By Bonny Burrows
Gembrook MP Brad Battin says he won’t resign from his shadow emergency services portfolio despite Labor calls following a parliamentary blunder in which he “disgraced” career firefighters.
Speaking in the Legislative Assembly on 10 May, Mr Battin stated “when we go back to February 2009, the (emergency services’) minister should be able to tell us how many career firefighters were on the firefighting ground on 7 February for the first 5 1/2 hours of Black Saturday. I can tell the house that it was zero.”
The incorrect statement, which Mr Battin has since apologised for, offended career firefighters across the state, who did in fact turn out to Black Saturday fires, and on 15 May, the State Government called for Mr Battin’s resignation.
“Brad Battin’s position is untenable – he simply can’t represent emergency services in the parliament after this attack,” Emergency Services Minister James Merlino said.
“These disgraceful comments are deeply hurtful to all firefighters who fought the Black Saturday bushfires – a catastrophic day for our state.
“If Mr Battin refuses to do the right thing and resign, then Matthew Guy must sack him.”
Speaking to the Gazette on Monday morning, shortly after the calls for resignation, Mr Battin said he had no plans to call it quits.
He admitted to the error, saying he was talking about one fire in Bunyip, but incorrectly mentioned the 2009 Black Saturday fires as a whole.
“It was my mistake, and I take responsibility for it. I’m not hiding from it,” Mr Battin said.
The local MP said he understood the pain caused, and had personally contacted every person who had contacted him directly regarding the error and had “amicable” conversations.
Despite the error, his honesty and apology has won him the respect of many sceptics who flooded social media with words of support.
In a Facebook post, one such firefighter, Gavin Parker, thanked Mr Battin for the apology.
“Despite the views and way the issue of the EBA has been dealt with, I appreciate you being able to admit when an error has been made and that you have made an attempt to correct it,” Mr Parker’s post read.
“As with most things, there is often two sides to a story and it’s important to be aware of all the facts and to be open to understanding all of the facts.”
Mr Battin said he looked forward to moving on from the incident, and continuing to stand up for the rights of all firefighters.
