Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this important motion of condolence and commemoration. This has been a summer of horror for way too many Australians—in fact, for all Australians. Many have lost loved ones, and I honour them all today. Tragically, 33 people have lost their lives. Children have lost fathers and mothers. Wives have lost husbands; husbands have lost wives. Parents have lost daughters and sons. Some died as they were battling to save the lives and homes of the rest of their community. They are true heroes and we'll never forget their service. Brave firefighters—some young and enthusiastic, some veterans who had outrun many a heaving mass of flames—put their lives on the line only to have them snatched away.

On Kangaroo Island, Dick Lang and his son Clayton Lang had been fighting the fires side by side for two days before they lost the fight. Sadly, three Americans who travelled to our burning country to help us perished when their Lockheed C-130 Hercules air tanker crashed. Many Australians have lost homes. Three thousand or so homes have been destroyed by fire. All their possessions and all those happy family memories, built up over a lifetime, have gone up in flames. A billion animals have perished. It is hard to even contemplate the enormity of that carnage now and the legacy to follow. Our precious wildlife may never recover completely from this loss.

As a nation, we've been shocked to see our fellow Australians grappling with an inferno that could not be contained. So, too, the world has been shocked to see those images. We were shocked to see families with nowhere to go sheltering on the beach as the smoke turned day into night, the sea their only form of escape. Even those of us who have homes far from the bushfires have seen, smelt and breathed the effect of these conflagrations. Australia's air quality on some days over that 'black summer' was the worst in the world. This 'black summer' has been devastating. It has been heartbreaking. Australians are tough people. We've been through disasters before, but this 'black summer' has tested even the toughest of us.

Some of the toughest are the brave firefighters who've worked their guts out for months—some every single day without a break, for weeks at a time. Some are professional firefighters, remunerated well, whose skills have been utilised to the fullest in the biggest test of their career so far, I would suggest, for many. Other firefighters are volunteers, part of the important Rural Fire Service that stretches across the country. These firefighters have day jobs as well. They have to balance time off work not for a day or two but for weeks and months. The businesses that employ these volunteers deserve credit as well. The volunteers can't put all of their energies into fighting bushfires if they're worried about losing their jobs. And I understand the concerns bosses would have, especially in small businesses.

We also need to remember these brave firefighters working day and night have carried on even when some of their own—their friends, their colleagues and even their family members—have lost their lives in the line of duty. That must be so difficult, and yet they have carried on with true courage. They face down the personal fear, the exhaustion and the sheer emotion of seeing lives and properties destroyed around them. They've shown us what true courage is. They've shown us what selfless service really looks like. We'll be forever in the debt of every single one of those brave firefighters who fought the largest and fiercest fires that this nation has ever seen. The worst of times so often brings out the best in people.

These fires have been the worst of times, and in my community on the south side of Brisbane there have been many who've risen to the occasion. I'll just name a few—I know I'll be missing some! The Islamic Council of Queensland raised $55,000, which they donated to the Country Women's Association to help bushfire victims. I just love the balance of that—the Islamic Council of Queensland giving money to the Country Women's Association. The CWA was a big part of my youth, and now I have a big Islamic community. I love that link. The Tamil community in Brisbane used their Pongal Festival as an opportunity to fundraise for bushfire victims in other states. The Ipswich City Symphony Orchestra performed at Graceville Uniting Church in Moreton to fundraise for the Red Cross bushfire appeal—and a big shout-out to the Red Cross for the wonderful work they do. Coming up this Sunday, the Annerley community's Facebook page is hosting a community screening of the Fire Fight Australia concert at Souths Rugby Union Club in Annerley to raise funds for Queensland firefighters and Brisbane based wildlife carers. And there were many other fundraising efforts, but I'm not going to name all of them.

Even though Moreton was obviously well out of the reach of the flames, local community groups stepped up to help in the wake of these dreadful bushfires. That is true Australian community spirit. It's been a summer of darkness, but it will be years of rebuilding—rebuilding homes that have been destroyed, rebuilding lives that have been broken, rebuilding our native habitats that are essential to the survival of many native species that were already threatened and now may be right on the brink of extinction. As the weeks and months of recovery roll on, it is important that we remember to ask those who have been impacted if they are okay. Putting on a brave face is all well and good, but everyone needs to feel supported, especially those who have endured these traumatic circumstances. That is something that all Australians can do: we can support each other.

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