Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in the shadow of terrible losses, a time of red dark skies, roaring fires, terrifying stories of communities plunged into 40 hours of darkness and stories of the sun simply not rising. I rise to express my grief and my heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of 33 people across three states who have lost their lives, including nine firefighters who died while keeping others safe. I pay tribute to those who have tragically lost their lives in bushfires this summer, defending homes, defending us and defending a way of life that revels in summer, extraordinary native bushland and our magnificent beaches. I also acknowledge the firefighters, police, ambulance officers, defence personnel and others who have worked tirelessly to protect their communities. As a Tasmanian, I want to particularly acknowledge the dedication and preparedness to help of the Tasmanians who have travelled interstate to support firefighting and recovery efforts. Thank you. We are so very proud of you—not forgetting those who are working so hard to extinguish the flames in north-east Tasmania, in the Fingal Valley.

On Sunday I received a letter from a Tasmanian, Danielle Fox, who had been holidaying over the New Year with her young family on the South Coast of New South Wales. She wanted to tell me the impact the fires had had on her and her young family, and I want to share some of her words tonight. She said:

On the 31st December … we were evacuated from Wonboyn Lake (just south of Eden) … as the threat of the Border Fire loomed. Over the next few days, news reports indicated that over 100,000 people were evacuated from the region due to the danger to life that this fire, and several others burning on the south coast, posed. We were scared, my 6-year-old daughter was visibly frightened as we drove through thick smoke with much unease to find a safer place to be. After 15 hours on the road (skirting around fires surrounding Canberra and Albury), we found safety at my aunt's house in Melbourne. The next day, my other daughter, who has an intellectual disability, was visibly distressed from the experience … We arrived home to Tasmania and spent the next week in the safety of "home" before feeling emotionally able to enter the world again. In the meantime, my family holiday home, built in 1952 by my great grandfather, was burned down as the Border Fire burned through Wonboyn—a place I have visited almost every year of my 48 years and have a deep sense of connection and belonging. Even three weeks later as we watched the Australia Day 'Welcome to Country' ceremony on the ABC television, my neuro-typical daughter was cowering and afraid on the couch beside me when they announced that fire would be brought onto the performance stage as part of the ceremony—of course, this was only a small smouldering fire for the smoking ceremony, but she associated it with the trauma she experienced from the bushfires.

Danielle goes on to call on us all to do better, to be better, to show leadership and to work harder to protect our communities, the environment we love and the planet we treasure.

So today is not for calling out differences and scoring points. Today is a day to pay our respects; to put our arms around the grieving and hold them; to honour the sacrifice and dedication of all who are working so hard to fight these catastrophic fires and to help in recovery; to acknowledge that many of the scars that these flames have inflicted will take a very long time to heal, if they ever do; and to commit to ensuring that those who are traumatised by these events receive the care and support they will need for a very long time. It is also a day to commit to doing better, to defending what we love and value, and to doing all we can to ensure that home is a safe place to be and that we do not spend every summer watching our beautiful country burn.