The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: It gives me great pleasure on behalf of the Greens to rise to support this legislation, the Return to Work (Presumptive Firefighter Injuries) Amendment Bill. This bill adds, at the behest of the United Firefighters Union, an additional three cancers particularly pertaining to women firefighters. The Greens have long championed a presumptive approach when it comes to the connections between firefighters and the cancers that they contract through their work. That causal relationship, as we know, has been well established by science, and as we have more data we are able to add particular cancers to that list with the additional information that we receive.
I note that the Hon. Frank Pangallo has an additional list to add and that also comes before us with the support of the United Firefighters Union. The Greens will be supporting the Hon. Frank Pangallo's amendments, and we do so with pleasure. We note also that the Greens have consulted the CFS Volunteers Association. I am not sure that the government bothered to do that, which is a little disappointing, but it will indeed apply to them, because under the Return to Work scheme firefighters are workers.
Whether they are career or volunteer, if they contract cancers because of their work as firefighters, protecting people and place and planet, then I think they deserve to be treated with respect when it comes to workers compensation. I would hope that next time that respect is accorded to them in terms of an actual consultation before a bill like this comes before this place.
It will be no surprise to those in the sector that the Greens will support this. We have long championed this, and I do commend particularly the work of Adam Bandt, who in the House of Representatives actually initiated the first of these sorts of bills in our nation. They are very common in places like Canada and have been well established. We know that additional cancers will be added to the list as we have more data. In this case, there was a lack of women firefighters, and now we have more data about that we welcome that addition from the government. We do also strongly support the proposed amendments from the Hon. Frank Pangallo. I commend the bill.