Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the Christmas period advances on us all, I want to give a shout-out to those people who'll be keeping us safe over the summer. I'd like to start by giving a big shout-out to all the CFA volunteers in my electorate, who will be, once again, doing their thing for the community—volunteering over a period when a lot of people are on holidays and enjoying the festive season. They'll be there making sure that the community is kept safe. Last year, they did an extraordinary job, because the Grampians were on fire for a large part of the summer. Day after day, night after night, they were out volunteering alongside the professional firefighters, making sure that our communities were kept safe. And I know they've already been out making sure that they've done their minimum skills training. They've already been out making sure that backburning is occurring and that our roadways are safe and have been burned accordingly to make sure that our communities are kept safe.

There's been untold pressure placed on a lot of our volunteers through the unfortunate policies of the Victorian state government, especially the fire services levy, which is, I think, the most draconian tax that any state government has placed on volunteers since Federation. Even though they've been copping that, they're still volunteering again in vast numbers to keep our communities safe. To all the CFA volunteers: a huge thankyou for what you do and for what you'll do once again over this summer period.

I also acknowledge what our surf lifesavers will do over the summer. I have some of the most wonderful surf lifesaving clubs patrolling one of the most difficult coastlines in Australia. It's not called the Shipwreck Coast for nothing. They will be there making sure that everyone, whether it be locals or all the tourists who flock to our beaches right over the summer period, is kept safe, whether it be at Portland, Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Port Campbell, Apollo Bay, Lorne or Anglesea. Right across the coastline, to all the surf lifesaving clubs and to the many, many more that I haven't mentioned: a huge thankyou to all the volunteers who'll be patrolling and saving lives. They literally will be saving lives over the summer. What our surf lifesavers do is extraordinary.

I will also give a shout-out to the wonderful community organisations that will be doing their bit over the summer. For most of us, Christmas is a wonderful time of year—a time to catch up with family, a time to celebrate everything that's good about our great nation—but there are those who'll be going through very difficult times this Christmas. They'll be calling on services, whether it be the Red Cross or others, at this time of year. To all those wonderful volunteer organisations who make sure that families have got food on the table when they otherwise wouldn't or are offering protection to those who might have had to leave home due to domestic violence or for other reasons: the work that you do on behalf of our community, making sure that there is a little bit of joy for those in desperate need over the Christmas period, is extraordinary.

On behalf of my community and all the communities in Wannon, I say a huge thankyou to all those charitable organisations for what you do. You see it during the year. St Vincent de Paul comes to mind for all the charity work that they do, especially at Christmas. The work that they do is extraordinary. More often than not, their wonderful volunteers will take time on Christmas Day not to be with their families but to go and make sure that those families who are in need will have that little bit of joy. To our CFA volunteers, our surf lifesavers and those who work in our charitable organisations, I say a huge thankyou for what you do and what you'll do over this summer period. Our communities are better for the work that you do.