By VICTORIA STONE-MEADOWS
LA TROBE Labor Candidate Simon Curtis has refuted claims printed in The Herald Sun on Thursday 16 June that stated the Federal Labor Party had lost hope of winning the electorate.
“I’ve certainly not given up on La Trobe,” Mr Curtis said.
The claims made in the major metropolitan newspaper cited the ongoing dispute between the CFA and the Victorian Government as badly affecting the Federal branch of the Labor Party.
However, Mr Curtis said he was as dedicated as ever to representing the La Trobe electorate and the dispute should be left to the State Government and the CFA.
“I don’t think Federal Labor should step into the dispute,” he said.
“It’s not the business of Federal Parliament at all and any federal politician weighing into this issue should step back and let the firefighters do what they need to do for community.”
Mr Curtis also said the level of federal politicisation of the issue had seen firefighters used as a political football.
When questioned about the dispute, Mr Curtis said it was not his role to dictate how the CFA was run or take sides in a state-level industrial relations disagreement.
“Asking me to take sides is like asking which of my kids is my favourite,” he said.
“At the end of the day it’s really import that anyone who puts life their life on the line in a workplace, regardless of volunteer or career, that they are as safe as they can possibly be and I hope that’s what the EBA will achieve.”
