Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support this motion. It is fitting that our nation's parliament, the one place in which all of Australia is represented, sends a message of condolence for the terrible loss of life, wildlife and property that we collectively have experienced. Today we pay our respects and grieve for all the lives lost, but also for the lives that will be lost as a result of these unusually horrific bushfires. Such brutal fires can impact people in so many different ways—physically, emotionally, directly and indirectly. Even just the presence of such a brutal fire season can impact those not directly experiencing it.

However, words cannot express the grief, loss and sheer terror that the people who've been through the front of these fires have experienced. As many residents in my electorate of McEwen know all too well, this is not something that leaves our consciousness quickly. Country people are pretty much used to having such dangers, but the unprecedented blazes we've experienced during this crisis and over the past decade go beyond what was considered normal in the Australian summer. The consequences of our changing climate are becoming more obvious and more severe. Bushfires are not a faraway problem and an infrequent test for regional Australia. They are increasingly starting earlier and are more intense than ever before. We know this from the warning signs, from the voices of the fire experts who earlier this year predicted such brutal blazes, voices that went unheard in the corridors of those who could make a tangible difference. Evidently, these predictions were realised. These fires were bigger, they came earlier, and they were more intense than the government was prepared for. The challenge is now for government. If you say you accept manmade climate change, it is incumbent on you to educate those inside your tent who don't accept climate change.

Today we recognise and show our gratitude to those who live by the mantra 'Standing shoulder to shoulder'. These are the courageous people from all walks of life, paid and unpaid, who were prepared to stop what they were doing, forgo their plans, leave the comforts of home, go out there and get in and fight for communities. That courage has been shown as the fires rage, because we know all too well that the dangers are not yet over. We can smell it in the air outside this house today. Even as we stand here paying our condolences, communities across the ACT are preparing for the worst, as they hope for relief.

There is no greater example of courage than the fact that so many were prepared to risk their lives to save the lives of others. Many people were fighting fires knowing that all was lost for some of them, but they went back out there to help their mates, to help their neighbours and to help people they did not even know, because that is the character and commitment of our paid and unpaid volunteer brigades. This is the Australian spirit. It reminds us that leadership is being there when it matters.

We in McEwen and our surrounding electorates know all too well the challenges of the road to recovery. Black Saturday impacted us more than anywhere else in the nation. The brunt of that disaster was borne by our communities, and we carry the physical and mental scars of that day with us. But we also carry a great understanding of what the road to recovery is like. Recovery is an individual process that people deal with. It's best done at a pace that suits individuals, and the government has a massive challenge for the months and the years ahead.

My advice to the government is to listen. Listen to those with the expert knowledge and firsthand experience in recovery from disaster. There is no silver bullet to remedy this. There is no set play that can fix it. But there are lessons to be learnt which will make the road to recovery easier, so listen. Understand that people need to be the central focus of recovery plans. Letting individual cases guide us through the myriad issues we will face going forward is so important. At a time when we feel all is lost, we must keep them close, particularly in our small communities which have been hit hard.

Social cohesion at a time of crisis is important, especially for the many small businesses in towns who need the local foot traffic there to keep them afloat. Keeping locals in their community will always aid the healing process. But what will also help is reducing unnecessary bureaucracy which reduces the time people have to deal with the aftermath. Departments at all levels of government need to put people first. They can do this by taking unnecessary red tape out of the process and making services simple and efficient to use.

Understand and help with the process. Rebuilding homes and community infrastructure will be harder and more expensive as communities face higher bushfire attack level, or BAL, ratings and other building standards to make homes and other buildings safer and more resilient. Coordination is also key. Ensure that moneys go to people directly when they need them. Having an efficient system means more people will get help quicker and limits the number of people who will fall through the cracks.

Importantly, take the egos out of government. Recovery isn't a time for photo opportunities and false empathy. People are hurting and they need a hand up, a shoulder to lean on and an ear to hear their voice. Don't turn your back on them. Don't walk away. As I said, we have the experience and the knowledge in our communities to help along the way. We can learn from the people with the experience—people such as Tony Thompson OAM, Anne Leadbeater, Kath Stewart and Helen Kenny, people who have walked this path and know better than you what is in the road ahead.

There are people such as those in our Lions and Rotary clubs, and the Bee You child care in Kilmore, who made bat wraps to send up to the Blue Mountains. I have seen firsthand the work they do. Of course, there is BlazeAid. BlazeAid is now a national, iconic institution, founded by Kevin and Rhonda Butler of Kilmore. They have gone to great lengths in this space since the Black Saturday bushfires, helping farmers get fences back up, to get them going more quickly. There is Ranges Rescue, who spent weeks sewing and creating assistance and support for native animals. They did a fundraiser which raised about $5,000. That was done with little items costing up to $20, from home-made tote bags to bespoke fabric coasters. Whatever it was, they put it in to help communities.

I also want to acknowledge people like Khalsa Aid. Khalsa Aid, as the member for Gippsland pointed out, went out there into communities and supported communities by cooking food and helping people—in Buchan and those sorts of places. They even went up to New South Wales. And of course there has been the Islamic outreach. What this shows is that people right across this nation, from all walks of life, have been out there supporting our communities. For over ten months after the Black Saturday fires BlazeAid were out there, and even today they are out there, right across this nation, helping our farmers. Transition Village in Wallan, which is a homeless persons shelter, is opening its doors and helping to raise funds. A lady who I have the utmost respect for, Jane Hayward OAM, was the principal of Strathewen Primary School, one of the biggest towns hit with loss of life, per capita, in Black Saturday. Jane travels the country going into communities, looking after communities, looking after schools and helping them get back on track. She has been working with Rob Gordon the psychiatrist and Kate Liddell—ex-Firefoxes—to help people in the aftermath of the fires. We owe to people in these communities who have lost their homes and loved ones every ounce of energy and help that the Commonwealth government is capable of giving. We owe those communities that need us. We will be there for them as they forge ahead in the new normal.

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