The promise to upgrade to the Bendigo Fire Station stemmed as a result of the recommendations of the Black Saturday Royal Commission in 2016.
In 2019, Labor belatedly announced construction of a new Bendigo station at its Murphy Street site would begin in mid-2020, but more than four years later, planning permission has still not been secured and works have not begun.
Under the planned rebuild the nearly 50-year-old Hargreaves St station would undergo improvements which would better accommodate its 12 firefighters per shift.
The station was built in 1983 to support some 5-6 firefighters per shift.
As a consequence of the delays, Bendigo firefighters have had to endure a station which is crumbling around them and not fit-for-purpose.
Every time Bendigo's firefighters are 'called out' to attend a fire or medical emergency they must change into their overalls in a makeshift Coates Hire "outhouse". This has been like this for 5 years.
Last year, the 7-tonne front door of the Station would not open, resulting in fire trucks being forced to exit the Fire Station via the backdoor and employing traffic supervisors 24 hours a day for a month costing the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Firefighters were meant to relocate to a new, state-of-the-art station three kilometres away in Murphy Street, East Bendigo, while works were carried out at Hargreaves Street.
The temporary station was completed in June 2022 at a cost of $2.4 million (totalling $3.5m when including land acquisition and associated lease arrangements), yet to this day, the four-bay, 12 dormitory, brand new fire station in the heart of the Premier's own electorate remains entirely empty and never unoccupied - never used, and with a date for any improvements to the Hargreaves site still unannounced, the multi-million station is all but abandoned.
Following a decade of financial mismanagement under Labor, Victoria's net debt is growing by $1.7 million an hour and is expected to reach a record $192.6 billion by 2028-29.
Shadow Minister for Fire Rescue Victoria, Nick McGowan, said: "This is a scandalous waste of millions dollars of taxpayers' money and a slap in the face to firefighters and locals in Bendigo.
"Labor's waste and mismanagement is extraordinary. Not only have they failed to deliver their promised upgrade to the Bendigo Fire Station, but they've also wasted millions on what has become a Ghost Station at Hargreaves Street, sitting empty and used for nearly five years.
"Firefighters deserve better, and Bendigo residents deserve much stronger fire protection than they are currently getting.
"Labor cannot manage money, cannot manage projects and Victorians are paying the price."
The Nationals Member for Northern Victoria, Gaelle Broad, said: "If millions of dollars can be wasted right under the Premier's nose in her own electorate, Victorians shouldn't be surprised that billions of dollars are being wasted across the state.
"Labor's priorities are all wrong. Millions of dollars have been wasted on an unused station whilst ageing trucks are patched up with gaffer tape, pumps are failing and volunteers are forced to use portable toilets and wash their uniforms at home."
"It has been years since an upgrade to the Bendigo Fire Station was promised, yet this temporary site remains empty and the community is worse off."
