Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

Can I commend all members, starting with the Prime Minister and from there on, for their contributions on this important debate. I would like to start by recognising all those who have lost their lives during this summer of bushfires. To their families, loved ones, friends, communities, I offer my sincerest, heartfelt remorse for the loss of life that has occurred. Can I recognise those who died in the line of duty, sacrificing their own lives to save others. What they have done, I think, exemplifies the true spirit of humanity. I once again offer my deepest, deepest sorrow to their loved ones, their families and their communities.

Can I say how pleased I was that on Australia Day the government announced that the National Emergency Medal would be declared for the 'black summer' of 2019-20. Those who lost their lives in the line of duty will be posthumously awarded the National Emergency Medal. Not only that, this medal now will be awarded posthumously to those who lost their lives in the line of duty more broadly. Although, ultimately, these are decisions for family members, I think that recognising all those who serve and all of those who give their lives serving is something that we as a nation should do. With this in mind, I recall back in my electorate a tragedy that occurred in which two surf lifesavers, Andy and Ross Powell, lost their lives not so long ago while seeking to rescue someone off the shore at Port Campbell. Although a medal will never, ever be able to deal with the grief and sorrow that families suffer from the impact of losing those who give up their lives serving, I think being able to recognise them posthumously, through the National Emergency Medal, is a very significant step that has been made by the government.

The fires that have ravaged South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, parts of the ACT and parts of Western Australia have had a huge impact on communities. I think it is fitting that we are stopping to recognise the impact the fires have had. The fact that these fires occurred in so many states, and some of them very much at the same time, had an enormous impact on our resources for fighting the fires. In my electorate we had two reasonably serious fires and then another serious fire. We also had numerous fires from lightning strikes, which have been put out and, fortunately, haven't caused a large amount of damage. But one of those fires, the Budj Bim fire in my electorate, was burning at the same time that the fires in New South Wales and Victoria were burning. There is no question that the resources we normally throw at fires were thinly spread during that time. I think that is why what the government did was so significant, and the paradigm shift that occurred under the leadership of the Prime Minister in not only calling out the Army Reserve but also in making sure that the federal government took a forward posture in dealing with these fires. I remember talking to the local incident control manager of the Budj Bim fire, who said that in the normal course of events while they were fighting that fire they would have had significantly more resources to throw at the fire, and would have, if it weren't for the fact that those resources were in the east of Victoria and in southern New South Wales. As a matter of fact, their capability was down to one-third of what it normally would have been to fight that fire. I think from now on all governments are going to have to adopt the protocols and policies that our government has put in place when it comes to the bushfire season.

I commend the Prime Minister for taking a forward-leaning posture not only in how we're going to deal with these fires now but also in how we're going to recover from them, because once again there has been a significant paradigm shift in how we will deal with recovery in bushfire areas. For someone who is a passionate advocate for rural and regional Australia, the reality is we need the federal government to be forward leaning not only when it comes to dealing with fires but also when it comes to dealing with the impact of bushfires. Sadly, a lot of the services that state and territory governments would normally be able to provide have been hollowed out over time. The federal government has had to step in to replace those. I know now—and this has been the case for some time—that rural and regional communities look more and more to the federal government to be there for them. They look to them to provide the leadership and to provide the resources and services more than they ever have because of the hollowing out of those services across the board in rural and regional Australia. That is why out of this devastation the one thing that gives me heart is that we have set a strong precedent as to how a Commonwealth government will react when it comes to these disasters. I think that is one positive thing that all communities in rural and regional Australia will take heart from.

In terms of the fires in my electorate, as I mentioned, one was the Budj Bim fire, burning in a national park that is significant for our nation. The Budj Bim National Park has cultural heritage aspects which date back over 20,000 years. There are agricultural practices there which are some of the very first ever conducted in the world. It is an area that we need to protect. One of the most significant things about the way that that fire was dealt with was how the local Indigenous community, local fire services and local professional firefighters—whether they are from lands or from the state firefighting services—all worked collaboratively and cooperatively together to make sure that those historical artefacts and historical sites were protected. I commend everyone for that because those sites and artefacts are extraordinarily significant.

The other thing that came out of that was talking to the local Indigenous community about how keen they are to practice cultural burning in the Budj Bim National Park. They are looking for help and support with resources to be able to do that. Given the nature of that park and the rocky landscape that exists there—an old volcanic landscape—they need help and support to be able to do that. I call on the state government to help and support in that regard, and I am also hopeful that the federal government, through a redesigned ranger program or something similar to that, might be able to give resources and support to the local Indigenous community to practice cultural burning throughout as much of the year as possible in the Budj Bim National Park. That would also be relevant to the Grampians, where there are other historical sites of Indigenous significance and global significance.

If we could get more of that happening, it would be a wonderful way to ensure that connection to the land continues with Indigenous Australians. There are also wonderful employment opportunities for Indigenous Australians, the more we can develop cultural burning practices. It would help deal with the one major thing which was raised with me wherever I went discussing fires, and that is the need for us to ensure that we are dealing with vegetation in our national parks and dealing with vegetation on our roadsides. We have to manage our vegetation to make sure that we are dealing with those longer, hotter, drier summers that we are seeing as a result of climate change. We have to do that. That has to be an absolute priority.

