Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence Industry and Support) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity to update the House on the situation in regard to the Tathra fires, the great tragedy that occurred on the South Coast in my electorate just recently, which was well publicised. Firstly, I would like to thank again the relevant ministers and the government for the assistance—and the Prime Minister for coming down to highlight the situation, and also the Leader of the Opposition. It really helped us to spur the fundraising arrangements. Certainly, that publicity has led to an extremely successful federal mayors relief appeal, which has been applied very well to the circumstances of people who had either no insurance coverage or inadequate insurance coverage. That has been very gratefully received. The people of the Tathra community and the Bega Valley Shire want to express their gratitude to all those who have donated so generously to the cause.

I was at a meeting last week with the mayor, the recovery officer, Euan Ferguson, and the general manager of the shire, Leanne Barnes. Things have gone extremely well. I am also grateful in that context for the state government's donation of $10 million to remediate the asbestos situation we had there. Many of those houses were of that vintage that had serious asbestos issues. There was quite a lot of asbestos rubble. That $10 million was well received. That clean-up effort is well and truly underway. It is being handled in accordance with sound and proper handling practices for asbestos.

The progression in terms of getting reconstruction happening quickly is going to be able to go ahead well. In particular, the insurance companies have been very cooperative and very well organised in this situation, I'm really pleased to say. We didn't have such a great situation in relation to the floods that we had a few years ago in Queanbeyan and Captains Flat, where there was a lot of debate over the interpretation of what a flood was, which led to some grief in terms of getting issues dealt with. But the insurance companies this time have been very well organised. They reached out to me up-front. We coordinated and talked about how to respond. A facility was set up in the council chambers down in Bega, and all the insurance companies did a great job of processing those claims in a very rapid manner. Well done to all those organisations who helped our citizens in their hour of need.

Very creative were a lot of the means by which we have responded to the crisis in terms of fundraising. There will be a benefit concert this Saturday night, which is sold out. The Hoodoo Gurus are coming along. This is going to raise a significant amount of money as well. This is a wonderful community that is deserving of the support. They are a very resilient and supportive community. We were so blessed that, even though we lost 70-odd homes and many others were damaged, we didn't lose a single life to this situation. And that was mainly down to the community. Everything broke down. The radio wasn't working properly and the telecommunications went down straightaway because it was the power lines that caused the fire. That community just looked after itself by driving around and doorknocking and getting the word out, so everybody was evacuated effectively. It was really wonderful to see them rally around each other like that. There was no system or rehearsal of any of that, so they did a wonderful job. Given the particular risks of that situation, with just two roads out of the Tathra area, it needed to be handled well. We were blessed that we had no loss of life.

In addition to that, this is a community that is really passionate about the whole climate change issue. Tathra was the birthplace of the 'Clean Energy for Eternity' movement. They rallied together to create their own solar farm. They built that solar farm to spell out the word 'Imagine'. When you drive into town, you see a big water tower which is emblazoned with the motto '50/50 by 2020', which is their ambition for a reduction of emissions and a transition to renewable energy. Ironically, they were in the front line of those exacerbated extreme conditions we are seeing with climate change on those days. It was a horrendous perfect storm of intense temperatures and high winds. The circumstances were dire and threatened the entire town. Fortunately, key infrastructure was preserved. I really want to thank the community, which has responded by coming back to Tathra and using the tourism facilities. It is a wonderful place to take a holiday. I continue to urge people to do that; that is the one thing I would like to see most of all. Come and see the people in Tathra and enjoy the benefits of a wonderful community. Thank you for your support.