Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Hansard source

The bushfires that we have seen rage across New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia, and here in our nation's capital have been nothing short of horrific. Thirty-three people now have lost their lives in this disaster. These include Australians who put themselves in harm's way as volunteers, as firefighters, and those simply trying to defend their own homes. That includes five firefighters from New South Wales and Victoria, as well as three firefighters who came out here from the United States to lend their hand in our fire effort. That includes 25 people, most of whom were defending their homes and their farms, who now will never come home. More than 2,000 homes have been lost across Australia since these fires began. I think I speak for us all when I say that our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have lost loved ones. Our thoughts are also with those who are part of the volunteer and professional fire services as a whole, as well as with those in our parks and wildlife services.

I wish to thank not only the various fire services from around our country and around the world who have lent their support but also our Australian Defence Force and, indeed, the defence forces from other nations that have come to help us in our time of need. The impact the ADF has made in the fire effort is extraordinary, and they continue to work tirelessly in the clean-up effort. What we have seen during these fires is the value of deploying our Defence Force and reservists and the need to ensure that the mechanism for their deployment in such domestic emergencies be examined further. We must ensure that should we be confronted with such disasters again, as I am sure we will, our ADF can be quickly and appropriately mobilised to anywhere they may be required across our vast country, with all of the equipment they may require in such circumstances.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 18:32 to 18:52

As I was saying, we must ensure that, should we be confronted with such disasters again, our ADF can be quickly and appropriately mobilised to anywhere they may be required across our vast country, with all the equipment they may require in such circumstances. Our thanks must go also to our civil mariners who helped with evacuations, providing essential supplies and sheltering those in need of refuge from the fires.

There have been many words spoken in this place, yesterday and today, of the pain and suffering that has been experienced by thousands across this country, and we know that the effects of that will continue to be felt for some time. I join in the contributions of my fellow members to this motion, and, in the interests of brevity, I will only make some brief points.

The experience of these fires is something familiar to my community in Perth's south-eastern suburbs, having been subjected to many fires over the years, most memorably—at least, for my family and community—the 2011 Kelmscott fires, where my parents were subsequently out of their house for two years, and many of our neighbours' homes were decimated. Then, imprinted on the mind of every Western Australian, there is the Yarloop fire of 2015, which left the entire town flattened. And there have been so many others.

These fires all over the country have been burning for months, including the Yanchep fire in the north of Perth, the Baldivis fires just south of my community, and the Nullarbor Plain fires, which cut WA off from the rest of the country by road for nearly two weeks. Together, all of these fires this season have burnt over 18 million hectares.

Before this season's fires, so many small businesses were already suffering, due to the already floundering state of the economy. It's the industries in many areas affected by fire, the small businesses and tourism operators, who rely on the summer holidays to bolster their annual incomes. They were relying on the summer break to strengthen and fill their coffers. The loss of the usual trade and tourism opportunities they traditionally rely on because of the fires will leave an impact on these communities long after the vegetation itself has regenerated. That's why last week I, along with the shadow minister for small and family business and the member for Macquarie, met with small business representatives in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. Yesterday we also met with members of the Bilpin community to hear their stories. We heard how many visitors have stayed away from these areas during what is usually their very busy time of year. This impacts business; it reduces employee hours; and it means that these employees then have less money to spend in their community. We heard from small business owners whose businesses survived the flames but are floundering nonetheless, as town centres remain empty of local and visiting customers. They told us that the economic conditions they now face feel worse than the global financial crisis. Some businesses have already been forced to close their doors, and many are at risk of the same fate if they don't get cash soon—not just loans that they can't even apply for yet. Together we can and must continue to work to support our fellow Australians, including these businesses, not just now but for the long haul.

This summer we saw extreme weather events, from hail to flames, flood to dust, on the back of record-breaking droughts. So we must act to mitigate the increases of such extremes. We cannot ignore, as some insist on doing, the impact of human caused climate change on the increased frequency and severity of weather events. We have to stop having this fight about climate change, because it is real and human activity is contributing to it. We can't keep burying our heads in the sand, especially when 195 countries in Paris agreed that it was so. We need to take collective action, not continue to have political argument; action that is real; action that protects and creates even more opportunities for growth; action that everyone is proud of now and in the future.

From these fires we've also seen some fantastic demonstrations of solidarity across our country, from mind-blowing fundraising efforts to grassroots community campaigns, even in my electorate of Burt. For instance, the Armadale Mosque, the Australian Arab Association, and even Sienna, a 10-year-old from Piara Waters in my electorate, who sold cupcakes at a stall outside her house over the holidays to raise money for the victims of these fires. My community couldn't get much further away from these east coast bushfires and, frankly, they really don't have much to give either. But they get it. They know the horror all too well, as do so many other Australians. In response to these bushfires, still raging, we see the solidarity that is the foundation of our nation. Firefighters from my community and many other communities in WA volunteered to uproot their lives, leave work and leave their families to travel to fire zones in the east to support the fire effort there over the summer. And they know that fireys in the east would do the same for us. For we all have that shared humanity, that sense of mateship which arises within us and surfaces across Australia in times of crisis like this.

So together we must and we do pay tribute to those who we have lost and to those lives that will never be the same again. And our help must not just be now, but ongoing. Reconstruction and the emotional effects will last for years, and it is important that all of us, as I know we do in this parliament, stand together with all those affected. Our hearts, our prayers, our thoughts are with all of you, and we will continue to do our best to ensure that your lives in the future are better than what you are suffering now.

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