The wonderful community of Lexton in my electorate was also threatened by a very serious fire just before Christmas. We lost one primary residence, four sheds, 48 kilometres of fencing, over a thousand sheep, 92 hectares of cropping and total pasture of 1,123 hectares. The bravery of those who stood in the way of that fire to protect the town of Lexton should never be forgotten. Those who have helped with the recovery shouldn't be forgotten either. I want to make particular mention of our local CFA volunteers, who are extraordinary with what they do, but also other local community groups.

In particular, I want to mention an organisation called BlazeAid. BlazeAid were in my electorate for over six months, helping with the clean-up after the St Patrick's Day bushfires of nearly two years ago. They did an extraordinary job of not only helping farmers repair their fence lines but also being there with them to assist in how they recovered. There is obviously a lot of trauma that our farmers in particular have to deal with as a result of fires, especially when livestock, fences and some of their key infrastructure are lost. BlazeAid is there not only to help them repair their fence lines but to be with them through that journey. They'll turn up to community events like Anzac Day to be there with the community. They'll go down to the local pub and sit and have a beer with farmers. They are there not only to help with rebuilding but to help with the trauma impact. I had the great pleasure of doing half a day's fencing with BlazeAid in Lexton, and it is inspirational to see what they are doing, how they go about it and the communities they bring together to rebuild.

There were some wonderful young backpackers there—some young Belgian backpackers and a young Welsh backpacker. There are old grey nomads who come from far and wide, and they all set up camp and they are all part of the community. One of the things I am hopeful we will be able to do as a government—I've spoken to Minister Tudge, and I know he's looking at this very closely—is to change our visa arrangement for those backpackers who come and volunteer for BlazeAid, so that that could count towards them getting a second year's stay here in Australia. I think that will help us deal with the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of kilometres of fencing that needs to be repaired across the nation.

I also thank the President of the Council of International Students Australia, who came and volunteered with me fixing the fences, because he wanted to help send a message to international students that, although Australia has been ravaged by bushfires, our international education market is still very much open. As a matter of fact, international students could come and arrive early and help, volunteer and support, whether it be helping the wildlife that have been burnt, fixing fencing or any other community activities that would help. That was just before the coronavirus hit, and obviously that has put another impact on our international student market. But, Ahmed, thank you for coming and volunteering to repair fences in my electorate.

We also had the Wade Junction fire near the Lower Glenelg National Park. I just make the point that a lot of timber workers, especially in Gippsland, parts of my electorate and southern New South Wales, have also helped in dealing with bushfires and supported the recovery effort. I thank them for their efforts as well.

The government is determined to be there right the way through the recovery process with communities that have been impacted by bushfires. When it comes to education, we're determined to do that as well. Once again this is extraordinarily inspirational. I've been in contact with the principal of St Peter's in Broulee—and I hope to visit next week. That school was heavily hit by the bushfires, but that school, like all schools that were impacted, was so determined that the teachers and the principal would be there for those students as the school year started so that they could have the normality in their lives of going back to school and having that routine in place. Everyone was of the view that that was absolutely needed, especially to help all the young Australians who have been impacted. I was very pleased to be able to work with the Prime Minister and to provide, as part of the $2 billion bushfire package, extra counselling services there. We're able to work with Beyond Blue to do that and to offer the states and territories extra money for counselling through chaplaincy. There are other initiatives, including helping the non-government school sector and the childcare and preschool sectors that were impacted to rebuild.

It's so important that we are there standing by communities and helping them to recover. This has not stopped and it will not end. Sadly, since I've been in this place I have had to deal in my own electorate with floods and fires. One of the key lessons is that, once the media attention disappears, the impact on the community is still there and it lasts a long time. We all need to understand that. We all need to make sure that we remain supporting those communities for a long time after.

We're nearly at the second anniversary of the St Patrick's Day fire. Some of the communities impacted by that fire are still hurting. There is still trauma there. We still need to be there assisting them, as we are going to have to be there assisting those communities that have been devastated over this summer period. I'm proud to be part of the government that has put forward a package that means that we can be there for the long term to help those communities.

As education minister I want to make sure that we continue to support the childcare centres, the schools and the higher education sector, which opened their dormitories and student accommodation for firefighters, police and others. They did it out of the goodness of their hearts. They have done all sorts of other things. We've obviously now offered scholarships for regional and rural students in bushfire impacted areas, and they will be prioritised.

We have to make sure that through our education system we are there for young Australians, particularly for the children who have been impacted by the fires, and there is the counselling and support that they need. We can help them and support them through their school journey and through their life education journey. That's an absolute key way that the government can help and support those young Australians who have been so severely impacted by these bushfires.

I'll end it there. There is a lot more that I could say, but I will end by saying two things. Thank you to everyone who has helped, supported and contributed to all communities right across this nation to deal with the impact of the bushfires. We have seen the best of Australia. We have seen the best of Australians, and nothing gives me more joy than the stories I come across. There is one which will stick with me: a farm that was burnt in the St Patrick's Day fires two years ago in my electorate had hay donated by a farmer in Gippsland and, two years later—we've been very fortunate: we've had two very good seasons—that farm was able to repay the service by getting a truckload of hay and delivering it to the farm that had helped it two years ago. It's just remarkable to see how Australia works in that regard: community to community, farm to farm, just helping each other.

The second point, and the last point, is once again: can I just express my deepest sorrow and commiserations to all those families and loved ones who are dealing with the loss of life that occurred as a result of these fires.

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