WITH the Perth Hills facing an elevated fire risk this season, a dispute over access to the Midland Fire Station has escalated to the floor of parliament.

Anthony Spagnolo MLC publicly accused the Emergency Services Minister Paul Papalia of deliberately obstructing parliamentary safety inspections.

In a speech delivered in the Legislative Council last week, Mr Spagnolo detailed a drawn-out, month-long saga of correspondence and scheduling conflicts, claiming a simple visit to meet Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) personnel had been made unnecessarily difficult.

“Bushfires do not respect electorate boundaries and nor should bureaucratic gatekeeping,” he said on the floor of the Legislative Council.

“This issue should not be political, it should be about safety and transparency.

“Labor ministers should not treat bushfire safety like some kind of political football.

“The Perth Hills face a dangerous summer and residents deserve assurance that their representatives are working together with DFES to ensure their safety.”

The request to visit the Midland station – a critical hub for the Perth Hills – was first submitted on September 11 by the offices of Mr Spagnolo, opposition spokesperson Rob Horstman MLC, and Kalamunda MLA Adam Hort.

Mr Spagnolo stressed that physical station visits are crucial as they allow elected members to assess on-the-ground readiness, speak directly with frontline personnel about equipment and training needs, and bring firsthand insights back to Parliament.

“Preparing for the upcoming bushfire season is important,” he said.

“As is the need for members of Parliament to have fair access to fire stations and frontline workers.

“Visits… are essential… they enable elected members to meet frontline personnel, to understand resource and training needs, and to bring firsthand insights back to Parliament on behalf of the people we represent.”

Mr Spagnolo documented seven follow-up attempts to the Minister’s office between September 25 and November 5,  offering multiple dates for the three parliamentarians to visit the station.

He claims, however, the only date approved was November 5, a date which was only communicated to his office by the Minister for Emergency Services the afternoon of November 4.

“Given that we were given less than 12 hours’ notice, we were obviously not available to visit the station the next day,” Mr Spagnolo said.

Opposition spokesperson for Emergency Services, Rob Horstman was outraged at the implied lack of respect in the last-minute notice.

“To give us only twelve hours’ notice after two months of requests is not only impractical, it is disrespectful to the seriousness of the issue,” he said.

“I live more than 450 kilometres from Perth, and was fully prepared to make the drive to meet with DFES personnel at Midland Fire Station.

“What I find astonishing is that while I was willing to travel this far to ensure our communities are prepared for bushfire season, the Minister, who lives in Perth, could not provide a reasonable or timely approval.”

Echo News contacted Minister Paul Papalia’s office who declined to comment.