Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What makes our region such a great place isn't just the beauty of the hills, the plains of the valley and the Upper Yarra; it's the people—the people who work hard every day to make our community even stronger. Our community has such a strong spirit of volunteerism, and tonight I wish to pay tribute to our volunteer firefighters, our first responders. They are ready to serve over the summer break when we'll be enjoying our Christmas lunch or New Year celebrations. They are ready to protect our community.

The fire danger period commences in the Yarra ranges at 1 am on Monday 18 December. After that time, there will be no burning off despite weather conditions on the day. Now is the time to play your part and prepare your property ahead of the fire season. I urge everyone to follow those rules and help our responders in this predicted dangerous summer.

I want to pay tribute to all the volunteers at the 30 fire brigades across Casey. Many have already been up to Queensland to support our Queensland friends with the fires that they've had. It's important that they are all acknowledged and recognised for the work that they do. So to those brigades at Belgrave, Belgrave Heights and Belgrave South, Clematis, Kallista-The Patch, Kalorama and Mount Dandenong, Macclesfield, Menzies Creek, Monbulk, Narre Warren East, Olinda, Sassafras-Ferny Creek, Selby and Upwey: thank you for everything you do making sure the Dandenongs are kept safe not just from fires but also, as we know, from storms and other emergencies, as you did so well in June 2021.

To Chirnside Park, Lilydale, Montrose, Mooroolbark and Mount Evelyn: thank you for the work you do keeping our community safe. To Badger Creek, Coldstream, Dixons Creek, Gruyere, Healesville, Hillcrest, Hoddles Creek, Little Yarra, Seville, Silvan, Wandin, Warburton, Wesburn-Millgrove, Yarra Glen, Yarra Junction, Yellingbo and Reefton: thank you for protecting the Upper Yarra and the Yarra Valley, facing many of the unique challenges we have in our community.

Such great people volunteer their time. I recently had the opportunity to read a post from the Badger Creek fire brigade, which really sums up the spirit of all our volunteers. I want to take their words, share them tonight and thank them again for their support. This is their post:

People often say to me "I drove past the station Sunday and the team were washing the trucks, why do you wash them so often, people don't care if a clean or dirty truck turns up to a fire" I always reply with the following: If you saw us why didn't you stop and help, or stop for a coffee?

Then I go on to say "the truck with the red number plate is owned by CFA and entrusted to us to use and look after, the government gives CFA money for our trucks, the government gets its money from tax payers, so we like to look after it for our taxpayers. The truck with the blue plates is a vehicle that the brigade purchased, the funds were donated to us by our community, so we like to keep the community asset looking it's best for our community."

It's also about pride. We at Badger Creek take pride in our equipment, if we look after what we have, it will last longer and will look after us when we need it most.

So when you drive past our station and see us looking after our trucks and equipment, that is why we do it.

But always feel free to stop and say hi, have a coffee with us and ask as many questions as you like, from making a fire plan to cleaning up your property, or ask one of us about why we volunteer our time to fight fires!

You, our community, are always welcome at the station!

These are wonderful words from the Badger Creek CFA. I want to finish by again thanking those in the CFA. They volunteer their time to help our community. They go into dangerous situations to keep us safe.

I also want to pay tribute to the families of the CFA volunteers. They spend many Sundays and many a time away from their families. Recently, at the Healesville CFA, I caught up with a friend of mine, Rowan, whom I've known for over 20 years. His dad was awarded a significant national medal of service at the brigade, and he talked about the time, as a young child, he spent away from his dad. But he knew that was in service to his community. So I want to pay tribute to all of our volunteers in the CFA and all of their families, who sacrifice so much for our community.