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Speaker 1: Hello, Katie Wolvan three point sixty online at Mix one

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Speaker 1: O four nine dot com.

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Speaker 2: You Well, there is so much happening around the territory

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Speaker 2: all the time, and we know that volunteers do such

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Speaker 2: a phenomenal job in the community and without them, a

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Speaker 2: lot of our wonderful events and different things that we

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Speaker 2: do just simply would not be able to happen, to

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Speaker 2: be pretty frank about it. And it is volunteers Week,

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Speaker 2: and joining me in the studio to tell us a

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Speaker 2: little bit more about volunteers Week. Palmerston sees volunteer Mari Cunnington.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you.

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Speaker 3: Morning Katie.

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Speaker 2: Lovely to have you in the studio. And we've also

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Speaker 2: got fire Service volunteer Sharon Hattie.

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Speaker 1: How are you good?

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Speaker 4: Thanks Katy?

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Speaker 1: Is it Shannon or Shay? I've got it written down

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Speaker 1: here wrong. I'm so sorry, Shay.

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Speaker 2: And look, I know that it is volunteer Week, but

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Speaker 2: before we get into that, I might just ask you, Mari,

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Speaker 2: can you tell us a little bit more about Wow

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Speaker 2: Day because Mattie Hepworth, who reads the news, and I

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Speaker 2: were having a little bit of fun talking about Wow

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Speaker 2: Day before tell us what it is.

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Speaker 3: So our day is where Orange Wednesday, So it's an

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Speaker 3: annual day where you dress up in orange YEP, and

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Speaker 3: Joe your appreciation to sees volunteers around the nation.

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Speaker 2: And you guys do so much, you know, so much work,

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Speaker 2: and I think that it's really sort of evident when

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Speaker 2: you look at things like cyclone season, when you look

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Speaker 2: at those floods. But the reality is that you help

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Speaker 2: out at so many different things, don't you.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, we do so from storms two cyclones to floods,

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Speaker 3: even just preparedness at like information stores and things like that.

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Speaker 1: So it's wonderful work.

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Speaker 2: Now, Shay, tell us a little bit more about what

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Speaker 2: you do as a fire service volunteer, because I actually

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Speaker 2: didn't even know that you could be a volunteer in

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Speaker 2: this area.

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Speaker 4: We've got lots of volunteers. I think there's about two

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Speaker 4: hundred and twenty volunteers in the Northern Territory. So we

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Speaker 4: basically help and back up the permanent firefighters YEP, mainly Palmerston.

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Speaker 4: So when they get called to a grass fire, they

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Speaker 4: then if they need us, they call on because we've

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Speaker 4: got the girl power. And well, actually there's probably more

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Speaker 4: female volunteer firefighters than there are men.

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Speaker 1: That's so cool.

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Speaker 4: Would'd be right, I think it would be. Yeah, Yeah,

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Speaker 4: it's so cool to look into that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: So I was on call this weekend, I'm sorry, last

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Speaker 4: weekend from Friday night right up until Monday morning. We

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Speaker 4: got two call outs and one of the call outs

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Speaker 4: was it's about a three hour, three hour gig. We

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Speaker 4: help put back burns in this fray a bit of water. Yeah,

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Speaker 4: it's really fine, it's really exciting, and it's helpful, very helpful.

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Speaker 4: Of course, I grew up on a farm, so we

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Speaker 4: were volunteer firefighters for most of our life because it's

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Speaker 4: helping defend your property. So it's very important.

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Speaker 2: It is so important, and I think, you know, in

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Speaker 2: terms of the fire fighting, you know, when we then

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Speaker 2: get to the dry season and we see some of

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Speaker 2: those you know, some of the fires that we experience

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Speaker 2: obviously in the dry that work that you do and

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Speaker 2: that volunteering that you do is so incredibly important.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: I think we're going to be in for a big

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Speaker 4: season this year, Katie. So we're all ready to go.

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Speaker 4: We have lots of training, We do lots of drills.

