Paul I was merely trying to explain why many country employers are unable to continue to pay volunteers when fire fighting extends to longer periods, not having a go at you.

Yet another good reason for a National Service !

Could someone please enlighten us as to why there's a necessity to fly in volunteer fire fighters from other States ?
I concede that we can't put the average, drugged to the eyeballs mutt into a uniform & hand him a hose. Aren't there enough Army reservists who'd be in the field of competency to fight fires ?
Why not let the uninhabited bush burn & concentrate on protecting homes ? Yes, it would be terrible for wildlife at first but surely after much of the fuel has gone, the next fire will be nowhere near as bad & after season after season, the fuel can be kept at much lower concentration than just sitting back & do nothing ?
Create a national Service & the battle will be won before it needs to be fought !
Just keep the "experts" away !

Why can't the insurance companies pay them?

Individual the army teach their blokes to shoot guns, drive tanks trucks & such things, but are more into blowing up the bush than putting it out when on fire. Some of them have high bulldozer skills, which could be very useful in building fire brakes.

The navy do have a lot of people trained in fire fighting, using breathing apparatus & such, but few of them have the sort of bush craft required to keep safe in it, let alone understand the dangers involved when it is on fire. I'm sure there are plenty of jobs back from the actual fire front they could do, to free up those with bush fire fighting skills.

The whole idea of a national Service is to get young people ready for life's challenges. Anyone who thinks a NS should be an instant working success story is totally missing the point. It's a ladder of society. The first rung is instilling a sense of responsibility, the 2nd rung is consideration, the 3rd rung is discipline, the 4th deals with finding an individual's aspirations, options & limitations & so on. It's an apprenticeship in social aptitude & belonging.
It's a rekindling of life skills !
It is beyond me how people always waffle on about Govts failing when it's people failing Govt & when asked to contribute to the efforts of Govt they baulk !!
A NS would get misguided young people off the streets, it would open opportunities that were lost when Goaf & Co secured the federal election by promising to abolish NS. This was the single worst move in the history of Govt in Australia. It played straight into the hands of the hangers-on groups & look where it has got us to in 2020 ?