Harry Quick (Franklin, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today is the 40th anniversary of the tragic Black Tuesday bushfires in southern Tasmania. On that day, 7 February 1967, temperatures in Tasmania reached 39.4—a February record. Early in the morning, at nine o’clock, the first calls were made to the Tasmania Fire Service. Within five hours over 110 bushfires in the southern part of Tasmania joined together to cause one of the greatest conflagrations ever seen in Australian history.

In the space of five hours the fire destroyed over 1,300 houses, 128 major buildings, including post offices, churches, schools and factories, and caused the death of 62 people. Most of the damage was done in the southern part of Tasmania in my electorate of Franklin. Snug was one of the worst affected areas. Every house in Snug—apart from two—was totally destroyed. In Middleton, the only shelter people had was to go to the beach. Even the seaweed on the beach caught fire. The temperatures were so high that even the bitumen on the road caught fire. Communications failed. At one stage there was only one radio station broadcasting in southern Tasmania. I was lucky, I guess, not to be there because I was holidaying in Mexico. The first I heard of this tragedy was when I read in the newspaper that the whole of Tasmania was being evacuated by a submarine, which I thought was rather ludicrous.

This week, and especially on the weekend, there are numerous commemorative services being held in the various towns down in the channel. The old school clock on the school building at Snug Primary School—it used to be known as the District High School—is to be started up again after 40 years. There are lots of memories and lots of movies are being shown of the tragedy. Sadly, I do not think we have learnt much in 40 years. Throughout Australia, with the drought and the dryness and the fact that we do not really look after our bush, another disaster is waiting to happen. I am glad to be able to place it on the public record that Black Tuesday—one of the worst disasters ever to hit Tasmania and one of the top three ever to hit Australia—is being remembered throughout southern Tasmania today.