Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Sustainable Development and Cities) Share this | Hansard source

I want to commend all my colleagues for their contributions, particularly the previous contribution, from Ms George. In my 12-plus years here I have not sensed a more poignant or purposeful atmosphere in this parliament. It has been quite an inspiration and there has been a sense of shared purpose throughout this building, which is actually a bigger town than some of those that have been lost in the fires. There are more people in this place than in some of those communities, and you can sense the atmosphere here and the sombre solemnness with which people are going about their work. But there is a sense of genuine and sincere effort to help those communities, many of which are still facing great dangers, and our thoughts are very much with them.

I was keen to convey the condolences and best wishes of the community of Dunkley. My electorate is known for its generosity and my constituents for their preparedness to roll up their sleeves. We were touched briefly by fire much earlier in the season, with grassfires on some of the major arterial roads in our community, and we unexpectedly lost houses from grassfires getting out of hand. I think it was an enormous shock for our community that so early in the season fires of such rage and vigour happened in our homes. They were very small in scale and ferocity compared with what we are talking about now, but they were profoundly disturbing. Those who lost their homes and showed great courage to preserve the homes of others have perhaps an insight into what many thousands more are experiencing right now. That was on a much smaller scale, but still incredibly life-changing for those directly involved.

What is happening now, though, elsewhere in my state, the great and courageous state of Victoria, is a ferocious fire that we cannot stop. It stopped the nation but we cannot stop the fire, and people are fearful about what may be ahead. What we do know is that the loss of life has been extraordinary already, and we are fearful that that will get much worse. Our condolences and our prayers go to those who have lost loved ones. Our sincere and ongoing thoughts are with those who, at this stage, are well but who have to cope with the unrelenting wait and anxiety of loved ones missing.

I know, from the time when I was responsible for some of our overseas responses to international disasters, that the term ‘grave concern’ takes on a special significance. There are dozens for whom we hold very grave concerns, and it is an exhausting time for those who are having to cope with that. They have a personal imperative to keep nurturing their own reservoirs of hope and optimism for their loved ones, but in the back of their minds they are realising and contemplating a more fateful outcome. I particularly want to mention them, having had some insight through other work into what that is like—not knowing. That uncertainty is agonising. No serenity can be found, because there are no answers for people.

I also record our support for the families and friends of those who have loved ones on the fire fronts. They are very alert to the dangers and they know that people very dear to them are in that space. For people from regions like ours on the Mornington Peninsula and for those in the hilly country around Melbourne and beyond, there is a general awareness of the dangers. We can only admire those who know that their loved ones are in harm’s way whilst they are trying to do good and showing enormous selflessness and resolve. I say to the families and friends of those who have loved ones making that extraordinary contribution: we are thinking of you as well. And we are thinking about those who are actively implementing their fire plans and having to make very difficult judgements about what to do and when to move.

My best wishes and encouragement and that of the community I represent also go to the officials and the agencies charged with this awesome task of planning and managing the response and to all those supporting that effort—the logisticians that are trying to make sure it all works so that those on the front line can give of their best. Everyone is trying to make sure their performance is optimised. We see the images on the television. What is less clear is the enormous work that goes on behind the scenes to make those extraordinary efforts possible. I greatly admire the support service providers who are collaborating on the ground—the police officers and the ambulance officers, who have a really tough and demanding job in ordinary circumstances and who are carrying out such a difficult responsibility in the unspeakable and barely imaginable circumstances we face now. The local councils, essential service providers, companies, small businesses and community organisations that generally make our communities tick are executing their ordinarily routine responsibilities in these extraordinary times. They are persisting under great stress, and I admire their work.

