Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I can't follow that. I rise today to commend some Australian heroes, our Rural Fire Service. Australia has suffered a devastating bushfire season already. New South Wales has been hit severely with some 600 homes having been lost to date, and our firefighters battled a fire front of about 6,000 kilometres long. Tragically, six lives have been lost and countless lives changed forever. Whilst the damage across the country is vast, it would have been much worse without the extraordinary efforts of the RFS.

Crews from Mackellar have spent the last few weeks deployed all over the state, fighting some of the harshest of bushfires. All our volunteers deserve praise, but I'd like to make mention of Captain Luke Robinson from the Northern Beaches headquarters brigade, who has recently led numerous RFS crews through some treacherous times. To the countless volunteers from the Northern Beaches, who have been on regular deployment at the northern New South Wales coast since early September, we say, 'Thank you.' You can't build a nation without sacrifice and you can't build a community without volunteers. To the volunteers across the country, and particularly to those in Mackellar, thank you for your selflessness and all you do to make our community safe and better.

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