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

I rise tonight to thank all those first responders and volunteers from the local SES who did so much in my municipalities of Manningham and Nillumbik as a consequence of the recent wild storms and floods in Victoria. As the local mayor, Andrew Conlon, who was here today in Canberra as part of the Local Government Association conference week, said, 'We experienced high winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour, resulting in trees down, road closures and over 4,000 homes without power across Manningham, with the worst affected areas including Doncaster East, Warrandyte, Warrandyte South, Wonga Park and Park Orchards.' There are other areas of Victoria which were even more badly affected than my electorate of Menzies, particularly in the Dandenongs and close to where I grew up in Traralgon in Gippsland.

This wild weather and the damage to homes of course called out all our first responders. In particular, I'd like to thank the SES teams and the other emergency services. Across Victoria they were inundated with calls for assistance, with over 9,000 calls being placed to SES teams across the state. The Manningham SES deputy controller of operations, Gary Birkett, said that the Manningham SES unit received approximately 140 requests for assistance, with local SES crews working around the clock in the community to remove trees off roads, cars, garages and houses, and those blocking access to driveways. To quote him, 'Crews also provided assistance to residents experiencing localised flooding to their properties.'

In addition, Manningham SES volunteers performed two rescues in Wonga Park during the extreme weather events. The first was a couple who became stuck while attempting to cross the flooded Paynes Road in their car and the second case was a rescue in Wonga Park, where a kayaker needed assistance after being caught in the Yarra, which was in flood near Mount Lofty Park. The local crews were also deployed elsewhere in the Upper Yarra to assist with the evacuation of 31 residents from a local caravan park, which was isolated by rising floodwaters.

To all of those who assisted—not just the SES teams and the volunteers who I have mentioned tonight, but to the paramedics, members of the fire brigade, the metropolitan services, and the CFA, and all those other responders—a very sincere thank you on behalf of all the residents of my electorate.

Last week I mentioned a number of recipients of the Order of Australia from my electorate in the civil division. Tonight I'd like to make mention of one recipient in the military division, namely, Brigadier Douglas Laidlaw AM, CSC. Brigadier Laidlaw was honoured for his exceptional service as commander of the 4th Brigade and commander of the Joint Task Force 646 during Operation Bushfire Assist 2019-2020. The citation noted:

Brigadier Douglas Laidlaw has demonstrated exceptional dedication and service in multiple command appointments.

To quote from the citation:

Brigadier Laidlaw as Commander Joint Task Force 646, led the rapid response and recovery efforts supporting emergency management services and fire effected communities. His superior command and leadership were instrumental in the outstanding achievement of the Joint Task Force across the East Gippsland and North Eastern Victoria regions.

Indeed, at the height of the deployment, Brigadier Laidlaw was in charge of some 1,700 full-time and reserve soldiers, including several embedded Air Force and Navy service personnel.

Outside his service as a reservist, Brigadier Laidlaw is a practising barrister and lives in Warrandyte in my electorate. He is a family man, with six children, and this award as a Member of the Order of the Australia is very much well deserved by him.