Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

'It wasn't a fire. It was a monster, like a tornado.' This is how Tim Salway described the inferno that tore through the family dairy farm near Cobargo in New South Wales. The ferocious bushfire on that New Year's Eve took the lives of his father, Patrick, and his brother Robert. Patrick leaves behind a legacy larger than his life, and his 20 grandchildren will remember his generosity and also his love. Robert leaves behind his pregnant wife, Renee, and their tiny son, Harley. For Tim, Renee, young Harley and thousands of other Australians those fires have changed their life forever. Their memories have been singed with the blaze—their heavy ache of loss, the uncertainty that gnaws through the days and months that will follow, but also the hope that can surprise.

Tim Salway had been trying to convince himself that maybe it wasn't really that bad, but he figured, when the Army turned up to help, it must be pretty darn bad. The massive job of clearing his paddocks, fixing fences, getting equipment running again, finding the strength to face it all was almost impossible to think of and to tackle alone. But when a few soldiers mucked in and gave Tim a hand, they saved the Salways at least a month of work and they gave them the hope that surprises.

Over 6,500 members of our ADF, 3,000 of them reservists, have been working in Australia's fire-torn communities since early September last year, and they've been joined by our outstanding international partners. Seventy nations offered assistance, and over 350 foreign personnel are today still working to rebuild local communities across New South Wales and Victoria, shoulder-to-shoulder with the ADF. Operation Bushfire Assist is the largest ADF mobilisation for domestic disaster relief in our nation's history. Today our ADF are still out there and will be for as long as it takes, supporting the extraordinary work of our emergency services, our volunteers and our recovery teams.

Hundreds of people, many with their beloved pets, relocated to safety. Defence bases opened as temporary accommodation. Tens of thousands of meals were served. Hundreds of tankers of fuel and millions of litres of water were delivered. Thousands of kilometres of roads were cleared. The sheer volume of people and military equipment deployed across the nation says something of the magnitude of Operation Bushfire Assist. But the statistics themselves, as impressive as they are, say little of the humanity involved in every quiet helping hand and the courage, the dignity and the resilience of those whose hands they've held.

Australians elect us in this place to make laws for the common good, to reflect their values, to reflect their aspirations and to take care of the nation when big things happen beyond state and territory borders. A very big thing happened this summer to our nation and, sadly, is still happening, and Australians are looking to all of us—the government and the parliament—to take care of our nation. As Minister for Defence, my finest examples of the care are the efforts of our service men and women through these past months of devastation. It's not just the quantifiable, visible support that has been so evident across the nation; it is also the quiet thousands of random acts of kindness that have brought hope. On Kangaroo Island, Army vets are treating koala burns and Army engineers are rebuilding koala pens, and they are feeding and caring for hundreds of koalas and other native animals.

When the fires were raging on Kangaroo Island, Richard Lang and his son Clayton hooked up their trailer and water tanker and headed out to help whomever they could. When they hit car trouble on the Playford Highway, sadly, their vehicle was overcome by fire. Richard's nephew, Lieutenant Kynan Lang, is an Army Reservist in South Australia. When the call came to serve on Operation Bushfire Assist, he was there in a flash, and he's still there today, carrying on his family's work to get Kangaroo Island thriving once again. All over Australia, we've seen people pitching in, doing whatever they can to protect families, neighbourhoods, streets and their communities. Many of our service personnel themselves have been impacted over the last few months, as have their families. Still they put up their hand and continue to serve other communities. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, how much we love, the worst still happens. Just when we feel like we have nothing left, Lieutenant Lang turns up to help us all dig deep—to remind us of what matters and what we're capable of together as Australians.

So many of us will recall the footage from Mallacoota that made international headlines, of our Royal Australian Air Force Spartan crews firing through East Gippsland skies that were stained orange and red by the choking clouds of ash, their visibility reduced to almost zero. Despite the conditions and the poor runways, our crews managed to deliver vital supplies to so many small communities that were cut off by fire and to airlift stranded tourists and townsfolk from Mallacoota and Merimbula. For children under five, our crews on the Spartans, Chinooks and Black Hawks found a way to take special care of these children and get them out to safety, reuniting them with their families. The makeshift dog pen in the hold of HMAS Choules is already something of a legend. The Choules evacuated 1,400 people from Mallacoota to Western Port Bay, along with 21 tonnes of supplies and, very importantly, beer for the local pub. MV Sycamore and HMAS Adelaide II, positioned off the coast of Gippsland and the New South Wales South Coast, provided essential support to isolated communities right up and down the South Coast.

Following the fires, the routines of daily life don't just pick back up. Things that would normally be simple become challenging, and things that would normally be challenging can become life-threatening. This was the case for Sarah Tyrrell when she went into labour on Australia Day. For three days following New Year's Eve, the fires had raged around her rural family home in Brogo, New South Wales. The Tyrrells' property had been saved, thanks to the hard work of her husband, armed with a water pump, and some favourable winds. But the roads to their property were badly impacted, and it was clear to our ADF personnel on the ground that they could get to Cobargo a lot faster than an ambulance could from Bega. Without losing a moment, medical staff Corporal Kristie Connell and Private Nicholas Brimmer were called off their task to respond. They took to the winding dirt roads, slicing through the fire-ravaged countryside to the cut-off community of Brogo. When they arrived, troop signaller Private Murray Richey set up satellite communications equipment to ensure contact with incoming medical teams. Before long, Sarah was on her way to Bega hospital in an ambulance, with Corporal Connell and Private Brimmer alongside, assisting the paramedics on their journey. Within minutes of arrival, a healthy baby, Ivy, was born, oblivious to the drama of her birth and its poignancy and power—in the midst of utter destruction, isolation and grief, came new life and fresh hope.

Today we remember those who sacrificed all. They sacrificed all while protecting life and community in the face of catastrophic fires. We remember their loved ones, who will carry the memories, loss and uncertainty with them through the days, months and years to follow. We dearly hope for them all that hope surprises soon. We acknowledge the skill, the grit and the compassion of our emergency services personnel, our volunteers, the members of the ADF and all of those international friends who so readily came to our aid. I honour and thank all those who have served and suffered and the 33 who made the ultimate sacrifice.

As a parliament, we are here to take care of the nation when big things happen. While so many Australians have been at work for months fighting the fires and salvaging razed communities, our work here is only beginning. There is a great deal more to do over the many years to rebuild lives and livelihoods; to restore health, restore wellbeing and restore hope; and to deal with the realities of our climate and our environment. This is what Australians expect and ask of us all in this place. In conclusion, I thank everybody who has served, suffered and sacrificed.