Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment Participation) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the condolence motion moved by the Deputy Prime Minister yesterday and I offer my sincere condolences to the families and friends of those killed and injured in what is the worst natural disaster in Australia’s history. Though my electorate of Gorton mainly incorporates the western metropolitan region of Melbourne and therefore has not been directly affected by the fire, many of my constituents have family and friends who are among the dead, the injured and the homeless as a result of these fires.

In line with the sentiments expressed by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Premier of Victoria, the Leader of the Opposition and others over the last few days—indeed, the member for Higgins just now—I repeat that the Australian government will do everything in its power to alleviate the suffering of those who have lost family, friends, livestock, pets and property. The government response will of course evolve with events and as much more information comes to hand, but we will be helping not only over the days and weeks ahead but also in months and years from now.

In relation to the efforts of those in my own electorate, several emergency services units in Gorton have been busy working to save lives and properties. As we know, SES units around Victoria remain on alert, and many have a major role as support crews to firefighting units. The Brimbank SES unit worked around the clock on Saturday and Sunday. They were busy attending to damaged homes, fallen trees blocking roads and supporting fire crews in Kinglake, in Warragul and at the Longbrook staging area.

From 9 am on Saturday, two crews were on the road attending to damaged homes and removing fallen trees. From 9 pm a crew was deployed to assist in the Kinglake area, ensuring power supply and lighting and providing assistance to the relief centres. That crew returned home at approx 1.30 am on Sunday, with a replacement crew returning only a matter of hours later. This crew of five was deployed to manage the CFA staging area at Warragul, with a further deployment later Sunday night transporting fire trucks and crew to the Longbrook staging area, staffing roadblocks and clearing roads. That crew returned at 11.20 pm.

Yesterday, another crew travelled to the Kinglake area for a two-day deployment, clearing roads for fire crews, assisting police with loss and damage assessments and the heartbreaking job of checking door-to-door in search of undiscovered bodies. Even when not required to attend to the major fires in Victoria over the weekend, other emergency services crews were still on high alert and were required to undertake their regular duties as temperatures reached the high forties. Brimbank SES unit controller, Brad Dalgleish, has talked of the heartbreak of dealing with survivors of Kinglake. As he told local papers, these hardened men were ‘brought to tears’ after witnessing the devastation on Saturday.

My electorate also incorporates a large section of the Shire of Melton, whose volunteer CFA unit has been at the forefront of the action fighting fires across Victoria. On Monday, several units also attended grass fires in Melton South, no doubt exacerbated by the historically low levels of rainfall in the area, combined with the punishing heat over the last several weeks. A Melton SES crew attended Kinglake on Tuesday and Wednesday for chainsaw and other support services to other emergency services units. Though today I represent a primarily outer suburban electorate, it was not always the case. Between 2001 and 2004 I represented the electorate of Burke—a large and unusually diverse electorate, including several areas whose residents have fresh memories of the loss of life and property by fire. Residents of Macedon and Mount Macedon, in particular, are still haunted by the memory of the infamous Ash Wednesday fires of 1983.

Since Saturday, several regions I once represented, now ably represented by the member for Bendigo and by the member for McEwen, are mopping up after fires destroyed houses, livestock and property. The community of Redesdale, north of Kyneton, has been threatened over the last several days. The fire was estimated to be over 10,000 hectares in size. Large sections of containment lines have been built and firefighters are continuing to consolidate those lines, but wind changes have resulted in even more loss of property. Other fires in the area have threatened Baynton and Barfold. I have been informed that 10 to 12 houses have been lost, but numbers are yet to be confirmed. Even though these fires are not currently posing a direct threat, those communities need to be aware that there is still fire activity in the area. They need to be alert should conditions change unexpectedly. My thoughts are with these communities.

I am pleased to say that local governments around Victoria, including Brimbank City Council and the Shire of Melton in my own electorate, have been taking steps to make a major coordinated contribution to emergency relief funds. Brimbank and Melton are both contributing council resources, including contingents of staff to assist in getting the affected communities back on their feet. More than 450 Australian government personnel will be deployed to Victoria over the coming days to provide emergency services, logistical support and counselling to the hundreds of people who have lost family, friends and property. Centrelink workers are providing counselling and support as well as financial assistance to people affected by the fires. Two hundred Centrelink community recovery staff and 70 social workers will be at the centres this week. Indeed, the Prime Minister announced today that the government is putting together a jobs and medium-term income support package to assist those whose workplaces have been destroyed by the fires or whose businesses no longer exist.

On a personal note, I spoke today to a good friend, Barry Miller, who is currently in hospital. I have known him for more than 20 years and have worked with him at the Australian Services Union for 15 years. His family have lived in Kinglake for many years. He is currently in the Austin Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and injuries from a car accident. He told me today that, on Saturday, the speed and might of the fire were simply incredible. He evacuated his home and was fleeing when he realised his son, Sean, who had been following in his own car, was no longer in sight. Barry turned the car around and headed towards the fire in search of his son. Unknown to him was that Sean had managed to escape via another route.

In the mayhem and panic, and no doubt owing to the fog of smoke, two cars collided with Barry’s car. He managed to escape through the passenger door just before his car exploded in flames. A driver of one of the other vehicles, a man known to Barry, was not so lucky, burning to death before Barry’s eyes. The emergency worker who then came to Barry’s assistance realised that the victim in the other car was his father. To most of us, this is unimaginable horror. Barry has lost his home, as has one of his sons, but his family count themselves lucky. I know that Barry’s friends and work colleagues at the ASU and elsewhere will, of course, support him, his wife Julie and their family in their time of need and help them recover. Barry’s story, as I say, on one level is one of luck—and when I spoke to him today that is how he saw it. He has lost everything when it comes to property, but all of his family are still alive and his physical injuries are not particularly serious. I do hope, however, that his emotional and psychological state will improve, because what he has seen is truly horrifically traumatic.

I extend my condolences, most importantly, to the families who have lost loved ones and homes. They will have a difficult task to rebuild their lives. It is incumbent upon the government—indeed, all members in this place—to do everything we possibly can to assist our constituents who have been directly affected and to help those families who have lost so much. I of course support the motion moved in this place.

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