Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Australia Day, while many Victorians were with their families enjoying a barbecue and watching the cricket, thousands of Country Fire Authority firefighters and support staff were fighting in blistering heat the bushfires that overtook much of Victoria. The member for Wannon, who as the Speaker does not have the same opportunity as I do to speak in this place, and I would like to offer our personal thanks for their extraordinary effort. To give you some idea of the enormity of the Grampians bushfires, 50 per cent of the Grampians National Park and a total of 34,250 hectares of farming land have been wiped out. In Anakie 100,000 hectares were scorched, with three homes, a community hall, sheds and vehicles being destroyed. It is estimated that the Anakie fire alone has caused $20 million worth of damage. Willaura and Moyston have been ravaged, with some 60,000 sheep lost, while many alternative farming enterprises producing crops such as olives, lavender, grapes and cut flowers through the Moyston and Pomonal corridor have been badly affected.

Communities are still counting the costs of the fires. The families of the three people who died—Trevor Day from Campbells Creek CFA and Malcolm and Zeke Wilson—have faced a terrible loss. Many CFA crews within my own electorate left their homes and even today are away supporting these communities. I would like to individually recognise the contributions of CFA crews in my electorate. They are the brigade crews of Bacchus Marsh, Ballan, Ballarat, Ballarat City, Creswick, Coimadai, Daylesford, Kingston, Miners Rest, Napoleons-Enfield, Sebastopol, Trentham and Wendouree. They fought fires in the Grampians and at Anakie and the fires on our doorstep at Creswick and Mount Misery. Your bravery, selflessness and professionalism is a credit to the CFA and our communities.

The electorate of Wannon, Speaker Hawker’s electorate, and the electorate of Mallee bore much of the brunt of these fires, and I know that the members concerned would like to recognise the hard work of the local CFA crews. I want to name the CFA brigades for the Hansard record: Halls Gap, Amphitheatre, Beaufort, Bochara, Bookaar, Bornes Hill, Buangor and Middle Creek, Buckley Swamp, Bulart, Callawadda, Carpendeit-South Purrumbete, Carranballac, Cavendish, Chatsworth, Cross Roads, Crowlands, Croxton East, Cudgee, Dadswells Bridge, Dundonnell, Dunkeld, Duverney, Elmhurst, Glenorchy and Riahella, Glenthompson, Grange, Great Western, Gringe, Hawkesdale, Hensley Park, Hexham, Joel Joel, Karabeal, Kennedy’s Creek, Laang, Lahrum, Langi Logan, Linlithgow, Lubeck, Melville Forest, Minhamite, Mirranatwa, Mortlake, Moyston, Naringal, Narrapumelap South, Natimuk, Nerrin Nerrin, Noorat and District, North Balmoral, North Hamilton, Panmure, Penshurst, Pura Pura, Redbank, Simpson, Smythesdale, Snake Valley and District, Stawell, Stoneleigh, Tarrayoukan, Tarrington, Victoria Valley, Warrak, Warrayure-Moutajup, Willatook and District, Willaura, and Woodford and Woodhouse.

It must be remembered that on the worst day of the fire there were 60 other fires across the state. The CFA had 528 men and women on the Grampians fire front on this day. To all the other members of emergency services and the DSE and private volunteers directly involved in fighting the fires: thank you on a job well done. I would also like to thank the many ancillary personnel who gave freely of their time and expertise in support.

In the member for Wannon’s electorate the four shires affected—Northern Grampians, Ararat Rural City, Southern Grampians and Horsham Rural City—are working together to coordinate a relief appeal. I understand David Hawker is assisting them by seeking tax deductibility status for the appeal through the tax office. Advice from Ararat Rural City is that they expect the appeal to be set up by the end of this week. I encourage Victorian members to donate to that appeal.

The member for Wannon and I would like to thank ABC and ACE Radio network for their regular updates, warnings and excellent coverage of the fires. Thanks also go to the Red Cross and the SES for providing support and food to the volunteers and firefighters. Full credit goes to the DPI for their efforts in the recovery process. Thanks go to local businesses for their support. Baker’s Delight in Ararat was baking around the clock to keep up bread supplies to the firefighters. Thanks go to the local farmers helping to dispose of the huge numbers of livestock burnt in the fires. So far 110 semitrailer loads of hay have been donated to the affected farms, with this effort being coordinated by the Victorian Farmers Federation. It has been a whole community effort. Whilst the immediate danger has passed, we need to recognise that the task of rebuilding and restoring the infrastructure will take time. In fact, this recovery effort will take many months and in some cases many years to complete. I and the member for Wannon commend the enormous efforts made by local communities in fighting the Victorian bushfires and we offer every assistance in the recovery process.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before calling the next speaker, I commend the member for Ballarat and thank her for what she was saying. I fully endorse what she said.