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Speaker 4: Every fortnight we have our drills and Northern Territory Fire

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Speaker 4: rescue are amazing.

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Speaker 3: We have.

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Speaker 4: Got we've got lots of skills driving trucks.

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Speaker 2: What's it like for both of you, you know, because

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Speaker 2: I know that obviously a lot of us are really

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Speaker 2: heavily involved in the community in different ways.

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Speaker 1: But what's it like for both of you.

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Speaker 2: Sort of being part of of different teams, because it

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Speaker 2: does sound like it would be quite you know, like

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Speaker 2: quite a morale, you know, like quite a good thing

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Speaker 2: for your morale, but also you know, for being part

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Speaker 2: of something that's really helping the community.

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Speaker 3: Well at times of needs like after cyclones, volunteers from

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Speaker 3: the NTFRS can actually come and assist sees yep, so

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Speaker 3: they've got chainsaw, chainsaw and storm damage, so they can

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Speaker 3: actually come out and assist sees on their callouts. So

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Speaker 3: we can actually work together, and tes in vice versa

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Speaker 3: can assist with welfare, provide water, food to bushfires.

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Speaker 1: NT and NTFRS.

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Speaker 3: So where we work together pretty well, I.

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Speaker 1: Think it's wonderful.

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Speaker 4: And we all know each other quite well too. We've

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Speaker 4: got a really good network.

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Speaker 1: You're friends and so Mari, how long have you been

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Speaker 1: a volunteer for.

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Speaker 3: I've been with the n TEST for just over five years.

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Speaker 1: You're very cool and Shay, what about you.

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Speaker 4: Well, I'm from New South Wales, so I was with

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Speaker 4: RFS for since I was probably twelve, Wow, and I

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Speaker 4: became a retained firefighter, which is a paid sort of

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Speaker 4: on call firefighter, and when I moved here, I decided

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Speaker 4: to join the volley. So I've only been here for

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Speaker 4: eighteen months. Yeah, and it's very different, so I'm sort

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Speaker 4: of learning how to fight fires here. Oh that's wonderful

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Speaker 4: New South Wales.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I just think it's fantastic.

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Speaker 2: You know, Like I said when we were starting the conversation,

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Speaker 2: there's so many different times of the year where volunteers

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Speaker 2: are needed, and without volunteers, there's so many different things.

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Speaker 2: It simply would not run as smoothly as what they

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Speaker 2: do across the territory. But you know, even in terms

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Speaker 2: of different events and things, they would not be able

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Speaker 2: to happen. Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Well a good example of that is I a volley

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Speaker 4: friend of mine from Corpina Pery and I drove a

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Speaker 4: fire truck down to Yolara and brought Wow another fire

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Speaker 4: truck back. So that was an experience that I would

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Speaker 4: never have had unless I was doing that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's exactly right now. To anybody out there listening

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Speaker 2: this morning who's maybe thinking, oh, I wouldn't mind being

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Speaker 2: a volunteer, what would you say to them?

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Speaker 3: I would just say take the plunge. You really do

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Speaker 3: get surprised at how far you can go with volunteering,

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Speaker 3: how much you learn, how much you can do.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it gets you out of your comfort zone. You know,

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Speaker 4: I'm driving trucks. I've got my HR license. It's very

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Speaker 4: scary sometimes, but.

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Speaker 1: It sounds like it's challenging. Yeah, yeah, awesome, Yeah, good

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Speaker 1: on you both.

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Speaker 2: It's been lovely talking to you this morning, and lovely

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Speaker 2: finding out a bit more about Volunteer Week and some

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Speaker 2: of the wonderful work that you guys do. I really

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Speaker 2: appreciate you coming in this morning, no.

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Speaker 3: Worries, thanks for having us.

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Speaker 4: Thanks, thank you.

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Speaker 2: That is Will Palmerston sees volunteer there Marie Cunnington, and

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Speaker 2: also Fire Service volunteer Shay Hattie