The Country Fire Authority has condemned an automated phone call which has been circulating over the past 24 hours, warning people of the dangers of the Andrews’ Government’s changes to the CFA.
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In the message, a man called ‘Glenn’ who claims to be a CFA volunteers says “the CFA is under threat” because “Daniel Andrews and the Labor Party are breaking it up, no one was consulted about this”.
The message encourages listeners to sign a petition at www.handsoffthecfa.org.au, a website authorised by the Victorian Liberal Party.
A spokesperson confirmed the call was sanctioned by the Liberal Party.
In a statement, CFA chief executive Frances Diver described the message as “highly irresponsible and unfounded claim and not an authorised message from CFA”.
“Over the last 24 hours we have been flooded with complaints from members of the community who have received automated phone calls,” the statement read. “CFA is deeply concerned that these calls may erode confidence in public safety and unfairly cause alarm across the community.
“CFA will urgently investigate this as a possible breach of privacy and take whatever further steps necessary to protect the integrity of CFA.”
In a statement, opposition emergency services spokesperson Brad Battin said “if automated phone calls are a breach of privacy then that means Labor’s 2014 election campaign was illegal”.
He also took aim at the CFA chief executive, saying “Frances Diver is in the pocket of the Andrews Labor Government and her comments may as well be authored by the Premier”.
More to come...
