Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about Red Balloon Day, which we acknowledged yesterday. From its humble beginnings in Geelong in 2014 Red Balloon Day has become national initiative, aimed at honouring and thanking the courageous and selfless firefighters Australia-wide on 28 February—of course, the last official day of summer.

The idea is simple: to fly red 'thank you, fireys' balloons from your letterbox, fence or office window to let our firefighters, both professional and volunteer, know how appreciated they are for their dedication and hard work in often dangerous, life-threatening conditions, leaving their own families, homes and sometimes their communities to help others.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. In 1983 Ash Wednesday fell on 16 February. On that day, with temperatures soaring to 43 degrees and north-easterly winds gusting at 75 kilometres an hour, 180 bushfires broke out across Victoria and South Australia. In my home state of South Australia, 159,000 hectares of land in the Adelaide Hills and South-East were torched. Hundreds of homes were lost and, most devastatingly, 75 lives, which included 17 firefighters.

Yesterday I flew the red 'thank you, fireys' balloons. Today, on Ash Wednesday, it is a fitting reminder of how much we value our firefighters, in particular the CFS volunteers in rural areas. These volunteers make up such an important part of so many communities in my electorate of Barker. I want to acknowledge to the House today their work and the work they stand ready to do.