THE failure of the State Government to deliver on a key pledge to upgrade CFA heavy tankers to assist firefighting efforts has been slammed by the Opposition.

The new fleet of 48 tankers to replace ageing single-cab tankers was funded through the Victorian Government’s $126 million CFA Capability Funding package, announced in June 2020.

The heavy tankers were described as “state-of the-art firefighting vehicles”, outfitted with modern equipment including electronic monitors and electric rewind hose reels and would allow a full crew to sit within the cabin.

To date, the government has delivered only 20 of the 48 tankers to the CFA, with the rollout of the remaining 28 tankers – two destined for Halls Gap and Heywood – now not expected to be completed until later this year.

Opposition leader, John Pesutto, said that the failure in distributing the proposed tankers has caused devastating consequences for Victorians impacted, leaving “many communities across Victoria vulnerable”.

“Last week we saw storms and blackouts impact hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across the state and fires tear through communities like Pomonal with devastating consequences,” he said.

“Labor ignored warnings that our energy network was vulnerable to such events and now it has broken a promise to ensure local communities are properly resourced to deal with the threat of bushfires.”

In January 2023, CFA chief officer, Jason Heffernan said tankers were a vital part of CFA’s fleet, and looked forward to the delivery of the “state-of-the-art firefighting vehicles”.

“The heavy tankers feature a 15-tonne crew-cab chassis with a 4000-litre water tank, while their 4x4 capability and automatic transmission will help crews access fires in difficult terrain,” he said.

“They also include features such as electronic monitors and electric rewind hose reels, as well as using a higher percentage of recyclable build materials.”

The heavy tankers also have a 1200 lites per minute diesel engine-driven firefighting pump, crew/vehicle rollover and burnover protection and full equipment stowage cache.

Manufacturing on the 48 heavy tankers began in September 2021 at Sunshine North company R.A Bell & Co.

Emergency services shadow minister, Richard Riordan said that no Victorians should have to suffer as a result of poor management.

“Labor’s broken promise affects communities right across the state including areas that were hard-hit by last week’s extreme weather,” he said.

“There is no excuse to be so ill-prepared and once again Victorians are paying the price for Labor’s mismanagement of our emergency services.”