The future of the State Emergency Service headquarters and its staff in Wollongong remains unclear after the release of an independent report into New South Wales's devastating floods.
A key recommendation of the report was for a back-house merger of the SES and Rural Fire Service (RFS).
In Recommendation 12, the report suggested a "joined up" RFS/SES corporate support structure would be under the command of the RFS given its corporate and operational maturity.
The co-leader of the inquiry, former NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller, said the change would allow the SES to tap into the experience of the RFS.
"The reason being is the RFS over the last 20 years has grown into a full-time organisation and they are seasoned campaigners," Mr Fuller said at a media conference for the launch of the report.
"Their ability to plan and use intelligence is well above even some of the other permanent agencies. To grow that in the SES would take years and years and years.
"Why wouldn't we merge them and take care of these agencies where they are working together to protect the people of NSW?"
The report suggested how the merger would operate:
If this recommendation is implemented, corporate services functions could be partly run out of Wollongong, the existing SES headquarters, with SES operational functions run out of the current Homebush site that houses RFS.
Fears for jobs
Public Service Association General Secretary Stewart Little said the recommendation made no sense to him.
"There are very few jobs that deal with corporate services in either agency," Mr Little said.
"We are also left wondering what they mean by backroom jobs.
"This is an organisation which is effectively all hands to the pump during a natural disaster, they only have a bit over 300 staff."
Mr Little said the government had previously promised no jobs would be lost in regional NSW, and the Premier needed to clarify what was being proposed with the merger.
"Our major concern would be if they are looking at closing the facility at Wollongong, it is a facility that provides over 200 regional, very important jobs," he said.
"The Premier needs to explain what these jobs are. It seems to us they will look to rationalise the role Wollongong plays and move the service to Homebush."
Political questions
Wollongong MP Paul Scully said the report raised more questions than it answered on the future of the SES in Wollongong.
"I am seeking more information and clarification on [what] the Premier's exact plans might be and what those implications on the city might be," Mr Scully said.
"I want to see the existing jobs at the SES headquarters in Wollongong secured, even if the nature of the SES organisationally may change.
"Emergency services will always need to have a regional presence."
In 2015, the SES signed a 12-year lease for the old tax office building in the Wollongong CBD.
Kiama MP Gareth Ward said he had concerns about what the proposal meant for local jobs.
"The NSW government promised no regional job cuts. How will today's announcement impact on regional jobs located at the State Emergency Services Headquarters in Wollongong?" he said.
"Whilst any effort to provide more coordinated and meaningful natural disaster responses to local communities should be commended, our volunteers should not be shouldering greater administrative burdens because of proposed job cuts by the NSW government."
