Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As members will know, today is the 50th anniversary of the horrific 1967 Tasmanian bushfires, which killed 64 people, injured 900 more and destroyed countless thousands of livestock, buildings, vehicles and property. I grant indulgence to the member for Denison.

Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Black Tuesday Tasmanian bushfires are, to this very day, the state's deadliest fires and one of Australia's worst. In total, 110 fires burned throughout large parts of southern Tasmania, including the Derwent Valley, Glenorchy, Hobart, Kingborough and the Huon Valley. The fires stretched from Hamilton and Bothwell down to Snug and the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. Tragically, 64 people died and some 900 were injured. About 1,500 homes and other buildings, and a similar number of vehicles, were destroyed. Stock losses amounted to approximately 62,000.

Near where I live, terrific little Fern Tree was virtually wiped off the map, with about two-thirds of the houses destroyed, along with the hotel, the shop and the parish hall. But as is often the case, out of these dreadful events came stories of great heroics and extraordinary generosity—of neighbours helping neighbours and strangers helping strangers.

Today, on the 50th anniversary of Black Tuesday, we remember all those who lost their lives, as well the thousands of families affected. We have deep respect for what they endured and thank the survivors for how they rebuilt their lives and laid the foundation of today's Tasmania.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the honourable member has just described, 50 years ago today south-eastern Tasmania was engulfed in an inferno that is, to this day, the state's most catastrophic natural disaster. Sixty-four people lost their lives; another 900 were injured. A total of 1,400 houses and buildings were destroyed. Thousands were left homeless. Tens of thousands of livestock perished. Livelihoods were destroyed. The disaster received worldwide attention, President Johnson of the United States expressing his profound sympathy for the people of Tasmania and all Australians who had suffered as a result of this misfortune.

Time and again, in the face of natural disaster, Australians show grace under pressure and bravery in the face of danger, and rally selflessly, without a second thought, to help each other. Our thoughts today are with the people of Tasmania—those who remember, those who suffered loss and those who rebuilt their lives. We remember all those who helped in those difficult and dangerous times and who, through acts big and small, helped their neighbours recover, repairing communities and restoring infrastructure.

We thank the firefighters, the other emergency personnel and the volunteers who courageously put their own lives at risk and coordinated all of the arrangements, all of the logistics, to ensure that the fire could be defeated and, in the aftermath, recovered from. Most of all, we remember and honour with admiration the resilience of the courage of the people of Tasmania.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Denison for reminding the House of this anniversary. This day, 7 February—a Tuesday in 1967, a Saturday in 2009—is seared in the memories of Tasmanians and Victorians alike. Black Tuesday remains the worst bushfire in Tasmanian history. Sixty-two Tasmanians lost their lives and over 900 were injured. Thousands more lost homes, pets, crops, livestock and those other countless treasures that fires claim: the photo albums, the films, the scrapbooks, the handmade memories and heirlooms gone for good. In their place was the imprint of fear: the memories of lost loved ones, narrow escapes, the heart-stopping recall of a last-minute decision to flee that nearly was not made.

Now 50 years is more than enough time to replant crops, to regrow trees, to rebuild homes and communities. But for many Tasmanians time will have not faded the memories, dimmed the sadness or eased the pain. We stand with them today.