A senior firefighter has left the only association for volunteers after its chief executive, who has faced sexual assault allegations from women, made a post celebrating International Women's Day yesterday.
Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
The United Fire Brigades' Association (UFBA) chief executive Bill Butzbach has faced sexual assault allegations - including an inquiry that was dropped when the complainants disagreed with the terms of reference.
In the post Butzbach said he was "honoured" to work with women and welcomed the theme of the day which was to "break the bias".
"All staff, executives, and officers of the UFBA are proud to support a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace, free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination," the post states.
But the post was a breaking point for senior volunteer firefighter Tony Sutorius, who said the post showed a disconnect between the association and alleged behaviours connected to it.
He said several women have left the association in relation to allegations and slow progress towards change, and he no longer felt it was appropriate to be represented by the union.
"This just isn't OK that this carries on in our name ... not in our name, not anymore. I'm not going to let this organisation speak for me anymore."
Sutorius, who runs Vollynet, one of the country's largest online groups of volunteer firefighters, said not many men had left the union over alleged behaviours within the association but there had been "plenty of women ... and in particular the women who have been victims".
"I'm just following them. And you know, now that I've done it, I feel a bit guilty that I didn't do it sooner," Sutorius said. "There's plenty of people who feel the same way."
He wanted to see government or Fire and Emergency officials step in and trigger change within the association because he did not think it could claim to celebrate women when there were assault allegations.
"There's a really long list of, kind of, apparently fairly soft accountabilities and it's time for everyone in that chain to actually look to their own conscience and just start acting with seriousness and asking the basic questions to get this sorted out."
United Fire Brigades' Association chair Hon. Peter Dunne said the association had not received any notice of Suturious' decision to step away.
Dunne said he stood behind Butzbach's decision to acknowledge International Women's Day in the social media post in question.
"Our campaign to acknowledge International Women's Day was entirely appropriate, given 77% of the Association's employees are women, of which 60% make up the Association's senior leadership team. Additionally, approximately 20% of our members are female.
"It is important to show our appreciation for these inspiring women and the work they do for their community. It was in this vein that comments were managed to maintain the focus on acknowledging and celebrating International Women's Day," Dunne said.
Dunne said all members of the association could access support through FENZ and the association's advocacy services.
