"September 16 rolled around, as Mullins sent another letter, having the issue handed off to Angus Taylor, who vaguely promised a “belated” offer to meet on October 2. Mullins expressed regret as Taylor’s office failed to “grasp the urgency of the matter”. Mullins also noted that Taylor palmed him off to the Minister for Drought, David Littleproud.The latter, according to the letter, made no attempt to schedule a meeting.Mullins wrote: “My fellow emergency service leaders and I are deeply concerned that we are not adequately prepared.”
Sandwich between those two letters came July, and the Morrison government’s decision to cut 35% from the budget of the NSW branch of Fire and Rescue.According to the Fire Brigade Employees Union, “We have fewer firefighters now than we did eight years ago. Our trucks are old. We need more specialist equipment, not less. Some of our existing stations desperately need updating. We need safe protective uniforms and safe (sic) equipment. We need training. We need support after traumatic events. There is no fat to cut…a significant amount has been taken from the ‘expenses’ budget – which is largely made up of our wages.”"
