A bid to introduce legislation to give firefighters easier access to cancer compensation was last week voted down by the state government.
Western suburbs Greens MP Colleen Hartland had called on the government to introduce ‘fair protection for firefighters’ legislation into the lower house.
A Greens bill that passed federal parliament with bipartisan support in 2011 removed the burden of proof from Commonwealth-employed firefighters working in airports or the ACT.
Last Wednesday, Ms Hartland’s bid to introduce similar legislation in Victoria lost by two votes.
“The government waited until firefighters were out of the room before they betrayed them and voted down my motion,” she said.
As reported by the Weekly last month, the government said it would establish an assessment panel for professional and volunteer firefighter claims, but said it was “not convinced” of the link between firefighting and certain cancers.
MFB western zone commander Frank Besanko, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2007, said the link between firefighting and cancers had been established internationally.
