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Firefighters want MFB chief fire officer Tony Murphy recalled to the Royal Commission after giving the Commission data which he has since denied on commercial radio. He blamed The Age for getting the figures wrong.
Mr Murphy yesterday agreed with counsel for the Royal Commission that 46 MFB firefighters called in sick on Black Saturday, and that this was an absence rate of 15 per cent. The figure originally comes from paragraph 116 of Mr Murphy’s witness statement:
“On the day [Black Saturday] 46 staff were absent on unplanned leave.”
He contradicted this on commercial radio today, on 3AW’s Neil Mitchell program:
NEIL MITCHELL: Did you have 46 of them on unplanned leave?
TONY MURPHY: No.
Yesterday at the Royal Commission, Mr Murphy was asked:
“Of the 300 or so who were supposed to be at work, 46 calling in sick meant you had about a 15 per cent absenteeism rate on that day?”
Mr Murphy had a chance then to correct the record. Instead he answered:
“That's what the mathematics is, yes.”
The truth, from official MFB figures:
§ There were 15 fire fighters absent due to illness on February 7, 10 of which were certified by a medical practitioner as unfit for duty – not 46.
§ There were about 600 firefighters rostered to cover the two shifts that day – not 300.
§ That means 2.5 per cent of firefighters were on unplanned sick leave that day – not 15 per cent.
There were also 31 expected absences due to long service leave, WorkCover, training, family leave and military service. But these were approved by Mr Murphy, and not ‘unplanned’ as the Royal Commission was led to believe in this interchange:
“So you had 305 who were to work day shift. However, 46 of those staff were absent on unplanned leave. What is unplanned leave, Mr Murphy?---It includes people accessing some accrued leave or long-service leave, sick leave, family leave, WorkCover.”
Extraordinarily, Mr Murphy told the Royal Commission that the 31 people on leave long service leave, WorkCover, training, family leave and military service were rostered to work that day:
“I think your statement notes at paragraph 116 that this is for reasons including the fact that 46 staff who were rostered to do day shift were absent on unplanned leave. Do you see paragraph 116?---Yes.”
Media coverage of this exchange at the Royal Commission was a massive slur on operational firefighters.
Mr Murphy has now moved to clarify his evidence to the Royal Commission.
This morning, on 3AW’s Neil Mitchell program, he blamed The Age:
NEIL MITCHELL: Mr Murphy has The Age got it wrong? Because they're quoting you as saying 46 took unplanned leave on that day. Is that - has The Age wrong?
TONY MURPHY: What I'm saying is that The Age has got it wrong. Yes they have.
The transcript of the Royal Commission suggests that The Age did not get it wrong. Mr Murphy now denies what he told the Royal Commission yesterday, and earlier in his witness statement.
The UFU will seek urgently for the record of the Royal Commission to be corrected.
More firefighters, not less.
Official Leave Figures from MFB Records
|
Annual Leave |
0 |
|
Accrued Leave |
1 |
|
Family Leave |
11 |
|
Promotional Station Officer Course (Training) |
2 |
|
Paternity Leave |
0 |
|
Bereavement Leave |
0 |
|
Long Service Leave |
7 |
|
WorkCover (injured) |
9 |
|
Military Service Leave |
1 |
|
Sick Leave with Certificate |
10 |
|
Sick Leave Without Cerficate |
5 |
|
Total - |
46 |
|
Percentage of Firefighters on unplanned leave for Black Saturday- |
2.5% | | 
