Darren Cheeseman (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today with great sadness in my heart, like all of my parliamentary colleagues. I would like to offer sympathy to all those families of bushfire victims in Victoria, and of course to all of those communities that have been under siege for the last week I offer my heartfelt sympathies.

On Saturday morning, 7 February 2009 I got up and had breakfast with my wife and my son Isaac. Later that morning I said goodbye and headed off into my electorate to talk to people down the street in Colac. It was as hot as hell. It was 45 degrees where I was by noon. When I left Kirsty and Isaac we said a casual, ‘See you later’. I never realised that a casual ‘see you later’ would be denied to those in the high country in Victoria, who never got the opportunity to say a proper goodbye.

When I walked the streets of Colac there was a menace in the air. People were talking about the concerns and the risks of fire within my electorate in the Otways, a very spectacular place, a place where people moved to live and enjoy the bush. But the bush was extremely dry after a decade of below-average rainfall.

These were the same circumstances that prevailed in towns and hamlets such as Kinglake, Bendigo, Beechworth, Kilmore and those in Gippsland, just to mention a few. Some of these places lost one or two people. Some lost whole families. Some lost their whole community. At the last count, Carnegie had lost 11 people; Flowerdale, four; Humevale, six; Marysville, 15; St Andrews, 22; and, of course, Kinglake, 35 so far. The death toll is likely to be in excess of 200, and 750 homes have been lost. This is unimaginable, unthinkable.

A number of people from my own electorate were victims of these terrible bushfires. I will mention a couple. Danny Shepherd was a fitness instructor from Ocean Grove. He was renowned for his loyalty to his family. Mary McIver was a stalwart of the Torquay bowls club, known for her community-mindedness. Mary was recovering from a heart operation. The fire was so indiscriminate. It took the young, it took the old, it took the weak and it took the strong.

At times like this I feel so hopeless. Where do we start to help those who have to start all over again—people whose every possession has been totally erased? Where do we start to help those who have loved ones who are gone? People who were hale and hearty just a couple of days ago, and children with their whole lives ahead of them, are gone. Whole families: gone. Whole communities: gone.

In many ways, my electorate of Corangamite was extremely lucky. The situation could have been far, far worse. With the Otways in my electorate, there are many little coastal and hinterland towns that could have been in harm’s way, particularly given the enormous potential for loss of life and homes within these areas. We have in my electorate one of the highest fire threat areas in Victoria.

I understand that it is easy to be wise after the event, and I will not for a moment pretend that I have all of the answers or any of the answers. But I would like to say just one thing: we should look very carefully at the culture that has grown up in Victoria of saying that we will stay and defend our homes. We should look at the risks that this action may involve. I am sure that the royal commission will examine this very, very closely, and it ought to. Circumstances have changed. We are coming off a base of 10 years of below average rainfall. We will see more days, more often, like Saturday, where the weather is intolerable for living in the bush.

What can we do to help? We can start with an arm around those who have been affected. We can start with a hug. We can keep a check on our families and individuals as they go from shock to realisation to grief to desperation. We can support them emotionally. We can let them know that they do have mates. We can help them buy back into the real estate market. We can donate our time. We can donate financially as individuals. We can help as a state. We can help as a nation. We can all help our fellow Australians in this extraordinarily difficult time. We can be there for each other.

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to the firefighters and volunteers who are supporting these communities. I have no doubt that many lives have been saved by their incredibly brave efforts. They are probably very tired but too busy to think about that now—but I certainly am. In all likelihood, there are probably people out there now who do not know the fate of their friends and families. We can certainly thank the volunteers, and I am sure there will be an appropriate time to do so.

To the victims’ families and those on the front line, I say this to you: we will be here for you. We will be here with you. We are one big Australian family and we will do everything that we can as a government, as a nation and as a state to assist. I hope I never see the circumstances of Saturday ever again. It is a tragedy beyond belief; it is a tragedy that words cannot adequately describe. On behalf of the men and women of Corangamite I say to those communities who have been so badly devastated: we are with you.

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