But if new Emergency Services Minister James Merlino is worried about the political powder keg he's just been handed, don't expect him to show it publicly.

"I'm optimistic, but I don't underestimate the task before me," the Monbulk MP says in his first extended interview since taking on the tricky portfolio.

"My vision is for a united emergency services that is 100 per cent committed to tackling the challenges that we face: climate change, more extreme weather events, longer bushfire seasons and population growth … It's up to all of us to be united, for our ultimate reason for being – and that's community safety."

Months since the Andrews government was plunged into crisis after the Premier intervened in an industrial stoush between the career-based United Firefighters' Union and the volunteer-based CFA, the scars from the battle still run deep.

Gone is the previous CFA board, which Mr Merlino sacked in one of his first acts in the job. Gone is the former chief executive Lucinda Nolan, and gone is the former chief fire officer Joe Buffone.  And Jane Garrett, who couldn't bring herself to sign a deal she believed handed too much power to the UFU and its controversial boss, Peter Marshall, has left cabinet.

Yet for all the urgency of ending the dispute – including escalating the issue in the middle of a federal election campaign – Mr Merlino admits the EBA is still "weeks" away from being finalised. He also says he doesn't have an exact figure on how much it will cost taxpayers, but references Treasurer Tim Pallas, "who is on the record as saying it will be in the order of $160 million". He's also unable to spell out what concessions, if any, the union made as part of the agreement.

What Mr Merlino is more certain about, however, is the damage the issue has caused firefighters and their families, which he says is a result of a "disgraceful campaign of misinformation by the Liberals and others".

Yes, there are "consultation dispute resolutions" in the agreement, but there's no union veto, Mr Merlino says. Yes, there's a clause that requires seven paid firefighters to be dispatched to a fire, but it only relates to 34 integrated stations. And sure, there were concerns about gender diversity, but the agreement now contains a diversity clause.

"We've got people in the trenches and I need to get them out of the trenches," he says. "Healing needs to take place, and it's the result of a lot of fear mongering and misinformation about what the EBA means and doesn't mean."

But what about the lack of women in the firefighting services more broadly, which is something that transcends the EBA? Earlier this week, for instance, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission called for submissions to an inquiry on bullying, harassment and discrimination in the industry. Mr Marshall immediately issued a letter telling his members it was "not in your interest to participate".

Mr Merlino is reluctant to call out the union, noting that it's "their job to represent the interest of their members as best they can, and that's what they do". But he also points out that a more diverse workforce is what the government wants. "I'd be encouraging all firefighters and the CFA to work with the VEOHRC on the important work that they're doing," he says.

As for the government's own handling of the dispute, is there anything it should have done differently? "You can't have a dispute go on for so long – and be so bitter and spiteful – for everyone involved not to reflect on how we could do this better next time," he says. "It's not only been a tough issue for the last few months, it's been a tough issue for the last few years."