Labor Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin has welcomed the state government’s announcement of a new State Emergency Services Incident Control Centre in the flood-ravaged regional city.
The centre was announced on Monday as part what the government said was its ‘single biggest investment ever’ in the SES, which the Labor opposition then described as a correction for years of underfunding.
The government said it would invest $132.7 million into SES infrastructure, resources and staffing as part of its state budget for the next financial year.
Ms Saffin told media she expected the new centre would be built within the next twelve months and would include extra paid staff as opposed to relying on volunteers.
SES budget breakdown
Premier Dominic Perrottet said via a media release the government was committed to investing in communities ‘to strengthen frontline services right across the State’.
The new funding was to include more than $50 million towards upgrades at 18 critical priority unit facilities.
The premier said two new SES zones would be created, through the division of both the Western and Northern Zones.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole said the funding would ensure a more targeted and rapid response for future emergency events.
The government said its $132.7 million budget boost included:
- $58.7 million to upgrade 18 critical priority Unit facilities across the State;
- $43 million to split the existing Northern Zone into two new zones, and split the existing Western Zone into two new zones;
- $11.7 million to establish Zone Headquarters in the two new zones with Level 3 Incident Control Centre capabilities;
- $18 million to upgrade existing Zone Headquarters to Level 3 Incident Control Centres; and
- $1.3 million to develop a Facility Strategy and complete further detailed business cases to address the remainder of the recommendations from the 2021 independent review.
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