Labor Leader Anthony Albanese has used a visit to the Shoalhaven Emergency Management Centre as an opportunity to push for RFS volunteers to be paid.
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On Friday, December 27, the Labor Leader and Gilmore MP Fiona Phillips met with staff and were briefed about the active fires burning along the South Coast.
Mr Albanese's pressure on the Federal Government to pay volunteers comes after Liberal frontbencher Darren Chester broke ranks to suggest there was strong support in his electorate to pay firefighters.
"Ethoses [sic] don't put food on the table, they don't pay your mortgage or your rent," Mr Albanese said.
"If you are a small business, a contractor, a private sector worker and you have not been able to earn a period of income for months, common sense tells you that is not sustainable.
"And it's time for a bit of common sense."
He said he wanted to use his visit to show "solidarity" with communities.
"These are dire circumstances and I wanted to be informed about what was happening here, to find out if there was any practical assistance I could give as well," he said.
"Fiona's been here every day as the local member but I think it's important that national leaders are out and about and talking with people and expressing, essentially, our solidarity with these communities - they're doing it tough."
Although resources are stretched Mr Albanese said local firefighters aren't asking for any more assistance at this stage.
"We need a whole of community and government response to this crisis because it is an absolute crisis and too many lives have already been lost," he said.
"And unfortunately there is no immediate end in sight."
Along the South Coast three active fires are burning: the Comberton, Currowan and Deua River Valley fires.
There are fears the Currowan fire could jump the Shoalhaven River in the coming days as conditions deteriorate.