Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We all know that house fires can be particularly devastating on the families involved. It's the statistics behind these house fires that are equally so. In the first half of this year alone there were 868 house fire call-outs in Queensland, with 237 of those in South-East Queensland. Seventy-seven of those were in Logan and 51 were on the northern Gold Coast.

While the statistics are shocking, it's important for the community to support those who have been affected by these devastating fires. In this regard, I wish to commend the work of Louie Naumovski and the volunteers from Logan House Fire Support Network. They regularly attend community events to educate and raise awareness of house fires and effective ways to protect your family, such as simply ensuring that matches and lighters are stored out of the reach of children. Louie and the team also strive to provide immediate help to families that are left devastated by house fires. They help families with new furniture, clothes, food supplies and other essentials to help get families back on their feet.

But recently their storage facility was shamelessly broken into and many of the items donated to the group were stolen. I want to commend the community for their willingness to step in and help recover those items, where possible, and to say to those who did this that they are stealing from their neighbours and families in their community who are in need.