Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today, on this last day of sitting, to mention the Yarra Glen Bushfire Memorial, which I know Mr Deputy Speaker Mitchell will be familiar with. The memorial to commemorate the Black Saturday bushfires of February 2009 was unveiled on 25 November. I note on this last day of sitting that the fifth anniversary of that shocking day will have arrived when we next meet. It was a very moving time on 25 November to see the unveiling of what is a very touching memorial, created by local artist Ernst Fries. As the 110 or so people at the event saw, it depicts the tragedy and the recovery. Indeed, it has three large screen panels constructed from coloured transparent glass, firstly depicting the ferocity of the fires, then the recovery and finally the hope for the future following that disaster.

The memorial is in McKenzie Reserve in the heart of Yarra Glen and there are plans to place lights around it. Of course, it will be there not just for the residents of Yarra Glen and, particularly nearby Steels Creek and some other areas in the Yarra Valley which were so badly affected, but also for all Victorians who pass through that town, as so many do on weekends.

I was joined at the event on Monday 25 November by local councillor Maria McCarthy and the state member for Seymour Cindy McLeish, who both spoke in a reflective way of those terrible events nearly five years ago. We also heard from Dale Ahern whose parents were killed in the fire at Steels Creek. The local Yarra Glen primary school students sang on the day and performed magnificently. It was truly a community event when people could look back and reflect but, importantly, look forward with optimism.

As the fifth anniversary comes around it will be a very difficult time for those who were affected. Whilst some of the houses have been rebuilt and some are in the process of being rebuilt, as the Deputy Speaker knows as someone from that part of the world, there are lives that can never be fully rebuilt. And while it was five long years ago, for those who were affected it is just like yesterday.

As we wrap up our proceedings here for this parliamentary year, next year with Australia Day we will reflect on all of the wonderful opportunities of being Australian. Particularly for those in the Yarra Valley and other communities that were so badly affected, the fifth anniversary will be another time to reflect, to remember, and to rededicate themselves to those who lost their lives.