Eric Hutchinson (Lyons, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I join with the comments of the member for Indi. I also note the presence of the member for Forrest and the contributions that were made by the member for Corangamite and the member for Hunter—all of whom have had communities impacted by natural disasters, something that is part of our nation's make-up. It is what we are this summer: a land of drought, flooding rains and fires. It gives me great pleasure to make a contribution on behalf of the communities in my electorate of Lyons that were impacted over the last month by both fire and flood, and join with the comments yesterday of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to that end.

The situation in Tasmania that we found ourselves in during January, when the fires were at their peak, was really a result of what was an extraordinarily dry spring time. In some parts of the state it was the driest October on record and a pretty ordinary September. A below average rainfall in November and December was the precursor to the higher risk of fire—and, indeed, fire there was. Daily temperatures through that spring time period also compounded the problem. Rainfall, as I said, was lower. Some parts of the state had record temperatures, but certainly some parts of the state had record low rainfalls.

Of course that presents real challenges not only for farmers around my electorate but also for members of more urban communities, particularly in relation to the water restrictions that have been brought in over the last month or so. And it is not over yet. There has been a record number of total fire ban days across the state of Tasmania and hundreds of fires have burnt across the state. Many of you would have seen the impacts of the fires on the west coast—not in my electorate, but in my colleague the member for Braddon's electorate—which are burning in areas that are very sparsely populated, which is a blessing; however, I note the evacuations that were made in those parts of the west coast.

The communities that were most impacted by the fires in my electorate included the Derwent Valley, up towards Maydena and the national park, into the municipality of Kentish. I note the community of Lorinna have had an ongoing issue with access. There is only one road that is currently able to be used to go in and out of that very small community in a beautiful part of the world, and certainly it has understandably highlighted the concerns that they were presented with in terms of being able to access an alternative route out of the township of Lorinna. The Meander Valley, particularly the communities of Mole Creek and Chudleigh, were severely impacted. The fires that started around Lake Mackenzie were a threat to a number of communities around Meander, Western Creek, Chudleigh, Mole Creek and Jackeys Marsh. They also went into reserve areas and part of the national park and world heritage areas that abut those communities. There are still 75 fires active around the state, including 46 that are currently still uncontained or uncontrolled. To date, more than 100,000 hectares have been burnt and 37 fires have yet to be mapped. They have a perimeter of around 830 kilometres.

We have been blessed though with support from interstate—New South Wales and Victoria in particular—in terms of remote area specialists. In fact, 180 people have come to the state. So we have had a combination of personnel from New Zealand, from New South Wales, the ACT. Of course, there are also staff from the Parks and Wildlife Service in Tasmania, Forestry Tasmania and the wonderful staff at the Tasmanian Fire Service, along with the volunteers.

I note the member for Indi's comments about communication. This has already been raised with me, particularly in relation to the community at Mole Creek. It is great to know that they were funded in the first round of the $100 million mobile phone blackspot program. While they have not got communication currently, that will be something that hopefully will happen in years to come. The SES has been extraordinary in their ability to communicate with often quite isolated communities, as have the ABC. I take my hat off to the ABC; they have done a fantastic job again.

An estimated 11,000 hectares of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area has been burnt. I just want to clarify a few points, because there has been a lot of media—there has been national media, and I note that Senator McKim has made some comments about this; there was an article in the Mercury yesterday by Professor Jamie Kirkpatrick. They are over-egging the omelette there. It is a disaster, it is a tragedy and certainly some of that very fragile and precious alpine vegetation has been impacted, but it is a very small part of what is an enormous area in the state of Tasmania. Less than two per cent of the Wilderness World Heritage Area has been impacted. It is absolutely typical that they overreach, they over exaggerate the reality of this. Of course it is a tragedy to see those vulnerable trees that are less able to regenerate compared to eucalypt forests, but it is disingenuous to say that the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area has been devastated, because it simply has not.

With regard to my contribution, I certainly made Minister Hunt aware when it became apparent that these areas were under threat. I have spoken to Minister Keenan on numerous occasions over the last few months, as I have with the Tasmanian Fire Service. My message to them was that if, through the normal processes of seeking assistance when it is appropriate from the Commonwealth, you have an issue, then come to your local member. That has not been the case, fortunately, and they have been in control of the situation there.

There is an irony here, of course, that those communities that were threatened, particularly the community of Meander and around that area—I note that the member for Watson now owns a property adjacent to the extensions that he, when he was the minister for the environment, extended under his watch. He is now the proud owner of a property in an area that, as a result of his decisions, has been added to the Wilderness World Heritage Area. It was not those communities of Jackeys Marsh, of which he is now part; it was the people in Meander and Western Creek and other areas that had, for generations, made a livelihood off the western tiers. Through their mismanagement, if you will, as would be claimed by some, these areas were considered appropriate for inclusion within the World Heritage Area. There is an irony here that should not be lost on anybody about the inconsistency and the hypocrisy that exist here. It is wonderful to have the member for Watson with a property in my electorate. I am very pleased to have him, and certainly, if there are issues, I will do my best to represent his concerns. I am not sure that some of his neighbours would feel the same pleasure at having him is a neighbour though, given the work and the damage he did during the time he was the minister for the environment.

In the time I have left, I would just say that on the east coast the rain has come during the last week and a half has caused huge damage to some parts of the east coast and in the north-east. There have been record daily rainfalls on any day of the year—not just with January rainfalls at Orford, Frankfurt in the Latrobe municipality, Friendly Beaches, on the east coast. The township of Meander, with a blessing, had their highest daily rainfall of 91.8 millimetres on 29 January, as parts of the north-west did, albeit that the west coast, which was in desperate need, missed out.

Nature is indeed a powerful beast. It is also very resilient, and we should not lose sight of the fact that, like nature, rural and regional committees are also very resilient. I was at a Fingal and St Marys to view the damage that was caused by floods there on Saturday afternoon and to view the work that the volunteers that participated and the SES did—and the stoicism of the locals. The local council—I will give credit to them; it was just wonderful to see. These communities will recover and, again, this is again part of the country that we live in. I take my hat off to all those people that have contributed to the recovery process. Thank you for the opportunity.

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