I particularly want to mention our respect for the patience and diligence of the medical officers, particularly the burns specialists, who are caring for those who have been injured. Caring for a burns victim is an extraordinary responsibility. The honourable member for Bowman, who is at the table, would know, as a medical doctor, about the risks involved, the roller-coaster of recovery, the setbacks in the condition of health and the way the body can react to the toxicity of what was survived immediately but which sneaks up on the victims. That is extraordinarily hard. I also mention those with that gruesome and difficult but incredibly important task of disaster victim identification. Again I draw from my time as Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs after the tsunami and from the time I spent with our experts in Phuket and other places who were working to try to get an answer that was 100 per cent right, because mistakes can mean that people are revisiting nightmares. Care and diligence are what is needed. I hope people appreciate the patience that is required and the importance of getting that work right all the time in every case. It is crucial.

I also want to talk about the helpers and the healers—that network of people who come out and make sure things are okay. They make the tea; they listen to the experiences. They are the pastoral carers that work amongst those with more defined roles. They fill in the gaps that need to be filled and they lend an ear, a shoulder and a hug, and make sure that those who have a more defined role are supported. I have often said we can always do more to care for the carers. Carers are so giving, helpers are so keen to help and volunteers are so absolutely driven by the conviction to do all they can that there is a need for someone to make sure they are okay too so that they can keep doing that work.

I want to commend the generosity of Australians that are donating of their own free will. Again, down in my community, and particularly around Frankston, Mornington and Langwarrin, there is a very generous community. The greater Dunkley community has been very generous in this case, and that is terrific.

Words do not seem to quite capture my enduring admiration and respect for the firefighters. There are probably a million other things the volunteer firefighters could be doing but they are doing this. Their service is extraordinary. We have volunteer crews up there from the area that I represent. I will touch on that a bit more later, but to see the selflessness, the courage, the persistence and the overcoming of fatigue and physical weariness is just extraordinary. I salute each and every one of them and admire them greatly.

I mentioned their physical weariness; I would like to move on to the emotional health and wellbeing of all those involved. Those that have suffered and served will not immediately bounce back to their cheery selves when the fires are extinguished. These people are seeing things that we are not really supposed to see and feeling emotions that we hope people never feel. That could bring a post-traumatic response that could affect their wellness for a long time. Long after those hills around Melbourne start seeing green shoots of fresh life and a rebirth of communities, they will still be recalling what they have endured. Particularly for firefighters, those that have survived the inferno, it is an apocalyptic environment. We need to appreciate the mental impact and the emotional burden of what people are enduring now and will continue to endure for some time.

I hope that those planning the response take account of the emotional wellbeing of the communities involved. I commend the government for recognising the importance of that part of this endeavour, with Centrelink social workers and the like being part of the government’s response. I commend the government for responding generously, wholeheartedly and with all that it has to offer. There is capability right across the Commonwealth and the agencies that we interact with, and I am pleased to see that that is being brought to this extraordinary task. I congratulate the Prime Minister for his presence in the area, for the time he was able to attend; the opposition leader and the government ministers that are there doing all they are able to; and the local members who are doing all that they possibly can and wishing they could do more. I know Fran will work herself into the ground. Our thoughts are with her and we hope there is some respite for her so that she can continue her good work. She is a good woman and she will be there giving all of herself for her community.

I would also like to acknowledge, recognise, congratulate and give encouragement to our other parliamentary colleagues who are there providing whatever contribution they can. I have mentioned the member for McEwen. I want to note that the speech from the member for McMillan, Russell Broadbent, yesterday in this parliament was vivid, captivating and incredibly insightful. To the members for Gippsland, Mallee, Casey, Indi, Ballarat and Bendigo, as well as others: our thoughts are with you, and we respect and admire what you are doing.

In the local area I was able to speak to the Country Fire Authority and brigade duty officers in the electorate of Dunkley. Frankston has an interesting firefighting presence. It is both CFA and Metropolitan Fire Brigade; it is both professional and volunteer. We ask a lot of the Frankston fire service and they do a terrific job. The organisational work that has been going on to make resources available is quite extraordinary. I want to acknowledge that the MFB has supplemented the CFA capability in our community that is geared to rural firefighting so that that rural bushfire capability best suited to this task could be made available to make a contribution. The MFB then brought some of their capability down to Frankston so that our community was not left unsupported and unserviced by a fire response capability. The teams are big and the activity is characterised at the moment as a big stretch. It is testing everybody and there is an enormous amount of work going on. The Frankston brigade has sent volunteer members and strike teams to Gippsland. It has been part of a region 13 regional response. It has been covering fires in Cranbourne, which is not normally part of its reach. It has been doing a remarkable job and I want to salute all of the people involved.

