Agricultural
14 March, 2026
NSW opposition calls out "failed" Farm Fire Fighting Scheme
The Farm Fire Fighting Vehicle Scheme was proposed following the Black Summer bushfires to allow quicker response times in remote and rural areas.
The NSW opposition has called out the state government’s failed Farm Fire Fighting Vehicle Scheme after it was revealed just 66 vehicles are registered to the program.
The scheme was intended to allow unregistered firefighting assets that reside on farms, such as old trucks and water trailers, to use public roads in the case of an emergency by providing conditional registration.
Scott Barrett MLC said this should have been a very simple scheme allowing farmers to help their communities in times of need
but instead we’ve been left with an overly bureaucratic paper pushing exercise.
“Many farmers want to be part of this scheme, but not if it’s too onerous and costly which it clearly is,” Mr Barrett said. “This fantastic idea has been ruined by trial overload and a substandard registration system leaving us with just a handful of people willing to take part in the scheme across the state.”
The scheme was trialled in the Summer of 2023/24 with a commitment from the Minns Labor Government to make the scheme permanent before the next bushfire season.
A second trial was announced during the following bushfire season after extensive lobbying from Mr Barrett and inaction from Labor to fulfill the promise of making the scheme permanent. Shadow minister for emergency services Tanya Thompson said the fi rst trial had 211 participants, and the second trial 148 - proving a high level of interest in the scheme. “These are farmers who want to do the right thing and help their community, they should be encouraged at every step,” Mrs Thompson said.
“From these numbers alone, it’s clear the Minns Labor government have again bungled the rollout of a critical emergency services measure in regional NSW showing they don’t understand the regions and the issues we are facing.”
