Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) | Link to this | Hansard source

In the last 24 hours nature has thrown everything at the people of Victoria—bushfires, extreme heat, wild winds, damaging storms and flash flooding. Tragically, in Gippsland the storms have claimed the life of a local farmer, and we offer our heartfelt condolences to everyone touched by this loss. I ask the member for Gippsland to please pass that on to his electorate. I'm sure by now all of us have seen those extraordinary images of the transmission towers near Geelong that have been flattened by the winds, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses without power. I know that the state government is working around the clock to deal with this situation, and the SES, as always, have been working hard throughout the night to provide assistance to people.

Even as parts of Melbourne have been battered by rain and hail, there are bushfires in the Grampians that are still burning out of control. The town of Pomonal has suffered the worst of it. Homes have been lost, as has the local church. At this stage, there has been no loss of life reported, which all of us desperately hope remains the case. Yesterday five CFA firefighters sustained minor injuries while working to protect properties in the area. We wish each of them a speedy recovery, and our thoughts are with all those engaged in the difficult and dangerous work of fighting these fires.

Everyone who has spent time in the Grampians and surrounds knows what a beautiful part of Australia it is. These towns facing the fire front are proud, tight-knit communities. People look out for their neighbours and they look after each other. As ever, in the worst of times, we are seeing the best of the Australian character. To all those who spent an anxious night in the Stawell community centre, the Haddon recreation centre or the Ararat emergency relief centre, we are thinking of you. To everyone in the area, please stay safe. Do everything you can to stay up to date with warnings and forecasts. Do not take risks. Please follow the advice of the local authorities. I know I speak for every member in this place when I say the Commonwealth is ready to do whatever we can to help Victorians through these hard days and to assist communities with the work of recovery. I thank the House.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) | Link to this | Hansard source

I join with the Prime Minister and his fine words. Every summer our country is reacquainted with the horrors of bushfires. It is an inescapable reality, in our bush covered continent with its unforgiving climate, that we see these events. Sometimes we have seasons where the devastation is widespread. Other times the fury of the fires is, fortunately, not as fierce and the damage is more confined. But every year, somewhere, communities will be affected. Tragically, homes will be lost and people will be injured or killed.

The volunteers in our country are the true heroes. They provide support to Australians in a time of need, and that has been on display in Victoria over the course of recent hours. I want to join with the Prime Minister in acknowledging the terrible situation which continues to unfold in Victoria. The most severe warnings are in place around the Grampians, south of Horsham and west of Ararat. To the people in Pomonal, who have suffered significant devastation, and to all of those people, we send our prayers and best wishes. It appears almost all the fires which started yesterday were sparked by lightning strikes and fanned by high winds of up to 160 kilometres an hour. We know that one person has tragically died, a dairy farmer aged 50, who was found at Mirboo North. Our thoughts and profound condolences go to his family, friends and the community.

I echo the words of the Prime Minister in saying to Victorians: please be safe and heed the warnings from the authorities. The advice of the first responders, the police, the rural fire brigade, local councils and others who have up-to-date information should be heeded.

We really do honour all of those who have provided a contribution in the initial response. The rural fire brigade members put themselves into harm's way, and they literally save lives every year. They've done that again on this occasion. We wish them every success in making sure that they can arrest the harm that otherwise would be done to communities if they weren't so brave and present in the face of danger.