Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In early July we saw the devastation of wildfires on the Attica coast in Greece. They were the second-deadliest wildfires in this century, after the 2009 Black Saturday fires here in Australia. I know the member for Hindmarsh was in Greece at the time, and I pay tribute to him and the work that he did there. I also pay tribute to many Greek organisations like the Orthodox Church and the Federation of the Greek Orthodox Communities of Australia for the fundraising efforts that have gone on here in relation to those deadly fires. We know that those fires claimed the lives of 94 people. I was talking at the football to a friend of mine, Athena, and her daughters had been in the very town where the wildfires took place the day before. Over recent weeks we've watched the devastation of the fires burning in Greece. While these images appear far away, these fires have personal connections to the electorate of Barton and to everyone else that has constituents of Hellenic background. In Barton we have an amazing Greek community, with many Greek families living there, and I know that they have been touched very personally by these fires. I put on record on behalf of the Labor Party—and all members of this House, I'm sure—that our thoughts are with the people of Greece and those that have been affected so devastatingly by these fires.