Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I join with the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the member for McEwen, the member for Bendigo, the member for McMillan and also with the member for Casey, who spoke very well this morning in the Main Committee and expressed his sentiments on the 12-month anniversary. There is not much I can add after the member for McMillan’s comments—and I congratulate you, Russell, for the way that you have conducted yourself over the past 12 months. It has been an emotionally raw time for a lot of us—and, if it is raw for us, imagine what it is like for the people involved.

To Bill Shorten, the minister in charge of the bushfire reconstruction: I thank you for your efforts—in particular, for always being able to help the people of Gippsland in a very bipartisan way. On behalf of my community, where we lost 11 lives, 175 homes in the area of Callignee, Traralgon South and Koornalla and 20 homes the previous week in Boolarra, I want to put on the record how very thankful they are for the support they have received from this place. We received many comments from my community as a result of the way this place behaved after the bushfires. There were so many positive comments on the way the parliament of Australia conducted itself in that week and the months that have followed. They are very grateful for the support they have received.

There is one other message for me to pass on on behalf of my community, and that is: do not forget that there is still a long way to go with the recovery process. While the bush will recover, the regrowth is there now and homes are being built, people will recover at very different speeds. Long after the scars on the landscape have recovered, the scars will still be there for them both physically and mentally. So they will need our support for many years ahead. We must never forget them and we must learn from the experience that we have been through in these past 12 months. I thank the House for the opportunity today.

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