Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to again talk about the disasters that often affect our region—in particular, most recently, the terrible Carwoola bushfires and what they revealed once again about the strength of our communities and the way Australians rallied around that community. It was a vicious grass fire that swept at a rapid rate across an area that threatened not only the residences of the Carwoola area but also Hoskinstown. Unfortunately, in that fire, 11 houses were destroyed and 12 houses were damaged. We were fortunate that there weren't more houses destroyed because of the response by our wonderful fireys and also, importantly, the preparations that were conducted by a number of members of the community themselves. It does emphasise, once again, the importance of proper preparation of properties in the context of this bushfire season. That is a message that we need to get across loud and clear.

There was also, given that they were rural properties, quite a lot of extensive damage done to the infrastructure that those people need to support their businesses and small farm activities: 45 outbuildings were destroyed and another 40 damaged. So altogether 3,500-hectares of land was burnt out. Of course, if the wind had been blowing in the other direction, that fire would have swept across the ridges and into Queanbeyan where possibly we would have seen even more houses lost, including my own home across the ridge and river from that fire.

A lot of livestock and wildlife were injured, but a lot of the livestock was able to be evacuated and was temporarily housed at the Queanbeyan showgrounds, which was a great response and capability there. It was also supported wonderfully by donations of feedstock by the Gibbs Farm Centre in Queanbeyan. I want to really send a shout-out to them for supporting our community.

There were over 200 firefighters and 50 units out there fighting it from our local area, the ACT, and the outskirts of Sydney—thank you to all those who came down and volunteered, in particular the 10 aircraft that supported that effort. It was really that air effort that stopped the forward edge of the fire line from sweeping through Hoskinstown. We were blessed with a change of weather on Saturday, 18 February that brought that welcome relief and about five millimetres of rain that prevented further spread of the fire.

Also, it is important to now look after the victims of this fire. We have raised $130,000 through the Carwoola bushfire appeal—$20,000 in one donation from the Queanbeyan Lions Club; $70,000 from the GoFundMe Facebook page is an extraordinary effort; Canberra Grammar School parents, and friends have raised $27,000 for two of their students. So this is tremendous community response. Also, the Royal Hotels in Bungendore and Queanbeyan who put up those who were displaced, and I really want to encourage the community to keep that effort up.