Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Technology) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to use my opportunity today to add my sympathies and sentiments to the heartfelt condolences that this chamber has expressed today. I want to thank so many of my colleagues for their warm words of sympathy, and particularly those who have not used the opportunity to speak in the chamber today for politicking or grandstanding, because I do believe that this is not the appropriate day for that. In fact, I think my contribution today will possibly be the least political speech I have ever made in this chamber.

While I genuinely and sincerely support every part of the condolence motions that have been put forward today, I want to talk specifically about the north-east of Victoria, which is a place that I have long loved and grown to know very well over recent years. The people of north-east Victoria are tough and they are proud and they are resilient, but their confidence has been shaken by the events of this summer. However, their humanity and their kindness and their community have also been galvanised. I heard many of their stories. One, in particular, is very close to my office. In fact, a young man who works in my office, Jacob Mildren, lives in the north-east of Victoria. He spent the summer at home at his family's house and broader family's farm. He sent us messages throughout the summer telling the whole office what was going on. It was harrowing for us all to think that he potentially was in harm's way. So I asked him to explain his experiences to us for my contribution today. His story went a little bit like this. He said:

There was a quiet menace that turned to hellish fury in the Corryong fire. On 30 December the air above the winding hills and valleys of the Upper Murray was clear. Recent weeks of smoke haze had dissipated and it seemed like we could all breathe easy again. But when dark orange smoke plumed above the mountains we knew something was not right, and when the wind picked up we realised it was blowing in our direction and getting stronger with each hour. Even when you're prepared there is a sense of urgency, fear and dread. We saw the four-wheeler on its way down the paddock, and a message came from the farmhouse—'It's time to go. Get to the house, now!' We did all the right things, and, although much of the property was damaged and livestock lost, the house was saved. But we were the lucky ones. In the hours that followed, townships were threatened, homes were lost and countless sheds and outbuildings were levelled. Local firefighting volunteers sprung to action, defending their community and their homes in acts of extraordinary bravery in some of the most testing conditions ever witnessed. We later learned that the fire, which was started by a lightning strike, had become so huge that it had created its own weather pattern. While we had been watching and waiting, only a few kilometres away a tanker was caught in a fire tornado—winds so extreme that the tanker was lifted and flipped, injuring two firefighters and killing 28-year-old Samuel McPaul. It could have been any of us.

The Upper Murray fire, like those across all of Australia, has caused such devastation. Among the stories of tragedy are stories of bravery and generosity that warm the soul left cold by senseless destruction. But it is the quiet humanity of these communities that makes them stronger in the face of adversity. Individuals like Josh Collings personify this. Josh is from Cudgewa, a town of just 230 people, and he lost everything. Yet, despite this, within a matter of just days Josh was one of the first to set up support networks in Cudgewa, and its neighbouring towns, to help those around him. Josh felt firsthand the heartache of loss and he just wanted to make it that little bit easier for those who shared those feelings.

In times of strife, it's stories like these that demonstrate the best in us really does shine through. So today this chamber extends its sympathies to those who have lost so much—whether it be friends or family, property, homes, businesses or a way of life. It will take time and the scars will inevitably run very, very deep. But they will rebuild, they will get the assistance that they need and we will all play our part.

When I visited the north-east, just a fortnight ago, the worst was done but the fight continued. The incident control centre was calm and organised and well resourced with professionals, with staff and with volunteers. The ADF were on hand and were cleaning up, clearing roads and consoling residents, and their presence was very welcome. I also took time to visit those communities not necessarily razed by the fires but adjacent to them and greatly affected nonetheless—small communities like Mount Beauty, Falls Creek, Rutherglen and Bright in Victoria's beautiful alpine valley. In this peak January season you would expect to see hikers, campers, young families and holiday-makers, but instead these communities are like picturesque ghost towns. The tourists were evacuated and they haven't returned.

I met with Jake, who, along with his wife, owns and operate the Mount Beauty Bakery. They employ additional casual staff at this time of year, over the summer period. Often they are university students that are coming home for their university holidays and work in town on their break. But this year they've had to shorten shifts. They certainly haven't thought about paying themselves or family members. They have desperately tried to keep those casual staff on, yet the bakery, when I was there, was empty. I don't think I've ever bought so much bread in my life. Then I met the irrepressible Jaye, who owns a popular cafe that I'm sure many of you would know, in Falls Creek village. At this time of the year there are normally mountain bikes lined up outside her cafe, as riders from everywhere around stop for her very famous food, but now there is not a single one in sight. The owners of cottages, caravan parks, B&Bs and motels in the region spoke of empty rooms, bookings down 85 per cent on this time last year.

Now is the time for rebuilding and supporting. It is not the time for politicking. There is always plenty of time in this place for that. Now is the time to reach out the hand of friendship and support to our fellow Australians in need. Now is the time for community spirit, just like Josh's, to spread across the region, and we can all play a part—whether it be buying wine, which I know plenty of people in this place do, from one of the online cellar doors in Rutherglen or in the Alpine Shire vineyard, or taking your family on a bike-riding holiday along the rail trails, or spending a weekend at the extraordinary restaurants or craft breweries in these beautiful, beautiful towns.

This year—here's an idea for you—Corryong, which was one of the towns worst affected by these fires, will host the 25th-anniversary Man From Snowy River Bush Festival. An awful lot goes on at this festival, and despite what has gone on, despite the devastation of the community, they are going to hold this thing. All proceeds of the event will be donated to bushfire relief. North-east Victoria is open for business. They want us to reiterate that. It's open for business. These communities are proud, they're resilient, they are really big hearted, they are welcoming and they are waiting for people to come.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank some of my Victorian state parliamentary colleagues for the work on the ground during that period, particularly state upper house member Wendy Lovell, the member for Seymour, Cindy McLeish, and particularly the member for Benambra, Bill Tilley, because he is not only the member for Benambra; he is also a CFA volunteer. He witnessed so much of this fire season firsthand, fighting on the front line for his community, both politically and physically. Bill, I take my hat off to you. The work you did this summer was quite extraordinary.

To the brave men and women who risked everything, to the families that allowed them to do so and to those who have lost so much this summer, I say thank you. It will take time to rebuild, to stitch back together what needs to be mended and to mourn everything that has been lost. But communities in northern Victoria and, indeed, around Australia in these bushfire-affected places have proven their strength in countless ways, and we in this place and all around the country will walk beside you as you heal.