Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The words of Dorothea Mackellar have been used a lot in describing this tragedy that has happened, and of course my electorate is named after Dorothea Mackellar because she lived there. Her words ‘droughts and flooding rains’ ring out particularly now, with the floods in the north and this vast, hideous fire in the south.

In Mackellar we are familiar with fires. In 1994 we had really appalling fires which were fought valiantly by our Rural Fire Service, our volunteers, and we were fortunate that we had no loss of life, although there was loss of property—but even that was minimised. Despite the fact that I watched the roar of those flames and watched the eucalypts explode and the fireballs race across the forests and set them alight, I do not think I can quite comprehend the intensity of the fires in Victoria: the sheer heat, the radiating heat, the speed, the lack of warning and the nearly 200 people who have lost their lives—and that number is still growing. It numbs the mind to try and come to terms with such a catastrophe and such a tragedy.

In listening to our colleagues who have spoken and whose electorates are immediately affected, you would not be human if you did not feel a catch in your throat and weep silently for those people, people whose lives will never be the same, people who will be looking for strength that they will find within themselves but that hopefully will be bolstered by the fact that they know the rest of the country is pulling with them, feeling with them and determined to enable them to build their lives again, even though they will not be as they were. And we are in the middle of it; we do not really know how these fires will be quenched. I think they need two inches of rain, and that is not likely. So we are depending on the willingness and the ability of those people who are courageously continuing to fight those fires.

There is something quite special, though, about the Australian character that brings us together to feel for each other and to reach out and give assistance. It is something quite special about this nation which I trust we will never, ever lose. When the word goes out that help is needed—and I have heard so many members speak about the way in which they have met with people or been involved with people who are raising funds or sending off things that are needed, whether it is to feed animals or clothe the people who have lost everything—there is that spark of generosity that runs true.

I do not think that I have words enough to say how desperately sorry I feel and, in a way, how helpless I feel when it comes to alleviating the pain that is being felt by the people of Victoria. I can just hope that adding a few words in this debate on the condolence motion is just a little signal that says that the people in my electorate and I feel enormously for them, that they are in our prayers and that we will do all we can to give them back something of what they had and give them the courage to fight on.

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