Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Each and every summer, Australians brace themselves for the extreme weather conditions that occur across this vast continent—dramatic storms and floods, drought, bushfires, scorching heat, ferocious winds, followed by gentle rain and calm. The contrast is profound. For people in the Northern Hemisphere, more particularly in smaller countries with temperate climates, it is difficult to fathom the colossal scale of the disasters that can occur in an Australian summer—the loss of life, with hundreds of thousands of hectares of countryside and entire townships devastated by bushfires in the south while floodwaters threaten towns and communities to the north. Only a small proportion of our population has had direct exposure to the floods of Northern Queensland or the bushfires in Victoria but, through the immediacy of media reporting and the dramatic visual imagery on our TV screens, we all feel it deeply and we are all affected. But we did not experience what so many people experienced last weekend—the agonising wait as fire approached our homes or the sheer terror of confronting rolling walls of fire or fighting for breath as the fireball sucked out the oxygen such that the air felt alight. Nor did we experience the loss of family, relatives, friends or colleagues or see homes, property, livestock, wildlife and habitats engulfed in fire.

As so many of our parliamentary colleagues know, across the nation people are reaching out to the thousands of Victorians whose lives have been so dramatically affected by these dreadful fires. We say to all those affected, while we cannot share your experience, we can provide support to you and try to comfort you as you start to rebuild your lives. For many people life will never be the same—the loss too great, the scars too deep. For many communities the task of rebuilding will take years, not weeks or months; decades even. For some it will take a generation or more.

I grew up in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia where the threat of bushfires was ever present—it was always with us. The year before I was born, a bushfire known as Black Sunday swept through the Hills with incredible ferocity. I am told it was so quick and so furious that it was over in a matter of hours. While very few lives were lost, the damage to property, services and business was incalculable—our orchard was razed to the ground; pine plantations ready for harvest and livestock were burned. It was 20 years or more before it returned a profit. Whole Hills communities were devastated and our lives were divided into two: life before Black Sunday and life after Black Sunday.

At my local primary school, the compulsory reading list in the mid-sixties included February Dragon, Colin Thiele’s story of the everyday lives of people in a township halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide, where the fearful February dragon, a bushfire, is unleashed through stupidity and carelessness with tragic consequences for the whole town. We all related to this story for it reflected our own community’s experience of a relatively simple and uncomplicated life before Black Sunday with the harsh and complex realities of life after Black Sunday. That is how it was until Ash Wednesday in 1983, when we experienced something more horrific than we had experienced before. It was a terrifying ordeal for South Australians and Victorians. Seventy-five lives were lost in fire-storm conditions over 12 hours or more—sudden and violent wind changes engulfing all in its path. As people once more set about picking up the pieces, they again divided their lives into life before Ash Wednesday and life after Ash Wednesday. That is how it will be for the family and friends of those who died last weekend in the Victorian bushfires.

We must reassure those who have lost their families, their homes, their belongings, their treasures, their businesses and their livelihoods that the Australian people understand that it will take time to heal the communities and that we are prepared for that. We must all appreciate and recognise that it takes time to re-establish lives, homes, farms, businesses and services. So our support must be ongoing. Our compassion for their plight must continue for as long as it is needed. Times of tragedy remind us of the fundamental, the essential and the enduring elements of human life—the bonds of family and friends and the bonds of communities—as people care for each other and look out for each other. This is exemplified by the heroic efforts of our emergency workers, particularly our firefighters. Many of them are volunteers, who put their lives at risk to save others. The whole nation thanks them for their selfless actions. At this time, we also think of the families of the emergency workers and the firefighters and understand and know what they go through during these terrible times as their loved ones leave their own homes to defend the lives and property of others.

My father was a volunteer firefighter for over 50 years. I can recall so vividly the sound of the siren at the local fire station during the summer months as it would wail out across the valley. I recall that sinking feeling as my father would head off to fight a fire, often to an unknown destination. Sometimes it would be days before we heard from him. All the while we would try to keep calm, trusting that he would return in time should our home be threatened by fire. So while we acknowledge the courage of our emergency workers and firefighters, we also remember their families, who are anxiously waiting for their safe return, knowing the dangerous and unpredictable circumstances that they face no matter how experienced or seasoned they may be.

Over many years Australia has battled to gain a better understanding of the nature of bushfires and the complex environmental, economic and social impact. A more nationally coordinated approach to bushfire research was boosted in 2003 with the formation of the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre, which combines the efforts of more than 30 research, fire and land management agencies in Australia and New Zealand. As its press release of 12 January said:

Better resourcing, technology, community understanding, communications, acceptance of fire as a natural occurrence and the sharing of risk between property owners and fire agencies are just some of the lessons still being learnt through experience and rigorous scientific research.

After a civil disaster of this magnitude, it is hard to fathom the loss of life or quantify the emotional and economic cost, including the irreplaceable resources, to individuals and communities. But there are lessons to be learned and through research we must hold the hope that such disasters can be mitigated in the future. Australians are a resilient and optimistic people. While the prospect of rebuilding shattered lives may seem daunting, even insurmountable, today, it will be undertaken, it must be undertaken, with all the support that the Australian people, individually and through their governments, can offer and for however long it takes. I join with colleagues in offering our deepest condolences to the people of Victoria.

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