Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Cormann. Over the past week New South Wales and Queensland have been devastated by bushfires, leading to three people tragically losing their lives and countless more losing their homes. Weather forecasts are predicting that the situation will only worsen, both today and over coming days. As we all indicated yesterday, our thoughts are with all of those facing this immediate crisis and our thanks are with the crews and firefighters battling these fires across the country. In that context, I ask the minister to provide the Senate with an update on the current situation being faced by communities in New South Wales and Queensland.