Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The scale and devastation of the bushfires has been enormous and heartbreaking for our nation. Lives have been lost, homes and livelihoods have been destroyed, animals have perished by the millions, and habitats have been lost. The trauma has been really significant. That trauma will stay with a lot of Australians for many years. The sights and sounds of these horrific bushfires will stay with Australians. I want to send my and my family's condolences to the families of the 33 people who have been lost. Darwin understands trauma, as a city. It was 45 years ago, around Christmas time, that our city was hit by Cyclone Tracy, and still today, 45 years later, sights and sounds of that horrific occasion return to our residents. So there is a deep empathy for those Australians caught up in these horrendous events.

I won't congratulate the Prime Minister for his leadership, because his leadership was wanting. It was not good. I think people caught up in this, those lost, deserve to have that said and acknowledged.

This Christmas time I took my family down south to visit family and friends. We travelled up through the North Coast of New South Wales. On the way we had lunch in Lakes Entrance. We visited family in Merimbula on the South Coast, but we couldn't get further south because of the fires, so we took a detour through the member for Eden-Monaro's electorate, via Canberra, to get north to Sydney. When we got back to Darwin on New Year's Day, when the fiercest storm of fire hit, we felt like a lot of people around our nation—quite helpless. But we could get on the phone and we could follow the amazing ABC, to try and find out what was happening to communities on the east coast, down south, in SA, in WA, around our nation when it was on fire.

I was talking to a mate, a veteran, who was stuck with his family on a beach in Mallacoota. All sorts of triggering of previous traumas has happened over these months. But he wasn't just responsible for himself and his mates: he had his partner and small children with him. They were eventually evacuated out by the Air Force. I acknowledge all the work of the defence forces during this time.

Even though, during those difficult weeks, a lot of Territorians felt helpless, we were not powerless. When someone is in need, Territorians help. Our firefighters, our NT fireys, our Bushfires NT volunteers and our NT emergency services headed south to help and support the exhausted fire crews in Queensland and New South Wales. Those strike teams worked tirelessly to relieve some of the fireys who had been going at it for so long. Our emergency services volunteers went south too. It was chaotic. I talked to one of the volunteers, who said that the NT fireys who were there trying to protect homes around Nowra were fighting house to house to try and defeat the flames and save houses. Often the fire would outflank them—terrifying stuff—but they were proud to be making a contribution.

I also want to acknowledge the medical and health specialists from the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre who also joined the fireys down south—amazing people. I've mentioned our Defence personnel, but veterans around the country, through organisations such as Team Rubicon, also used their skills to assist with the fires. A veteran in my electorate, Shane Potter, a veteran of 26 years in the military, volunteered with Team Rubicon. He shared with me stories of strength and human connection that he had witnessed when assisting people in the Adelaide Hills with those fires, including some work to retrieve an elderly lady's ring—a ring of her mother's that meant a great deal to her—even though her house had burnt down. A Darwin surgeon, Dr Richard Bradbury, who was holidaying in Merimbula, stayed on the South Coast to help out at the regional hospital in Bega. Well done, Dr Bradbury. Territorians are on the ground there, pitching in and helping out.

Fundraisers—many fundraisers—were held in our community. We took high-quality goods and non-perishable foods and sent them down to communities that had been wiped out. But there were also lots of fundraisers by The Italian Club, the Beachfront Hotel, the Filipino Association and many other multicultural groups. There was the Cabaret 4 A Cause at the Railway Club. The NT Thai Association and The Pint Club had fundraisers. Wharf One had a great fundraiser, which I was proud to support. This Saturday the Lions club and the New Zealanders are having a hangi fundraiser at Tracy Village. I encourage those who can to come along to Tracy Village to join that fundraiser, because the recovery process is going to be a long one. I also want to acknowledge our brave American firefighters who came and fought alongside our crews.

The recovery will take a long time, but, with good people running the recovery process, hopefully the affected communities that do need long-term support will receive the commitments and support they need. Through all this, we've seen the greatness and resilience of Australians. We must honour that greatness in the work that we do here and not shirk our responsibilities. We must lead and help all those affected by these disastrous fires.

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