Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the comments of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and everyone who will now make a contribution to this important reflection on the natural disasters we have suffered in this country in recent months.

In particular, I want to focus on my own region, the Hunter. But before I do, I want to acknowledge the other unfortunate and tragic events reflected on by the leaders. There were, of course, the fires in Western Australia, particularly in Yarloop where we had what I would describe almost as a Hollywood-style event, where a whole town was effectively wiped off the map. It was just so tragic. It is very hard to believe. And, unless you were part of that event, I do not think any of us could possibly hope to fully understand the impact on that community. There were also the fires around the Great Ocean Road region, and the floods in the Northern Territory—all are tragic events at arguably the worst time of the year, when people are seeking a break and hoping to have a holiday. But wherever the event, there is one constant, and that is the work, the skill, the courage and the dedication of our emergency services personnel, both those who are paid but also more particularly, in many senses, the unpaid—those who volunteered; those who give up their time. They are simply amazing, leaving their families, often on Christmas Day, more often than not during a period when they are trying to take a holiday from their work. They do that to risk their lives, in the cold or the heat, in an attempt to assist others who are in trouble. I do not think that any of us can speak too highly of those who are doing that important and dangerous work.

Indeed, I pay particular tribute to Paul Sanderson. He was a volunteer firefighter from my own electorate who gave his life in November last year fighting a fire in the searing heat. At 48 years of age, he suffered a fatal heart attack. It is a sad and tragic loss. I suspect that almost every member of this place would have a similar story, given the sheer number of volunteers we have out there on a regular basis.

In my own region, the storms—the cyclonic event—that we suffered over the course of the Christmas period came very soon after the devastating April floods and storms of last year. I have heard anecdotes of people who were only just finally coming around to replacing the carpet in their home or in their small business, only to have it ruined again by the storms which took place over the break. So this is particularly devastating for those people.

The April storms took the lives of three people—not all of them, but some in the electorate of the member for Paterson and one, certainly, in my own electorate. The community of Gillieston Heights in my electorate, for example, was cut off from the rest of the community for days on end. I pay tribute both to the residents of Gillieston Heights and all those who came to their assistance—who volunteered their fishing boats et cetera to get food and supplies onto what the stoic residents came to call 'Gillieston Island' rather than Gillieston Heights, which was both funny and reflective of the courage of the community.

It is time for the state government to do something about the access to Gillieston Heights. I went to school in Maitland, travelling from my home town of Cessnock, and the school bus was cut off regularly at Testers Hollow, the roadway through just before Gillieston Heights. We were unable to get to school. I am now 54 years of age, so that was a little while ago, Madam Deputy Speaker—

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