Regional Victoria has four Technical Rescue trucks — in Ballarat, Morwell, Wangaratta and Warrnambool.
Today, Ballarat and Wangaratta are off the road.
The replacement for Ballarat? A ute with ropes in the back.
This Saturday marks 6 years since the Delacombe trench tragedy, where Jack Brownlee and Charlie Howkins lost their lives — an incident that led to stronger industrial manslaughter laws and a commitment to better rescue capability, including a dedicated Technical Rescue truck in Ballarat.
Yet today, that capability isn’t there.
FRV claims a “comprehensive statewide technical rescue strategy” — but where is the backup when two of four trucks are offline and the nearest help is hours away?
This is what happens under the Allan Government — more talk, less safety. Victorians are being let down.
