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General News

8 July, 2024

New unit controller welcomed

The VICSES Maryborough Unit is officially under new leadership, with Emily Hooke becoming the first female controller in the unit’s history. Ms Hooke has replaced Darren Cooper after his two-year stint in the top role, who said the time was right...

By Maryborough Advertiser

The VICSES Maryborough Unit members celebrated with new controller Emily Hooke (back, fourth from left) Wednesday night, and were joined by VICSES chief operations officer, Tim Wiebusch (back, third from right).
The VICSES Maryborough Unit members celebrated with new controller Emily Hooke (back, fourth from left) Wednesday night, and were joined by VICSES chief operations officer, Tim Wiebusch (back, third from right).

The VICSES Maryborough Unit is officially under new leadership, with Emily Hooke becoming the first female controller in the unit’s history.

Ms Hooke has replaced Darren Cooper after his two-year stint in the top role, who said the time was right to allow new leaders to form at the emergency service.

“I have achieved a reasonable amount of what I have wanted to achieve, but part of the SES is encouraging our members to become better versions of themselves,” he said.

“Encouraging Emily to step into this position is helping her move onwards and upwards.

“I have seen Emily start off a bit wide-eyed at the Carisbrook floods in 2022, but since that day she has continued to grow as a person and as a member.

“She is like a lot of people that don’t realise what they are capable of until they are suddenly thrust into a position where they excel and lead the way for others.

“Emily has really good relationships with the other local emergency services and she has a really strong plan of what she wants to do to help build the unit for the benefit of the community.”

Ms Hooke, who has been an SES member for over five years and was previously a deputy controller, is also a graduate of Life Saving Victoria’s Ready 2 Lead program, supporting women in emergency services to take on leadership roles.

According to Ms Hooke, this training has helped build her self-belief in taking on the role.

“It started out as a suggestion from a friend and I thought they were joking, then there were a few other times it was mentioned to me, but I was very dismissive of it,” she said.

“I then realised that although being a member of the SES is fulfilling, I was ready for something more challenging, so I undertook different training programs to really step up and I’ve even surprised myself.

“There have been some moments where it has been a bit scary because I was concerned that I wasn’t going to be able to provide the unit with the support they need, but since taking the role I have a newfound energy and purpose.

“Working through the training made me realise I’ve got what it takes and I’ve got a great team that is going to support me and each other.”

While she continues to get accustomed to her new role, Ms Hooke said she already has plans to engage with the local community.

“Being unit controller is more about serving the community, it’s ensuring they have the best SES service they can because we are here to serve them,” she said.

“I want to get active in the schools, build our junior membership program, and engage with our primary and secondary school students so they know we are safe people to turn to.

“Most importantly, it starts the conversation at home which encourages people to take the initiative and be safer so they won’t need us as often.

“We are also hoping to offer Meet Your Emergency Services events in different local towns to engage with community and encourage people to volunteer.”

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