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

I want to acknowledge the work of the firefighters of the Country Fire Authority and the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment this fire season. We have had an unprecedented fire season, starting far earlier than in previous years and stretching our volunteer resources. The season bore witness to Victoria’s longest-running fire, the Great Divide fire, which has burnt with blistering heat for more than 69 days alongside fires across most of the state including Anakie just outside my electorate. The CFA and its counterpart DSE have well and truly stepped up to the plate. As I said, early this summer Victoria has seen the longest-running fire in my state’s history scorching over one million hectares. As of the 31 January, 51 homes had been destroyed, over 1,741 livestock killed, and 17,877 hectares of pasture and crops, 141 tonnes of grain and 1,838 kilometres of fencing decimated by bushfires across Victoria.

Over Christmas and most of January this summer, while many Victorians were with their families enjoying a barbecue and watching Australia hand down yet another beating to the English cricket team, thousands of Country Fire Authority firefighters and support staff were in blistering heat fighting the bushfires that overtook much of Victoria. In total, more than 19,000 firefighters and support staff battled the Great Divide fire since 1 December 2006. I pay tribute and extend my thanks to the men and women including all of the New Zealanders, Canadians and Americans, and the firefighters from New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory who fought in all the bushfires this summer.

I would like to pay particular thanks to those firefighters from regions 15 and 14 brigades, the CFA areas that cover my electorate. This summer the terrific men and women from across my district have carried the banner of both the CFA and also of every town and community they come from into other areas of the state. They have reassured, counselled, planned and cared for people in towns near and far, and in many instances protected people’s homes, livelihoods and their very lives. There were over 1,700 men and women from the brigades in my district and, if you include the 24 deployments from strike teams who went away to the alpine fires, this figure increases to approximately 2,200 men and women from my district who helped fight fires this summer. These men and women attended to over 700 fires.

I would like to pay personal thanks to Daryl Thompson, Jayson Cook and Mark Vervoot, who were my fellow crew members on what was my first experience on a strike team since joining the Ballarat Fire Brigade. Having joined the Ballarat Fire Brigade about eight months ago, I had only undertaken my minimum skills and had not yet fought a fire. It is not until you confront a wildfire that you truly appreciate its force. As a member of strike team 1422 dealing with the fire when it finally swept into Tolmie on Tuesday, 16 January, I learnt a number of things. When your tanker driver says, ‘It’s going to get hot,’ he means it is going to get really hot. Fire sweeps over the top of your head and you had better duck into the ROPs pretty quickly. The protective clothing actually does work, thank goodness, and there is absolutely invaluable support provided by the aircrew. On the day that we were fighting the fire on 16 January we had both Elvis and Malcolm flying overhead dropping tonnes of water, and that really did save both the town of Tolmie and also the firefighters within it.

I also learnt what incredibly physical hard work it is to fight a fire. When the fire swept in, it felt like we were at the house that we were protecting for 10 minutes, but we had really been there for an hour and a half. I ended up fairly dehydrated after that experience, so hydration is absolutely critical as well. I also learnt the importance of people having a fire plan, having that work done well and truly beforehand, and the importance of consulting with the local CFA. But mostly I learnt about the professionalism, skill and commitment of the volunteers of the CFA. The members of the strike team were a great group of men and women and really did our region proud. Again I want to thank Daryl, Jayson and Mark. Your advice, humour and friendship were absolutely invaluable and I really do want to thank you personally for looking out for me.