Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On indulgence: I start my comments on the tragedy of the floods in Queensland by referring to Victoria first. As this is my first opportunity to speak about the fires in Victoria, I want to put on the record just how devastating, tragic and deeply felt that disaster must be for Victorians. We know it has been devastating for all Australians so it must be doubly so for all Victorians. I know that the communities in Victoria will rebuild. They will pick themselves up and band together. The government and the parliament, everybody in this place and the community will do everything in its power to commit to rebuilding those fire-ravaged villages, small towns and little hamlets dotted throughout Victoria that have been destroyed.

We also need to spare a thought for just how long the rebuilding might take in Victoria. In some cases this is not a natural disaster because arson was involved. It may take years for some of those communities to rebuild. But I know they will rebuild, though they may never quite be the same again. My thoughts are certainly with them. The massive loss of life is something that is difficult to comprehend and understand—how many whole families and whole communities have been affected—and in some way all Victorians are touched by what took place. In fact all of us right across Australia may know someone, or have a relative or a friend, that lives in the state of Victoria. My deepest sympathy, empathy and thoughts are with all the victims’ families, the victims, the volunteers and all the people in Victoria who are trying to deal with what is the very worst of circumstances.

I have heard with great pleasure—if that is the right word to use—the comments made by particular members whose own electorates have been devastated by the fires, particularly Fran Bailey, the member for McEwen. Her electorate has been deeply affected and it must be a very, very difficult thing for her as the local representative to have to deal with the situation and try to do everything that she can.

I want to pass on my thanks to the Prime Minister for the way he has taken it upon himself not just to visit—I think that would be too light a way to put it—but to feel, be with and share as much of the pain as he could with our Victorian colleagues and to try to better understand, be supportive and be there for those people who have lost so much. Also I want to place on the record my thanks to the Leader of the Opposition and all the other members of the House. This has been a harrowing experience. Sadly it is not over as there are yet more fires in Victoria and it is probably going to be some time before those fires are completely extinguished and communities rebuilt.

I suppose that is the great irony and uniqueness of Australia in that at one end of Australia we can have flooding rain and at the other end scorching fires and drought. It is a fair distance from the north of Queensland to the south of Australia in Victoria. That is the great irony, tragedy and uniqueness that is Australia, the tyranny of distance. My thoughts are certainly with all the people of Victoria. In terms of what has happened in my own state, as we have heard from other members, it may be hard for other people to comprehend, but Queensland is quite a large state and covers a lot of surface area. To have 60 per cent of that state flooded with water is an enormous coverage of land. It is an enormous amount of water.

In some parts of Queensland, the high-water mark has hit more than 12 metres. It is hard to imagine what communities do when where they live is completely underwater—covered by an ocean. I have seen photos, as I am sure many other members have, of just how bad it is up north. There are huge inland lakes, huge oceans, covering massive parts of Queensland. It needs to be noted that in that part of Queensland they have received a full year’s worth of rain in just one month. And, as has been said by others, we are only halfway through the wet season, so there is still more to come. We do not yet know how bad it will get in Queensland.

I want to take some time to congratulate Queenslanders on a variety of fronts. One thing which really touched me, and which I have talked to many people about, is the generosity of Queenslanders in putting other people before themselves. I have spoken to the many Queenslanders who have contacted my office or approached me while I have been out in the community. The flood victims themselves have actually said: ‘Sure, it’s bad up here, but it’s nothing on the scale of what has happened to Victorians. If you are going to do anything, we are okay. We certainly need some help, but please divert your energies, donations and other efforts to the fire victims in Victoria.’ To actually put somebody else in front of yourself at a time when you need help and your community needs assistance is a pretty special quality. To me, that is something unique and special about Australians—our way of life, our culture and the way that we deal with natural disasters. For Australians, it seems to be almost like a rallying call—a call to arms, in a way—where we step up to the mark and help other people before we help ourselves. This is not always demonstrated in other places. It is just really touching to see that Queenslanders—and, in fact, all Australians—can be so generous, particularly in their own time of need, and think of others.

I also want to make special mention of our emergency services people: the SES, our police, our ambulance officers, the Australian Defence Force and a whole range of volunteers—ordinary people—who just step up and volunteer inordinate amounts of their time to help others in their community. These volunteers are not just relying on the government, not just relying on somebody else. They say, ‘We are going to get in there and organise ourselves to do things to help others.’ There are incredible stories around of some of the things people did, and they will be the stuff of legend for many years to come. I heard of one lady who just wanted to do something small. She just wanted to contribute something, so she organised to donate some blankets. She donated them to a local group. Word got around, and that led to other people giving things to her to further donate. What started out as just a small pile of blankets turned into a room full of essentials. This turned into several rooms full of gifts, food, blankets and essential items, which then turned into truckloads of goods and finally ballooned into a whole warehouse. It is a lovely thing to hear. It is a great story.

We heard a story just before from the member for Brisbane. He recounted the shopkeeper who had realised that, given what was happening and that there was no power, he was going to lose all his stock of sausages, meat and other things. In a true Australian, egalitarian way, he decided the best thing to do was have a barbecue and put the beers on—and to do it for free. It is really touching to hear those stories. It is the human side, the nice side, of tragedy and disaster. These are the stories of a whole heap of ordinary people doing everything they can.

