Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

Through this motion the House expresses its deepest condolences to family, friends, work colleagues and acquaintances of those who have lost their lives in these tragic bushfires. The motion expresses sympathy and compassion for those who have lost property, whether it be buildings, livestock or pets. The motion expresses our gratitude to professional and, importantly, volunteer members of emergency and health services and community support agencies for their expertise, diligence and courage.

The electorate of Scullin was only vaguely affected by these fires, with a small fire in Plenty Gorge. However, there are four major north-south roads that traverse fortress Scullin and, if you travel along them for five to 20 kilometres, each ends in tragedy. If you go up the Hume Highway towards Kilmore you get to Wandong. High Street and Epping Road also end up in Wandong. If you travel along Plenty Road you go through the township of Whittlesea and end up in Kinglake West and Kinglake. Yan Yean Road becomes Coombs Road, Kinglake.

As a product of the northern suburbs, I feel that many of the places that have been mentioned in this debate should not be places of such sadness. Kinglake, St Andrews, Kinglake West, Steels Creek, Flowerdale, Wandong, Humevale, Strathewen and Arthurs Creek are places that should not be on a list of death and destruction. They are places of picnics and weddings. They are places to collect wood with grandparents for slow combustion stoves. They are places to get lost on Scout hikes. They are places to sit on the pub veranda accompanied by a cool ale or a glass of Australian wine. One of the things that we know about these places is that they are people’s homes. These are places that are people’s livelihoods.

Through this debate one of the sentiments that has been expressed is that of resilience, and other characteristics of Australia have also been mentioned. Yesterday afternoon I briefly visited the Whittlesea Community Activity Centre, which was spoken about by the Leader of the Opposition. It was very hard to witness people coming down the hill, mostly from Kinglake, to register their names and to seek information from the Red Cross about missing family members, but the sense of collective action was something that I was encouraged by.

When I was travelling along Plenty Road on the first part of my journey back to this place, I was heartened to see an SES vehicle from a suburb in the southern part of Melbourne and to pass a convoy of CFA trucks from Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula, the Surf Coast and Aireys Inlet, a place that has suffered so much over time through bushfire. The sense of collective action and mateship is very important. Many of the things that we see on TV quite correctly expose us to the tragedy of these events and it is sometimes hard to understand what it all means. But I think we should understand that there is a great resolve to tackle the things that confront us.

A sense of place is not just about physical structures; it is really about people themselves. As has been said in this debate, communities will rebuild because of the resilience of their people. We must give them our love and support and lend them our shoulders. We must first lend them our shoulders to cry on so that they may grieve and gain closure. Then, hopefully, we can put our shoulders to the wheel and support these communities and individuals in the rebuilding that will be required. When we do so, these communities will return. They will be places that we can visit—where we can picnic, get lost on hikes and have a quiet ale in a beer garden. I know that members of the House are as one in expressing our sympathy and support for fellow Australians in the affected communities. We will do all we can with all our resolve. As a mark of respect, I invite honourable members to rise in their places.

Honourable members having stood in their places—

I thank the House.

Debate (on motion by Mr Albanese) adjourned.

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