The 2019-2020 Australian bushfire season was one of the worst in recorded history with fires burning across Australia for over six months. No state or territory was left unscathed with an estimated 24.3 million hectares burned, including 34 deaths, 3,000 buildings, and decimation of wildlife and habitat.

During such times we rely on our first responders to bravely step into the breech, and our firefighters are first to respond to the call. The courage of Australia’s firefighters is well-known and with the approaching fire season we once again turn to these everyday heroes knowing that for them, this personal risk is something they shoulder with pride.

It seems, therefore, unthinkable that almost 4 years since Covid arrived on our shores we would still have up to 50 Victorian firefighters sidelined by vaccine mandates.

Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) has been the stalwart of mandates, continuing with these ridiculous measures – despite all other states and territories removing them – and no one seems to know why.

Some of this confusion is apparent as recently highlighted in state estimates when Victoria’s newly appointed Emergency Management Commissioner, Rick Nugent, confirmed the only vaccine mandate still in place is with Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV). When asked why these mandates were remaining, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Justice, Ryan Phillips answered, ‘That’s ultimately an operational matter for FRV… [and] something that organisation has decided.’ But when Bev McArthur MLC asked if the Department ultimately had responsibility for the organisation, she was told they were ‘not responsible for internal policies in relation to vaccines’.

This begs the question, who is responsible for the ongoing mandates at FRV?

The Victorian state government revoked the Pandemic Order on October 12, 2022. In June 2023, the former Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy admitted there was ‘little justification’ for ongoing mandates, and on October 20, 2023, Australia’s Chief Medical Officer announced the official end of the Covid emergency response, declaring Covid was no longer a Communicable Disease Incidence of National Significance.

With the pandemic officially over and mandates no longer ‘justified’ (if they ever were), what exactly is Fire Rescue Victoria holding out for?

This question is also being asked by The Australian Firefighters Alliance (AFA). Formed in 2021, under threat of the mandates, this organisation is committed to ‘protecting the freedoms and democratic rights of firefighters and workers throughout the nation’. They are staunchly pro-choice, not anti-vaccination. Co-founder, Josh Hawkes, has been relentless in seeking answers from FRV regarding their continued stance on preventing unvaccinated firefighters from returning to work. The situation has become incomprehensible as he and around 30 AFA colleagues – with an estimated further 20 outside of the organisation – are kept on the sidelines purely due to their vaccination status.

Hawkes contends the lawfulness of the continuing policy which seems to be continuing under a workplace policy. ‘Literally, at 5 pm on the day they rescinded the pandemic orders, Fire Rescue Victoria came up with an interim measure under the Commissioner’s directions,’ he tells me. ‘The union comes out immediately after and says there’s no lawfulness to this. It’s not pinned to anything. The commissioner doesn’t have the statutory authority to enforce it because it references all the pandemic orders. So essentially, they’re continuing a Minister or Chief Health Officer order under a workplace policy, but the Commissioner doesn’t have the power to do that and not neither does FRV.’

So, are the mandates continuing under a workplace policy? It would seem so. But wait, there’s more.

Hawkes and his colleagues are prevented from entering their workplace in a professional capacity however they could enter the same station and work as a volunteer. This seems completely illogical and somewhat hypocritical. As if the same workplace is only ‘safe’ for an unvaccinated firefighter if they are a volunteer.

But wait, there’s more.

FRV produced a Covid-19 Controls Risk Assessment. This document was obtained by Hawkes under freedom of information. The risk assessment identifies potential serious side effects from the jab including myocarditis, pericarditis, blood clots, and even death!

I ask, does Fire Rescue Commissioner Gavin Freeman know about this risk assessment? And if so, what is the justification for continuing to mandate an experimental jab, that doesn’t stop infection or transmission and has very real and significant risks of injury – no matter how rare? Just ask those vaccine-injured firefighters who are now unable to work and on Work Cover.

But wait, there’s more.

There are reports of serious shortages of firefighting crews on multiple occasions, involving multiple stations in Victoria. According to Hawkes, FRV may have instances that slip under minimum staffing numbers, citing emails that call for the ‘backfilling’ of shifts. ‘FRV are failing to fill the gaps while up to 50 firefighters remain sidelined,’ he tells me. ‘On Grand Final day this year, there were thirteen vehicles in the Metropolitan Fire Districts that were each running one firefighter down.’ That’s a tremendous shortage.

But wait, there is even more.

According to Hawkes, the last known mandated dose at FRV was in March 2022. They haven’t forced anyone in the workplace to have a jab – a second booster – since then. This would technically mean that all employees who had not received their second booster and beyond would officially be considered ‘not up to date’ according to official ATAGI guidelines. It appears, on paper, FRV are still mandating the jab and preventing those who are unvaccinated from returning to work, while not enforcing the policy in the workplace.

This mandate madness hasn’t gone unnoticed by elected members including federal MP Russell Broadbent. The long-standing member for Monash has held his seat continuously for almost 20 years, and recently lost pre-selection by the Liberal Party. Broadbent has been outspoken against mandates since 2021, at that time urging the government not to proceed and acknowledges his stance over the Covid years may have contributed to the lost pre-selection bid. Despite platform censorship and push-back, Broadbent has continued to advocate for those injured by the vaccine or continuing to be mandated, including Victoria’s firefighters. ‘The (FRV) risk assessment 100 per cent vindicates the firies still being threatened and punished for speaking out against the mandates,’ says Broadbent. ‘But it’s also a chilling admission for the colleagues who took the vaccine especially those who are now on WorkCover after suffering severe injuries following the jab. This is a blight on our nation. It’s unjust and an absolute disgrace.’

I couldn’t agree more.

As we head into another long hot summer, and the third Christmas for these sidelined firefighters, let’s hope and pray common sense prevails before it’s too late.