Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge all the brave firefighters who assisted during the devastating bushfires over summer. I acknowledge the work done by local brigades in my electorate of Menzies in assisting in the enormous efforts in New South Wales and Victoria. Members of Eltham, Kangaroo Ground, Research, Warrandyte, South Warrandyte, North Warrandyte and Wonga Park brigades joined with firefighting colleagues from around the country to assist the Rural Fire Service in New South Wales and the Country Fire Authority in Victoria. The brigades sent members all over New South Wales and to East Gippsland and the Victorian alpine fires as well as several fires closer to home, in Plenty Gorge and Sunbury. The brigades' vehicles were busy. The Eltham CFA sent its tanker to Gippsland, while the South Warrandyte tanker was out on the firegrounds constantly from early November and spent time in Grafton and Singleton. The truck was on its way back when fires at Batemans Bay caused it to be deployed to the New South Wales South Coast.

North Warrandyte members were deployed all over East Gippsland, from Buchan to Mallacoota, with crews working five-day rotations, with one day's travel to and from the fire and three days working on the fireground. Some of the firefighters were at Mallacoota on New Year's Eve. They were very busy and helped save a lot of houses in the area. Over time, members of the Eltham CFA were deployed in Mallacoota, the Cann River area, Omeo, Cobungra, Bonang and Singleton. The Wonga Park crew were deployed in the Buchan area too. They worked on road clearing on the road to McKillops Bridge, in addition to patrolling the fire line around Buchan and assisting local brigades and residents to eliminate hotspots and secure properties. The volunteers from South Warrandyte were also busy, with three rotations of crew deployed on tankers, with some members working on the forward control vehicle either as a driver or assistant strike team leader. Members from the South Warrandyte brigade were posted to East Gippsland and also worked in Buchan, Bruthen and Mallacoota.

I recently read intheWarrandyte Diary, which is a wonderful paper in my electorate, about Wonga Park lieutenants Luke Summerscales and Rhys Keown, firefighter Michael Weighell and Upwey firefighter Jessica Jacobs, who saved the life of a New South Wales firefighter who suffered a heart attack while fighting fires near Grafton in New South Wales. They went to the rescue of this firefighter, they found that he wasn't breathing and they immediately checked a pulse and realised they needed CPR. They sent out a mayday message and, over a period of some 45 minutes, performed CPR, with Luke doing the breaths and Jess doing the compressions, losing John the firefighter three times in the process. There were a lot of things going against them, in the midst of a fire and on a 45-degree slope, but ultimately, through their efforts, this man's life was saved. It's one of the many stories of heroes in the recent bushfires.

We commend all the firefighters throughout Australia, and particularly those in Menzies, who risked their lives for the safety of others.