Ben Morton (Tangney, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet) Share this | Hansard source

This parliament is a symbol for all Australians. Although we represent different communities with different landscapes and landmarks, we come here together with the same belief: that Australia is an incredible country with incredible heart and soul, full of grit and determination. So many people have been standing up and fighting these devastating fires, and we're here to support them. We're standing with you. We're also standing to honour the 33 people, including the nine emergency responders, who have died whilst selflessly fighting fires. We are standing to reflect the deep gratitude felt by all Australians.

In my role as Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet, I have been working to support the response and recovery efforts. The National Bushfire Recovery Agency, led by Andrew Colvin, is modelled on the National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency. The leadership is under the coordination of the Hon. Shane Stone. The National Bushfire Recovery Agency will ensure that communities, families, farmers and businesses hit by these unprecedented bushfires get the support they need as they recover. That is the priority of this government.

I have been very honoured and pleased to be able to visit affected residents. It's made me feel devastated to understand their stories, but I also feel very proud about who they are as Australians. Fires that are unprecedented in scale are being met with bravery, courage and selflessness of the highest order. I would like to share with you a story from my visit to Kangaroo Island with the Prime Minister, where I met with locals to hear what they needed and to check on the great work of the ADF. I met Shane Leahy. He was one of the first people I met when we arrived to talk with some residents. He is a farmer and a volunteer firefighter with the South Australian Country Fire Service. Shane lost his house and many of his sheds while he was off his property fighting fires. When he had a chance to return and saw the charred remains of his home, his guts were churning. He said he nearly threw up. Everything was alight. Trees were glowing. But there was no time for rest or reflection; Shane went straight back to the fire truck and sped off to continue the fight in the hope that others would be spared this exact same fate.

The first thing that Shane said to me when he saw me was: 'Mate, I don't want a handout. I'm going to be fine. I just want people to buy my garlic. I'm a garlic farmer.' He had harvested his garlic a few weeks earlier. Shane owns and runs Kangaroo Island Fresh Garlic. What was interesting in that story was that the harvesting of the garlic and the putting of the garlic in the shed that was surrounded by the harvested garlic paddocks created the fire break to save the garlic that he harvested. Shane was asking for that support, for people to buy his garlic so he can work his way out of the trouble he has found himself in. Army reservists taking part in Operation Bushfire Assist were also there to help Shane. They helped sort out the bulbs and remove stems so the garlic could be split into cloves, peeled and processed to be ready for sale. It is people like Shane we are honouring today—someone who lost his home and will potentially lose his business. When he had the opportunity to see a minister of the government, the first thing he said was, 'We'll be alright, mate.' He wants people to buy his garlic; he didn't want a handout. We were there to help him, and the ADF have been there to help him as well.

It's strange in politics sometimes, when you're visiting communities like this and you run into people like Shane. Towards the end of the conversation I asked about Shane's story. It turns out that he went to Ferndale Primary School and Lynwood Senior High School, which happen to be in my electorate of Tangney in Perth. It's strange that one person you bump into, who you talk to and who tells you such a story, actually comes from the community that you represent in this House today. It's people like Shane who we thank, as well as his fellow fire and emergency personnel who have given everything when they have lost almost everything.

I was very pleased to support the Prime Minister's decision to announce that we will be formally acknowledging the extraordinary efforts and sacrifices of our emergency services volunteers and personnel with the National Emergency Medal. The medal will be awarded to emergency responders who have given sustained or significant service during this season of bushfires, including those who work or volunteer with our fire, police, ambulance and emergency services, as well as our Defence Force personnel, reservists and overseas personnel.

While this terrible crisis continues, it's too early to settle the details of who'll be eligible. Our emergency service organisations clearly have other priorities just now. But it was important for them to know that their work will be recognised with the awarding of the National Emergency Medal, not by this government but by all Australian people, in this way. The crisis will end. In the coming months, when the Governor-General has made the necessary formal declaration, the medal will give us that opportunity to reflect again on each of those individuals who have stood up and served their communities and our nation.

When the Prime Minister moved the motion that we are speaking to today, he also announced some significant changes to the National Medal—a different medal, with a similar name. For the first time, it will be available to members of eligible government and volunteer organisations who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The National Medal is Australia's most-awarded service medal. It's been in existence for 45 years. It is awarded to members of emergency and like organisations who put their lives on the line in the service and protection of people and property, when they've reached 15 years of service. But one of the things that was wrong about this medal—and why the Prime Minister wrote to Her Majesty in January this year—was that if you died before reaching 15 years of service then you weren't eligible for the medal. If you die in duty, in serving one of these organisations, and you would otherwise have reached 15 years of service, then you should be awarded this medal, in recognition of your contribution and in recognition of the ultimate sacrifice you have given to the Australian people.

So, I'm very pleased that Her Majesty The Queen agreed to the Prime Minister's request and that the National Medal will not only be made available to those personnel who have died in this bushfire season and who haven't yet reached but would otherwise have reached 15 years of service but also will actually go back over the 45 years of the existence of this medal and make up for what should have been the case previously. These medals will hold Australia's immense gratitude within them, because in this country we've got so much to be proud of, even in the most difficult times.

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