Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 9 January, a Friday, a grassfire started on Fogarty's Gap Road in Ravenswood South in the electorate of Bendigo. It burnt out of control for approximately a week—a fast-moving grassfire. It could have gone north. It could have gone west. It could have devastated Bendigo. It could have devastated Maldon or Castlemaine. Instead, it chose Harcourt. It devastated the town of Harcourt, dear to my heart and to those of many who live in the area. The town has about a thousand people. It is home to our apples and cider making for Victoria. It's a place of a lot of heart and community resilience, and it's being put to the test as we speak, in this difficult time. The fire burnt over 4,000 hectares, and it ended up burning out of control for a week in the state forest of Mount Alexander. On its path, it burnt over 50 homes and other buildings, including the cold stores, which housed not only the apples and pears that were harvested locally but also many types of local produce—our wine in the area, our cider and our craft beers. The cool stores had become home to so many products on their way to their destination at market.

The communications tower at Mount Alexander was destroyed, so the signal for free-to-air TV services in the region were lost. Most of those have been restored, but work is still ongoing to restore the others. We lost the ABC emergency radio for a period, and I want to acknowledge Phoenix FM, who gave over their frequency to the ABC so that emergency broadcasts could continue.

Many followed the advice to evacuate. It was a catastrophic fire day. We knew it was going to be tough if a fire broke out. Roads were closed, and many were not opened for at least 10 days. But what I will remember the most are the stories in the town hall meetings the days after and in the evacuation centres and in the recovery hubs—the stories of the amazing bravery of the CFA who were deployed to go fight the fire and who saved so many assets in the town, and the stories of Buzz, a local who, with a pair of thongs, went up to the school and just started batting out the embers. He helped to save the school and helped to save the kinder. The fire came so close, and he can remember the Redesdale truck rocking up and saying, 'Okay, Buzz, it's our turn now.' Everybody can remember the trucks that came to support them, whether it be Tony the local councillor remembering the Golden Square truck roll in or the people who were trying desperately to dampen down their roofs remembering the Kyneton truck arriving and so many other trucks from the region. The CFA got there as quick as they could and helped so many save their homes. Those scars are obvious when you drive through the town today. The fact that they saved so many homes needs to be remembered and acknowledged in this place. This fire could have been so much worse, but so many people got out, and the CFA, with the efforts of the local forest teams and the support that they had from the air, were able to save so many.

Recovery has begun, and I need to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of the local Harcourt Progress Association and the way in which they have rallied to really help coordinate the recovery efforts on the ground—people who have lost their own homes and businesses helping others. I must acknowledge the efforts of Michael Henry. He is the son of Drew Henry, Henry of Harcourt, who all of us know so well—one of the original cideries in the area. They lost their business, their house and their orchards, and it will take decades to replace the variety of trees. Yet there was Michael, in the days after, helping others—an inspiration for all of us. The government response has been strong, state and federal working together to fund the recovery that's needed. From the $1,000 payments that people have accessed through Services Australia to $500,000 to kickstart the redevelopment of the cool stores, the disaster allowance and so much more, Harcourt will rise again. They're planning their fundraisers, they're planning their recovery and we will stand with them every step of the way.