Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is two years since the Senate passed a condolence motion in the aftermath of the Black Saturday bushfires. In the minds of many Australians, it still feels like yesterday. The scars are still very raw and the effects can still be seen as you drive through parts of Victoria. The Black Saturday bushfires devastated Victoria on 7 February 2009, killing 173 people, injuring 414 others, leaving over 2,000 homes destroyed. Even those of us who were not personally affected by the fires knew people in those areas, worked with people whose homes were destroyed or had a connection in some way or another with people from that particular region. For others, our connection was in seeing fellow Australians going through a living hell, feeling for them and their families.

The Black Saturday bushfires have affected each and every one of us in some way. Like many Victorians, I had personal friends living in those affected areas and had an agonising time trying to reach them during the crisis to make sure that everyone was okay. Over the last two years families have been trying to piece their lives back together and communities have been trying to rebuild. It has been a slow process for many of the victims as well as for their friends and families. The rebuilding has begun and will continue. I am proud to have been part of that rebuilding process with money from the Get Communities Working fund going directly to bushfire affected areas. I acknowledge the efforts of both the state and federal governments in having the bushfire recovery program as a key priority and for helping families get back on their feet.

Two years on, we all remain as committed as ever to helping the bushfire victims, their families and the communities. Australians have been generous with their time and money in helping the bushfire victims and it is a credit to all Australians that we have come together to help one another. I suppose that is the real Aussie spirit. It is important to commemorate what took place two years ago, to remember and learn from the experience and to help ensure that a tragedy of this nature never happens again.