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

Since we last met in this place, our nation and our people have faced and are facing an unprecedented trial. Today, in this national parliament, we acknowledge the dread, devastation and loss of this summer. We honour the courage, humanity and resilience of our fellow Australians. We honour them in the words we say, but, more importantly, we must honour them by our deeds and by our decisions.

What we have been going through as a nation must be a catalyst for doing things differently. Poignantly, as we meet today, and reflect on the catastrophic fires that took lives, destroyed homes, livelihoods and habitats, the nation's capital—where we meet right now—is engulfed in smoke and may yet be further threatened by fire.

I begin by acknowledging the unfathomable loss so many of our fellow Australians have suffered. I want to pay my deepest respects, and I know those of all of us here, for the profound sacrifice of our emergency workers—so many volunteers foregoing their work, putting their lives on the line, day after day, day and night, to protect the families and communities they love. So, to you all, the thanks of a grateful nation.

The numbers are stark and the human toll is crushing. Across the country: 10½ million hectares burnt; tens of thousands of livestock perished; an estimated one billion animals have been affected, killed by fires, or indirectly by lack of water, food, shelter and related threat of predators; and, as-yet-untold, damage done to our already struggling economy; over 3,000 homes destroyed; and, most tragically, 33 people have lost their lives—25 in New South Wales, five in Victoria, three in South Australia. Three of those who died were volunteer firefighters, and three were the American crew of a Coulson C-130 Hercules large air tanker.

It's difficult to know what to say in response to those facts. We know we can never repay those who gave their lives fighting these fires. We can but honour, we can but mourn, and we can but offer our heartfelt sympathies to all who loved them.

In my home state of South Australia, some 185 houses have been confirmed destroyed this season. The fires have burned through more than 300,000 hectares, businesses have been devastated, extensive road closures remain across Kangaroo Island, and, most tragically, three people have died. Ron Selth was a well-known and much-loved member of the Charleston and greater Adelaide Hills community. They found his body at his Charleston property in the aftermath of the Cudlee Creek bushfire. I know how much he is missed and I know he was a much loved grandfather.

The Lang family lost their father, Dick, and youngest son, Clayton. Dick Lang was an experienced adventurer, tour operator and bush pilot—larger than life. Clayton Lang was one of Adelaide's most respected plastic surgeons. Both were adored by family and admired by their communities. They died on the Playford Highway in the centre of the island where they had been trying to get to safety. I offer, again, my condolences to all their loved ones.

It was the selfless commitment of our firefighters, our volunteer firefighters, and our emergency personnel, who risked everything, and, in doing so, saved hundreds—perhaps thousands—more lives. Last month, I was privileged to visit the Cudlee Creek CFS brigade at their station—a brigade which, like so many others across our nation, have spent their summer, their holidays, battling blazes for weeks on end. The brigade captain was the first responder and quickly realised the scale of what they were battling. The benefits of investment by state governments in state-of-the-art equipment were clear, their appliances equipped to protect the crew in the event of a burnover, with pumps that can be operated from within the cabin and curtains to protect occupants from the extreme heat of the fire, and oxygen masks to keep the crew breathing as the fire passes. But it's also clear that our volunteers make do with substandard tools and facilities, more generally.

The appliance at Cudlee Creek is too high for the 60-year-old station. They use a broom handle to prop up the garage door to get the truck out. The crew's lounge is a small room fixed to the side of a station that is a shipping container, purchased using funds they raised themselves. The air-conditioner that keeps them cool on the extraordinarily hot days is so loud they have to turn it off when they want to talk to each other. But they didn't complain. In fact, they made it clear they weren't asking for personal financial assistance, but they wanted to be able to do their job. So our selfless volunteers shouldn't have to make do without the tools and facilities they need to keep us safe. As Mr Albanese has said, we must be ready.

We know that bush businesses and producers have been hit hard also by the bushfire crisis. In the Adelaide Hills Jan Siemelink-Allen's Barristers Block winery is just one example. It came close to complete destruction. The cellar-door facilities were saved by a neighbour and the CFS, but pretty much all of the vineyards are gone. Jan, as tough as ever, has vowed to rebuild. And on Kangaroo Island the grief is deep. The time line to recovery will be a long one. The island is home to the world's purest population of Ligurian honey bees, but the trees that feed the bees won't flower for seven years. Tourism infrastructure—recently upgraded through private and government investment—has been destroyed, thousands of livestock gone. It's a small community isolated from the mainland, and the scale of destruction and loss at times must feel insurmountable.

I do want to recognise in this place the great work of my colleague and the state member for Mawson, Leon Bignell. He's been on the island pretty much throughout the bushfire emergency, and he's demonstrated the leadership Australians expect of politicians. He's been on the ground with his community, he's grieved their losses with them and he's gone in and provided practical help—because communities do come together and are coming together and looking out for each other. Kaytee, a bank branch manager on KI, devoted herself to helping not just her customers but anyone on the island needing advice or assistance. Adam, a local businessman in Lobethal, swung into gear at the height of the crisis in the hills and pulled together a team of volunteers to run a relief centre in his town. Maree and Bec at the Kangaroo Island Community Centre are helping out with the daily essentials and providing support, a hug and a chat for locals coming to terms with their loss. And there's the army of volunteers giving a helping hand. There are our many public servants, hardworking, ensuring victims have the services they need, and, of course, our ADF personnel and reservists provide so much support and boots on the ground. We thank them all.

What I saw throughout my state is the grit, resilience, generosity and compassion that is intrinsic to the Australian identity. As the opposition leader remarked, 'In response to the worst of mother nature, we have seen the best of human nature.' Speaking of Mother Nature, we, of course, have to acknowledge the reality of climate change because, if we're going to be honest, we have all seen this coming. In the Senate on 26 November 2009 I said this:

… we are also likely to see an increase in very extreme fire weather days. That is one of the effects of climate change that was documented again by the Bushfire CRC, the Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO in 2007, when they said that very extreme fire weather days now occur on average once every two to 11 years at most sites, by 2020 they may occur twice as often and by 2050 they may occur four to five times as often.

You see, we have been warned time and again. But instead of acting responsibly too many have played short-term politics. The price on carbon, which was reducing emissions and driving investment in renewable energy: abolished. Climate Commission: abolished. Funding to prepare Australia to adapt to the climate change we couldn't avoid was cut. As the Climate Council said, 'As a result, Australia's less prepared to cope with the impacts of climate change.'

At times of national crisis, Australians look to their national leaders. They don't expect government to fix everything, but they want government to be informed, to be prepared and to act. Australians expect leaders to have compassion for their struggle and empathy for their losses, and they hope that their leaders stand with them. There has been understandable disappointment with the government's response. Today isn't the right day to deal with and to chapter and verse all the ways in which Australians feel let down by Mr Morrison, but we know they have been.

What Australians want is real sincere and honest leadership. So I hope that we in this place can all demonstrate the sort of leadership and selflessness we have seen time and again from our emergency services personnel, from our volunteers and from all those who have come together in this tragedy. Today we can acknowledge the heroism and grief of Australians in our words and our contributions, but the truest acknowledgement will be in what we do. The Australian people have once again shown their courage, their integrity and their humanity in this crisis. Let us all show them the same.