Whanganui firefighters back Green Party’s bill to cover presumptive occupational cancer
Whanganui firefighters are backing a Member’s Bill that proposes to recognise occupational cancer in their profession and provide ACC cover.
The bill, developed by Green Party MP Mike Davidson, would grant eligible professional and volunteer Fire and Emergency New Zealand firefighters presumptive occupational cancer cover.
The bill would cover 21 named cancers linked to carcinogenic hazards firefighters are exposed to.
Whanganui New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) secretary Geoff Moore said occupational cancer was the biggest killer of firefighters worldwide and the bill was fantastic news.
Whanganui NZPFU president Greg Lee said occupational cancer in the industry topped any other risk firefighters encountered on the job.
“The perception is always that firefighting is a dangerous job and that we’re running in and out of fires but, in actual fact, cancer well-and-truly summits any of that.”
The bill was long overdue but union members were ecstatic that a big step had been made, he said.
“It should have happened 10 years ago but it looks like it’s happening now.”
Currently, firefighters must prove to ACC that their cancer is a result of their work as a firefighter, which Lee said was unnecessary stress.
“It should be that if you’ve got cancer and you’re a firefighter that has done 10-plus years, it should automatically be ‘you’ve got this cancer, this is more than likely tied back to firefighting, you are covered under ACC’,
“The reality is, as a firefighter, particularly in a reasonably busy provincial brigade, we go to hundreds of fires in our career of all sorts of descriptions; car fires, chemical fires, house fires, building fires.
“The exposure is there, there’s just no doubt about it.”
A Fire and Emergency spokesperson told the Chronicle that, as a Crown entity, it could not comment on the proposed legislation but said staff health, safety and wellbeing were a priority.
Fire and Emergency acknowledged firefighters had an increased risk of certain cancers because of their exposure to carcinogens.
“It is an issue fire services around the world are grappling with and many countries have introduced presumptive legislation as a means to address these risks.”
Moore said Whanganui firefighters had died from cancer likely caused by work and he knew of others who survived cancer but were now unemployed.
“We’ve had firefighters die, not knowing if their families are going to be covered and looked after when they’re gone.”
Lee said there was only so much firefighters could do to protect themselves from carcinogens.
“But even now with all that’s in place and knowledge that we have, we cannot eliminate all exposure ... we can only minimise.”
Lee and Moore noted the Green Party was seeking 61 non-executive MPs to publicly support the bill so it could skip the ballot and go straight on to the Order Paper.
Last Friday, firefighters in Whanganui joined the 50th national strike since October.
Action is being taken over health and safety concerns and wage increases.
Moore said the milestone was not something to celebrate.
“We’re not happy about it. It’s just unbelievable that they force us into this position for so many strikes.
“It does show the commitment and dedication of firefighters that we are fighting strong for a better, capable and effective fire service for New Zealand.”
Fire and Emergency Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler said the organisation remained committed to achieving a fair and sustainable settlement with NZPFU and labelled the strikes “reckless”.
Stiffler said the most recent offer was an increase of 2.2% from December 2025 and 2% from January 2027 over a 24-month term to the end of November 2027.
Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.