Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

The media coverage of the Victorian bushfires has been so extensive and, indeed, so graphic that I am confident every Australian has a proper and full appreciation of the level of carnage and tragedy those affected have faced over the course of the last few days. Yesterday I saw that carnage firsthand, yet what has happened in the towns just north of Melbourne remains, to me, incomprehensible.

But what is just as amazing is the strength and the resilience of those who have lost so much and the selfless sacrifices of those who are working so hard to help others. Of course, many of those lending assistance are themselves victims of those tragic bushfires. Yesterday I was able to talk with and thank many of them. Some were members of the SES, the CFA, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army or the police force. Others were simply neighbours, families, friends or, as in one case I saw, directors of the local football club. Of course, what they are doing both individually and collectively is typical of Australians, and on that basis none of us should be surprised by their efforts, but one cannot help but be in awe of their strength, their courage and their selflessness, and I know the broader Australian community is with them and behind them.

The other group of dedicated Australians I was able to speak with yesterday were the men and women of the Australian Defence Force. In the immediate aftermath of last Saturday’s unbelievable bushfire events, the Prime Minister made it clear that the Australian Defence Force stands ready to do all it can for as long as is necessary to help those who have been affected by this tragedy. Consequently, the 460 defence personnel who make up the joint task force are doing excellent work in the most difficult of circumstances. As the Prime Minister noted, they are building containment lines and clearing blocked roads using heavy earth-moving equipment and chainsaws. They are pitching tents and providing beds and sleeping bags for the many homeless, and they are providing health care to both the injured and the unwell and counselling services to those who have been excessively traumatised. They are assisting the police in the search for survivors or, indeed, those who did not make it—surely the most challenging and confronting work of all. They are also providing water purification plants and other emergency equipment.

Our Air Force has been using surveillance aircraft to assist in the search and rescue effort and to assist in the assessment of damage to infrastructure. The RAAF’s C130 aircraft are ferrying experts into the region, including forensic experts from Western Australia, and 4 Combat Support Services Battalion is supporting the transport of military equipment and providing logistic support for all of our deployed elements. Four armoured personnel carriers fitted with communications and emergency evacuation capabilities are also assisting in the effort. In addition, Defence has deployed a range of advisers and coordinators to assist in the huge challenges faced by the various civil authorities.

All this activity is taking place under the command of Brigadier Michael Arnold. Brigadier Arnold is the commander of 4 Brigade, one of Army’s reserve formations. Their work stands as a reminder to all Australians that the role of the reserve forces in the Australian Defence Force is a really worthwhile, meaningful and critical one. Mainly drawn from 5/6 Battalion of the Royal Victorian Regiment, they are accountants, tradesmen, doctors, technicians and teachers who give freely of their time to be prepared by training, to assist their fellow Australians and to take care of Australia’s national interests when they are called upon to do so.

Today, on behalf of, I am sure, all members of the House, I want to thank Brigadier Arnold and all those in both the regular and reserve forces serving under him and indeed those serving above him. They are doing wonderful work in the most challenging of circumstances. I know from my visit yesterday, speaking with local people, that the local residents place a high value on the work they are doing and, of course, their very presence in the region.

I also want to thank all those employers who have willingly released their employees—not just those who employ reservists but also those who employ members of the SES, the Country Fire Authority and like organisations. As a former small business operator, I know what it is like to turn up for the beginning of the week with a full order book but to be down even one employee. It can be tough on those businesses, and I fully appreciate what they are doing. Yesterday I spoke to a number of people who have been released and on not one occasion did I detect any difficulty those employees were having with their employers—and I commend those employers.

Yesterday I saw the Australian Defence Force at its best, from the CDF, who is constantly on the phone to me giving me updates and forward planning operations, to those in our new Bungendore facility, running joint operations, and people like Lieutenant Colonel Cam Smith, who is commanding the engineers in the field, right through to the two young female medics I encountered just near Flowerdale—whom I suspect are only in their twenties—embedded with the 160 or so reservists who are undertaking that terrible search and rescue effort looking for life but more often confronting death. Again, I thank them for their service and their efforts.

Like those who have spoken before me, I again express my deepest personal sympathy to all those who have been affected by the bushfires. As Minister for Defence, I reaffirm the Prime Minister’s commitment to providing the joint task force with all the resources it needs for as long as it takes.

I am also very pleased that the ADF has also been able to lend significant assistance to the people of Queensland—those who have been so badly affected by those significant flooding events. As the member for Herbert has noted—although, unlike him, I cannot afford to be quite so parochial—RAAF’s Caribou aircraft and Army Black Hawk helicopters have delivered some 4,500 Army ration packs to those isolated and therefore unable to secure sustenance. Two Black Hawk helicopters from Army’s 5th Aviation Regiment transported 4,100 litres of fuel to assist the people of the Ingham region. Army personnel also used Unimog vehicles to evacuate people who were at risk as a result of flash-flooding around Cairns.

Defence stands ready to do all it is asked of in Queensland and, indeed, anywhere else around the country where people are facing adversity. Importantly, we take our tasking requests from the expert authorities on the ground—those who know where and when Defence can help most. Appropriately, their tasking priorities will always be related to efforts to sustain life. As with the people of Victoria, the government reaffirms its commitment to do all that is asked of it in terms of the ADF’s capabilities for the people of North Queensland, the people of Victoria and, as I said, any other Australian who finds themselves in a time of need anywhere in the country.

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