Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

May I offer on behalf of the people of Farrer our sincere sympathy and condolences to those who have lost loved ones, homes, livelihoods and property in the Victorian bushfires. The electorate of Farrer, just north of the Murray River, looked south, struck almost dumb with horror, as this tragedy took shape. On the weekend Albury, my home town, was shrouded in thick smoke from the Beechworth fire, and the small community of Brocklesby, where I was celebrating their 100th year of the recreation reserve with them, went about those celebrations with a grim eye southwards and a nervousness that their farms, fodder storages and homes were left unattended, if only for a couple of hours. The response to any fire had already been put in place. Country people have grown up with fires. The Rural Fire Service in New South Wales and the CFA in Victoria are a vital part of the community of every small town. Some do not have a post office or a shop but they nevertheless have a fire shed and they meet and drill regularly to familiarise themselves with new equipment and techniques.

In Albury the response to the tragedy has been magnificent. I want to name just a few people who have worked hard over the last couple of days: Deb from Your Hearts Desire and Chris Thomas are coordinating packs of shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, face towels, nappies et cetera. Their shops are filled to overflowing. Barry Membrey, a local bank manager, is collecting fodder from local stock agents. Farmers have been incredibly generous, particularly given that they are in drought and short of funds themselves. That will, of course, link in with the VFF coordinated relief effort in Victoria. Local schools are collecting all sorts of things and the Red Cross was overwhelmed with donations on Monday, as have been other local charities.

For us it is all very close to home. People are permanently watching the CFA website to make sure that friends and family are okay. Albury is a local point of business for those from Beechworth and other parts of north-east Victoria. Many children could not get into town to go to school because buses were cancelled or roads were blocked. Many people are staying with relatives and many have their cars and bags packed. A local company took a truckload of donated bottled water up to the CFA Dederang for the firefighters. Text messages are going round telling everyone to ‘buy at Coles on Friday’ to support the fire victims.

Now is not the time for recrimination. The focus must remain on the emergency that continues. Even in 2009, with all the technology available to us, nature holds the upper hand. We will learn from this what we can do to improve preparedness. We need to hear from those who have experienced this fire at the front line, not necessarily from those in remote offices. These fires have made a beautiful part of Australia a battle zone. We admire and thank those who still fight these fires and we grieve very deeply for those who have lost loved ones.