Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) | Hansard source

I join with the Prime Minister and his fine words. Every summer our country is reacquainted with the horrors of bushfires. It is an inescapable reality, in our bush covered continent with its unforgiving climate, that we see these events. Sometimes we have seasons where the devastation is widespread. Other times the fury of the fires is, fortunately, not as fierce and the damage is more confined. But every year, somewhere, communities will be affected. Tragically, homes will be lost and people will be injured or killed.

The volunteers in our country are the true heroes. They provide support to Australians in a time of need, and that has been on display in Victoria over the course of recent hours. I want to join with the Prime Minister in acknowledging the terrible situation which continues to unfold in Victoria. The most severe warnings are in place around the Grampians, south of Horsham and west of Ararat. To the people in Pomonal, who have suffered significant devastation, and to all of those people, we send our prayers and best wishes. It appears almost all the fires which started yesterday were sparked by lightning strikes and fanned by high winds of up to 160 kilometres an hour. We know that one person has tragically died, a dairy farmer aged 50, who was found at Mirboo North. Our thoughts and profound condolences go to his family, friends and the community.

I echo the words of the Prime Minister in saying to Victorians: please be safe and heed the warnings from the authorities. The advice of the first responders, the police, the rural fire brigade, local councils and others who have up-to-date information should be heeded.

We really do honour all of those who have provided a contribution in the initial response. The rural fire brigade members put themselves into harm's way, and they literally save lives every year. They've done that again on this occasion. We wish them every success in making sure that they can arrest the harm that otherwise would be done to communities if they weren't so brave and present in the face of danger.

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