Barry Haase (Kalgoorlie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last month, we celebrated Australia Day and considered the topics for a citizenship test. Many of us paused to consider what it is to be Australian and talked of mateship, community and coming together in difficult times. The drought and this summer’s bushfires have demonstrated these characteristics and showed the resilience of those affected by these natural disasters.

I rise today to speak about a community within my electorate which is also a victim of Mother Nature. On 4 January, the south coastal town of Esperance in my electorate was hit by severe weather labelled a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ storm. Winds of up to 110 kilometres an hour brought down trees and powerlines and destroyed the Bandy Creek Boat Harbour. Rough seas washed away a 200-metre stretch of foreshore and created widespread damage. Localised flooding was caused by the downpour—185 millimetres fell in the town in 36 hours. Many farmers who were stranded on their properties by the floods were unable to communicate due to power outages and lost thousands of head of livestock. The most recent estimate I have is 50,000 sheep.

Prior to the storm, the beautiful Esperance community got together to prepare their town and their homes. The Local Emergency Management Committee called a town meeting with FESA, the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia, acting as the lead agency to advise residents. When the storm hit, the SES—the State Emergency Services—was inundated with requests for help. There were 35 volunteers, some of whom worked for nearly a week to help others. The SES received 150 callouts and resolved a number of other problems over the phone. Esperance Shire personnel, under the leadership of acting council CEO Richard Brookes, were also heavily involved in the aftermath of the storm.

I was in contact with a number of residents and emergency workers who were in the town, who all reported that community morale was high throughout the ordeal. The people of Esperance demonstrated mateship, community spirit and how to come together in difficult times. Their work is not finished even yet as the damage is still being assessed. Of course, the state will need to work closely with the Commonwealth government in securing emergency funds for the restoration of facilities in Esperance. We do not know what the total cost of that storm damage is as yet.

I acknowledge and praise the work of the volunteers—people to whom we always owe a great debt of gratitude. I wish the entire community well in its endeavours and I look forward to seeing Esperance restored to its beautiful former self as the gem in tourism on the south-eastern coast of Western Australia.