The Fire Services Bill Select Committee, aimed at appeasing concerns of the controversial splitting of the fire services into one fully professional service including the MFB and integrated CFA stations like Ballarat and another fully volunteer service, has split along party lines.

The majority report, backed by the Coalition and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers members rejected the reforms and also called for the Department of Premier and Cabinet to be investigated over alleged interference with the investigation and a separation of the presumptive cancer compensation legislation from the bill.  But a dissenting minority report from Labor and Green MPs said the government's plan should proceed, with evidence showing the current system is out of date.

Western Victorian Liberal MP Joshua Morris said combining the cancer compensation legislation with the bill as a cynical ploy of the Andrew’s government to have the reforms accepted. “I’d say that our CFA brigades should be left to do what they do best and that’s protect our community. What needs to happen is that government needs to withdraw the bill and genuinely consult with firefighters across state,” he said.

Greens Western Metropolitan MP Colleen Hartland was on the committee and supported the minority report which recommended the reforms. “Crudely I would say the majority report really just wants to keep the war against fire fighters going. It didn't look at the evidence. We had very compelling evidence.” 

United Firefighters Union National Secretary Peter Marshall said “the process had highlighted serious deficiencies in the system”, including an 80 per cent failure rate in some areas of CFA coverage and accused the the Liberal National Party members of the committee of refusing to deal with the facts.