I also want to congratulate and give credit to Frankston City Council. This tragedy has its epicentre of activity and the action to deal with it creates a ripple effect all the way through. I have mentioned how making available the rural fire capability out of our outer metropolitan fire service then saw the Metropolitan Fire Brigade come in to supplement it. Also, Frankston City Council has made available some of their parks vehicles and ranger vehicles to supplement the resources that are available. That kind of collaboration is to be commended, and I congratulate Frankston City Council for recognising it had the tools, equipment and capability that could make a contribution to this cause.

Langwarrin has been extremely busy as well, making tankers, strike crews and relief crews available, and Kylie at Langwarrin was particularly keen for me to mention the ladies who have been walking in off the street. The good folk of Langwarrin recognise that the men and women of the fire brigade are very stretched, so people are randomly walking in off the street to help out and to make sure there is a bit of sustenance for those that are doing the work. I think that is just terrific. Taking Mornington, we have got tanker and bushfire response crews out at Kinglake. Mornington’s involvement is five trucks, five members and a lead vehicle with a crew operating in the bushfire zones. At five o’clock every morning a bus leaves Moorooduc, carrying crews to go and provide relief for the strike teams up there, and then it gets back at 10 o’clock at night. That is happening every day. It is an extraordinary effort.

I also want to mention our local Frankston State Emergency Service members. They have been very busy. Their crews are in the Upper Yarra. In fact, the SES community has certainly made its contribution. In Marysville eight of the SES volunteers out there, working as part of the effort, have lost their homes. In other areas, other volunteers who have lost their homes are still putting in an enormous effort.

Last Saturday was extraordinary in Melbourne. For those people who are not familiar with the climatic conditions, I note Frankston SES were very busy last Saturday but it was not because of the fires. They were very busy attending to storm damage. The extraordinarily strong winds were so powerful that our SES crews were out fixing roofs that had been blown off or damaged. That gives you just a little picture of what it must have been like in the fire areas where the microclimates that fires create were being fanned by these winds so severe and so damaging that we had SES crews dealing with storm damage. That gives you a sense of the conditions up there.

The emergency response effort continues, and the rescue and recovery work is ongoing; it is chilling in some respects and extraordinarily rewarding in others. We salute everyone involved with that. The rehabilitation work is beginning in some cases. The building is one thing, but rehabilitating the lives and the wellbeing of the people involved and the community fabric is another challenge entirely. I am pleased that, in my own electorate, Joe Dimech and his team from Kitome have said, ‘We just want to help.’ There is scope for his business to work with building suppliers to very quickly make housing available, if that is helpful. They can ramp up production and put specific living pods in place that are very basic but give people a chance to get on with their lives in their own homes and their own communities. These could then be incorporated into the more permanent structures that will need to be rebuilt. I will pass Joe’s offer and ideas on to the team the Prime Minister has working on this. I think it is a very useful contribution of something that is needed urgently here and now, but it is also something that can play a role in the longer term re-establishment and reconstruction of communities.

It is also a time to think about what we might learn from these events. I will not mention the full name of this person, but just minutes ago an email came to me and, I think, a number of other members. Amanda has written to me reflecting on her sister-in-law’s experience at one of the sites of the fires. In fairness, I will not mention which one specifically, but she is conveying a deeply-held concern amongst residents who were apparently told that there would be some restrictions on rebuilding activities—that there would be some broad acreage threshold that would need to be met if people were to rebuild their homes. She connects that disturbing advice with some people choosing to stay to protect their home, fearful that they might not be able to rebuild.

