Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This past summer has been a 'black summer' and very tough for many Australians around the country, but particularly on the east coast, and I rise today to add my voice and that of my community in Canning, in the Peel region of Western Australia, in expressing condolence for those devastated by this year's bushfires. I particularly want to extend our sympathies to those who have lost loved ones, their homes, their communities and their livelihoods. I also want to acknowledge and give thanks for the efforts of our brave firefighters, our volunteers, both here in Australia and those from overseas, and I acknowledge the deaths of those three fine Americans who gave their lives fighting the fires here in Australia to protect our community. I also thank the community leaders and the many Australians who quietly got on with helping others, without any sort of recognition. It's a reminder that this great country starts in our local communities, where we form our closest bonds, with our neighbours, and, taken together, we form a collective known as Australia, this great country. It's encouraging to see such a healthy group of local communities right across this country.

But it's not enough just to offer our sympathies. Words need to be matched with action, and this government has stepped up with a raft of initiatives, including the initial $2 billion national bushfire recovery fund. Others here have detailed these initiatives, so I won't go through them again. But I do want to note, for the record, the contributions of my fellow Western Australians, particularly in the Peel region and the greater South West. For example, the Harvey Hay Run—Harvey sits in the seat of Forrest, just to our south—has sent a convoy of trucks carrying more than 2,000 bales of hay and fodder as well as supplies, clothes, blankets and nappies from south-west WA to help those in fire affected New South Wales. This support has come from farmers and families who were affected by the January 2016 Waroona and Yarloop fires. These fires, in my electorate and in the electorate of Forrest, destroyed 160 homes, the whole town Yarloop, and killed two people. We saw more than 2,000 kilometres of fencing destroyed, livestock killed and sheds, tractors and feeding troughs all destroyed. Farmers did it very tough. But what we've seen over the last four years in our community is the truism that restoration follows ruin, and that there is hope for those who've suffered immensely. Just seeing our community recover over the last four years gives me hope.

This season's tragedy has shown the best of Australia. I also want to put on record the work of the volunteer firefighters from brigades in my electorate and around Western Australia who travelled east to give their assistance and expertise during these emergencies. These are volunteers from the brigades in Bedfordale, Roleystone and Byford in Canning, just to name a few. Thank you for going above and beyond, giving up your summer break to travel across the continent to help your fellow Australians. I applaud you and I thank you from this House.

I also want to pay tribute to the hundreds of men and women who helped keep my electorate safe during the fire season. We've had some very near misses this season. The most significant came on 9 January when an evacuation notice was given to parts of the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale, following an out-of-control fire that accidentally started on the Kwinana Freeway when a boat came off a trailer when a gentleman was returning from the south-west back up to Perth. The fire threatened parts of Mardella, Hopeland and Rockingham and the Kwinana Freeway. Had it not been contained, parts of Baldivis, Wellard, Oldbury, Cardup, Mundijong, Whitby and Serpentine would have been in great danger—a lot of homes, properties, livestock, and a lot of horses. The equine industry is concentrated in Canning.    So I thank the many hundreds of volunteers, but particularly the approximately 150 firefighters who converged over a couple of days and nights to beat back the fire, which burned up to 1,300 hectares, in the face of difficult and changing winds. Thankfully, our region was spared, with minimal damage to property and no loss of life.

This past summer is a reminder of how fragile our landscape is and how important strong local communities are to our collective wellbeing and security. So to all those affected, those who lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods, we in this House are with you. We will support you in the months and years ahead. Our hearts go out to you.

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