I also want to spare a thought for the real impact that these events—the fires in Victoria and the floods in Queensland—have on people’s lives. It is really serious, whether it is a fire or a flood that destroys your life. Even if you survive, you often lose your home. In fires, it is absolutely certain that your home is gone and it will never be the same again. For people in Queensland, their homes may still be there and the waters may recede, but their homes will never be the same.

I remember as a child being in the great 1974 floods. My family lived in Inala in the western suburbs. For people who do not know, it is the equivalent of Broadmeadows in Melbourne or Greenway in Sydney—a working-class, western-suburb electorate. I remember living in that part of the world as a child. We were lucky because we were pretty high up. We were a fair way out of Brisbane but were fairly high up on the hill, and we were one of the few houses that were spared. The water lapped pretty close to the family home. Luckily, we had a dinghy, so we could get around the suburb. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, given the floods that have taken place in Queensland, but I only have good childhood memories. I hope that is the case for other children in the floods; I know that will not be the case with the fires. At least with the floods, perhaps children will not have bad, hurtful memories that carry on for many years. Sadly, I know that will be the case for fire victims, because the trauma of that is much more severe than the trauma of floods.

I remember looking out to Brisbane and seeing, literally, an ocean stretching as far as the eye could see. I know that is the case up in North Queensland. People have lost their homes. They have lost their schools. Their businesses would have been completely ruined. Even if there is insurance, rebuilding is a difficult, emotional task; for some, it is a task they cannot cope with. There will be not only the physical rebuilding but also the emotional rebuilding. There is the need for everybody—for community, for government and for bureaucracies—to understand what it will take. These widespread disasters impact on jobs and infrastructure. Roads and bridges get washed away. I saw this horrible picture of a pothole—and, believe you me, there are quite a few potholes in certain places in Queensland from time to time—that was the size of a station wagon. The water had come in under the road and created this massive sinkhole. All of this is going to cost a lot of money to fix. It will take a lot of effort on the part of governments, both state and federal. Of course, it will take the efforts of local government, as well.

The fires and the floods create health issues, the fires with smoke inhalation and dust in the air and the floods with fungus and algae, not to mention the problems of there being no clean drinking water and sewerage waste floating around in water sitting dead in parts of towns and cities. It is not just the simple things like loss of power, not having access to fresh food and all those issues; there are also the clean water and hygiene issues. Australians have this wonderful quality that I have talked about, a quality that we see in a variety of ways. We see it on the sporting field and at other times, but we never see it as strong and as profound as when there is a disaster. The ability of Australians to band together and support each other in a way that cannot be manufactured or confected or artificial is something that happens naturally. It happens out of people’s consciousness and their real belief in other human beings and what can be done to help. That is something that makes me very proud. I know it will make all members of parliament very proud.

Nature delivers a lot of cruelty and, in my view, it delivers it indiscriminately. It delivers it in any country, on any people, often without warning. We have seen it in countries such as Indonesia, with tsunami; in Japan, with tsunami and earthquakes; in America, with massive flooding; and in Bangladesh. We have seen the massive loss of life from earthquakes in China and in countries right across the world. We see it now here in Australia. It is normally a custom for us, as Australians, to be on the giving end. We help others. That is what we do; we love to do it. I think it gives us a sense of pride. Perhaps our isolation from the rest of the world provides us with that internal—maybe even emotional—need to give to others so that we feel more connected. Maybe it is because we like to be good neighbours; maybe it is because we actually like our neighbours in the Asia-Pacific and all the other people who live around us. It is always the case that, when there is a natural disaster overseas, we are one of the first countries to step up and volunteer not just money but also people, help and expertise. We try to be there for others. We have seen that on countless occasions, and I am very proud of that as an Australian.

This time, when it has been our turn to be on the receiving end of two disasters, I have been really touched by our neighbours, who very quickly, and without being asked, volunteered. They volunteered cash donations, they volunteered to assist and they volunteered people. This was from countries like Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and other countries who are not wealthy, certainly not by our standards. We are a very wealthy country. Regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in today economically, we are still a wealthy country compared to countries like Indonesia and others. But these countries probably felt not just a sense of duty but also a sense of neighbourly support for us—we have always helped them, yet we have never asked for anything in return, so they thought they would just offer their assistance. I am really proud of them for that, and I think it will draw us closer and closer as neighbours that share the Asia-Pacific region. It is something I will talk about at other opportunities. I think it is something really significant that we should note in terms of the relationship we have with our neighbours.

Can I conclude by saying that I feel a lot of empathy for those involved in the tragedy that has gone on in North Queensland. It is certainly not on the scale of the loss of life and tragedy that has happened with the fires in Victoria, but I am very proud of everybody in the way they have reacted and responded in these circumstances. It certainly does make you very cognisant, as a member of parliament, of how good people can be, and that is something that we need from time to time. We often talk in this place about the bad things that happen, only the darker side of human nature, but witnessing the beautiful side of human nature is something we all ought to stop and acknowledge. Again I put on the record my thanks to and appreciation of all the volunteers—everybody who has donated even just a dollar, who has given of their time, who has been there to support others, who has lent a shoulder to cry on or who has been involved in some way in assisting all the victims in Queensland and all the people in Victoria affected by the fire.

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