I do not know and I have not been able to verify the accuracy of these reported comments, but it reflects a concern amongst the community about what may happen next. For me, it emphasises the need for clear, accurate and reliable communications at this time of rebuilding and reconstruction. I remember travelling to Banda Aceh shortly after the tsunami. The tectonic plates had dropped around the Ulee Lheu port, and king tides saw all the water come back in. Families just wanted to get on with their lives, and these difficult decisions about reconstruction templates were very hot topics there. People were already highly emotional, for reasons you could understand. The need for clarity, thoughtfulness and calibrated language is never more important than it is now. I will pass that on to the Commonwealth authorities to alert them to some of the anxieties that are there.

In closing, I just want to touch on something that my colleague the member for Mayo touched on. This relates to what we may learn from this tragedy. I understand and recognise the advice that is given to property owners about having their fire plans, being certain about their intentions and being able to implement those plans should circumstances arise. What I have seen and what I have been told is that it is hard to calibrate the scale of the danger that people are facing and what that might mean for those fire plans. The heat—the 600 degrees Celsius heat—that melts alloys on motor vehicles and the like and that sees trees instantaneously combust and houses turn to embers, rubble and ash so quickly is something that is hard to contemplate. I do not know how I would contemplate that. I wonder how people in a serene moment with all of their faculties fully operating and no external stressors, would, even in that perfect environment, contemplate it. But how must people contemplate that and make those split-second decisions while facing the fierceness of this ferocious beast on their doorstep, which is moving at speeds of a runaway train that you cannot stop? I wonder whether being prepared is one thing, but knowing what you are being prepared for may need to be a part of that education.

I have a friend who, thank goodness, has left his property, which is north of Yea. He was there. He was prepared. He is an extremely capable individual but he was there on his own. His family were terrified for him every day and could not ring him because the communication systems were not working. As the member for Throsby mentioned, you could send texts but not communicate by voice. Trees were blocking roads, so he could not move freely. Of the local fire appliances in his community, one had already been destroyed in the fire and the other one was damaged, so there were not many supplementary resources around. The only way he was able to understand what was happening with the weather conditions was by my texting them to him, and he was having to make judgements about what to do.

He characterised it to me as not being a regular grassfire, which he had planned for and could understand. This was a wildfire; it was in the air. Thankfully, he revisited his ability to deal with that. He reflected on his actions to move his beloved stock—’the girls’, he calls them; they are Lowline Angus beef cows—and how they were very, very frightened and not behaving well. He thought, ‘Gee, they could knock me off my feet; something could happen, because of the extreme environment and the animals behaving accordingly.’ He thought: ‘What can I do? I can’t ring anybody. I can’t get anybody to come and help.’ He said they were important moments, as he had spent day after day on his property with a heightened sense of awareness about ember strikes and the like, hearing snippets about what was going on, wondering who would be there to help and thinking about a conventional fire. And then it dawned on him: there was nothing conventional about this fire. It was bigger and angrier than anything he could have imagined. His desperate need to know what was going on and what to do was hampered by communications impediments in the area. The information could not get delivered any way other than via a text message.

The empathy for those who faced those decisions must be real and ongoing. We need to go beyond the talk of ‘be prepared to fight’ or ‘leave early’ and actually talk about the kinds of fires that people can reasonably contend with. The front-page story in the Australian by Gary Hughes was extraordinary. Recognising the limits of individual capacity in the face of something as extraordinary as this is something we need to address. When people talk about being prepared we should not just say, ‘I’m prepared,’ but ask: ‘What, actually, am I prepared for?’ When do the limits of what an individual or a property owner can do strike? When is there an opportunity to revisit?

With those few remarks I most sincerely wish everybody well. The weekend coming up is not going to be good. The climatic conditions are going to present new challenges, and the best we have to offer have been giving their very best now for over a week. They will be tired and fatigued but they will give their best again. I hope we do not see a further escalation in the scale of this tragedy and in the enormous loss of life we have already seen. Our prayers are with everyone who is out there trying to deal with this extraordinary tragedy.

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