General News
31 March, 2026
Emergency services honoured
Local emergency service volunteers were thanked for their ongoing effort on Sunday with a parade and community fundraiser barbecue held in Maryborough.
Local emergency services were celebrated as heroes on Sunday with a parade and community fundraiser barbecue held in Maryborough.
The event was intended to raise money for essential equipment local fire brigades need while thanking emergency service volunteers more broadly for their ongoing effort.
A parade down High Street rang in the event with classic cars and fire trucks among the vehicles community members could enjoy.
Carz and Coffee Maryborough with local emergency services then gathered in Coronation Park for lunch with barbecues run by both the Carisbrook Lions Club, helping raise money, and Maryborough Rotary Club, who made steak sandwiches for volunteer first responders.
The event gave community members an opportunity to meet those on the front line from the CFA, St John Ambulance, and Maryborough’s SES.
However, from the parade through to the event itself, the wider community were largely absent, which organiser David Hendrickson noticed.
“If we’re going to make a difference in this town we have to get together as a community and start fighting for what we’ve got,” he said.
“It’s a pretty poor effort to only have this amount of people down at a free event for a cause to raise money.”
CFA Goldfields Group Officer Peter Higgins said the community needed to be a “force as one” supporting volunteer first responders.
Local brigades responded to over 1800 calls so far this year and were on six strike teams, including over to Harcourt, yet Mr Higgins said three of their trucks are over 35 years old and some of their new firefighters can only get secondhand gear.
“The money raised today will go to getting modern appliances,” he said.
“We thank you, the community, who keep backing us up all the time.”
While a Field Command Vehicle (FCV) is at the top of CFA Goldfields Group’s wishlist their Group Officer Peter Higgins said it’s more than the community can fundraise.
He expects an FCV to cost $160,000.
“The problem we face is [community groups] are all hunting for the same money,” he said.
It means they’re relying on State Government grants which “shafted” their last application according to Mr Higgins.
Therefore, the group are without a specialised vehicle to coordinate brigades during fires.
During January’s Harcourt fires Mr Higgins said he had to drive down to Bendigo to get a vehicle.
“How demoralising is that to grovel to District 2,” he said.
It also meant a communication breakdown for local brigades.
“When we got there, there was houses burning at the back and our guys knocking on the front door unaware the people’s house was on fire,” he said.
Other days, with other fires, what does the Goldfields Group use to coordinate brigades?
“See that white ute up there, that’s Higgo’s ute, you’re looking at it,” he said.
“It’s the only operation we’ve got [for Goldfields Group].”
Mr Higgins said they’re not alone with their funding challenges, Maryborough’s SES unit is alongside them.
Maryborough SES Unit Controller Rachel Mitchell said they currently have two vehicles when they should have three.
They are also a crew of around seven volunteerss, often less due to work, yet they respond to road crashes and extreme weather.
“We’re always looking for people who are willing to come and join us and help us with everything we do,” she said.
St John Ambulance’s Paul Smout said, while they have a strong youth division, they only have three adult volunteers.
“Our Maryborough division is desperately needing members,” he said.
The organisation’s volunteers offer first aid at community events and, during incidents, support both fire brigade volunteers and the community with emergency relief.