker 3: And the previous government tried to do the same thing.
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  Speaker 4: This government has just gone along moreris was the same
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  Speaker 4: idea as the previous government had.
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  Speaker 3: It has been opposed.
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  Speaker 4: But you sometimes think you're talking to deaf people because
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  Speaker 4: no matter how much rural people say, this is what
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  Speaker 4: we'd like, the planners and sometimes the government just ignores
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  Speaker 4: that totally. So instead of sitting down as they had
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  Speaker 4: some years ago and putting up a design for Woodell,
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  Speaker 4: which is the planned city, they want to sort of
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  Speaker 4: the shortcut is infill and densification, the other planning words.
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  Speaker 3: They love those words.
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  Speaker 4: What it really means is we're not interested in expanding
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  Speaker 4: rural lifestyle, which they could do in this case. So
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  Speaker 4: holtz Kwandi area is mostly his own rural at the
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  Speaker 4: present time, and so they could turn that into what's
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  Speaker 4: similar to subdivisions like in Howard of A Park, Whitewood Park,
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  Speaker 4: parts of Gerrowen which.
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  Speaker 3: Have town water.
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  Speaker 4: Because we know there's the moratory mon Boars, but still
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  Speaker 4: have one hect down and two hectar block so you
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  Speaker 4: can have that alternative lifestyle to suburban. So the suburban
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  Speaker 4: has been planned for with Dell. The rural area has
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  Speaker 4: been planned basically, not altogether for rural development. And what
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  Speaker 4: we've got is a government who just ignores all that.
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  Speaker 4: We know there will be some development around the hospital,
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  Speaker 4: but close in. And I went to a meeting Esay,
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  Speaker 4: a new local member, Jared Mainley, was there and I
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  Speaker 4: was talking to some of the people, including the council,
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  Speaker 4: and I'm cold. The council does not support the area
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  Speaker 4: being turned into a suburb. They understand. And now we've
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  Speaker 4: been through all this before. It's like, you know, go again.
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  Speaker 4: Oh absolutely, And the people they have been through these
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  Speaker 4: meetings and they said, look, we can live with some
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  Speaker 4: development around the hospital, but there needs to be a
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  Speaker 4: buffet to the existing rural people and out from that
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  Speaker 4: will be rural. And I'll give you one funny thing.
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  Speaker 4: You know, when they were talking about don Dale couldn't
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  Speaker 4: stay where it was, even though doing with the others
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  Speaker 4: said that's the best place. They said, own developers don't
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  Speaker 4: want that to happen. Because that'll make it very hard
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  Speaker 4: to sell land in that area because it'll be suburban.
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  Speaker 3: So what have we done. You have a look at
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  Speaker 3: the plans.
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  Speaker 4: They put it right up against the new don Dale
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  Speaker 4: site suburbs. You know it's a lot of intelligent people here.
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  Speaker 2: Well, i'll tell you what. I've no doubt there's plenty
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  Speaker 2: of people that are pretty concerned about this. Jerry, we
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  Speaker 2: are going to have to leave it there. We have
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  Speaker 2: got such a busy morning. We always appreciate you coming
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  Speaker 2: into that. And Mate, I know that a lot of
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  Speaker 2: people are going to be upset about this situation with
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  Speaker 2: these fire trucks, So let us know whether you hear
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  Speaker 2: anything else and we'll do the same.
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  Speaker 3: Good on, Jerry. Thank you,