Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Finance, Charities and Electoral Matters) Share this | Hansard source

I want to lend my voice to this motion to send our condolences—in particular to those who have lost loved ones, to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf, to those who have lost homes and livelihoods and to all of those who have put their lives on the line in order to protect their communities, and our communities, right around large chunks of our nation over this devastating summer.

It has been an incredibly trying few months for people all over Australia. The scale of what has occurred is, of course, difficult for us to imagine. There's no cameraman good enough or newspaper report vivid enough to really capture the harrowing experience of so many people right around the country. From Kangaroo Island to Nymboida, Mallacoota, Moruya, Yeppoon, Malua Bay, Mogo and Mount Cotton, towns have been devastated right across our vast nation. Even now, as I rise to speak, fires still burn across New South Wales and right here in the ACT, not very far from our southern suburbs, which many of us who live in Canberra are particularly conscious of right now. Over a normal summer it's often said that you will find more Canberrans down at the New South Wales South Coast than you will find in Canberra. It's an extension of us and a second home for many Canberrans. We have deep community ties to the area. Unfortunately, this summer was very different, as our South Coast was particularly hard hit by those devastating fires. It has been heartbreaking for people all around the country, but also for many of us here in Canberra, to see the scale of destruction of an area loved by so many of us. For me, the South Coast is one of the most beautiful parts of our nation, and if you go down there, as I did recently, subsequent to the fires, they have some of the most beautiful beaches, I think, in the world. One of the things that makes them so beautiful is that you are surrounded by nature. If you go down to places like Rosedale, Lilli Pilli, Durras, Merry Beach, Pretty Beach, Pebbly Beach, Broulee and so many others, it is the stark beauty that makes so many Australians so fond of this part of the world. Of course, when I had the opportunity to visit recently, I saw some of the devastation that had come through in some of those areas, and often in quite random ways. We saw it in touring places like Malua Bay, where there had been a significant amount of devastation and we'd seen homes lost and the bowling club lost, in places like Rosedale, and it was well documented in places like Mogo, not far away. So it does bring home the devastation, not just on the South Coast, unfortunately, but also in many other parts of the country.

Nationwide, we've seen the loss of more than 3,000 houses and nearly 7,000 outbuildings, and more than 11 million hectares burnt. We've also, tragically, seen the loss of 33 lives, including nine firefighters, three of whom were from the United States, who volunteered to come here and help us in any way they could. So, to all of these people, of course, our thoughts and our prayers are with your families and your loved ones today, tomorrow and in the tough times ahead.

The fire season, of course, is not over. As I said, there are still many active fires around the country, and many towns are on high alert, should the weather change again or the fires flare up again. Over the weekend, we saw some pretty challenging fire conditions here in the ACT. The Orroral Valley fire, just a few short kilometres from where we are now, has grown to more than 63,000 hectares in the ACT—that's over a quarter of the ACT's landmass—with another 10,000 hectares from fires just over the border. Predicted fire spread maps released late last week showed that, based on conditions at that time, we could've seen this fire hitting the southern suburbs of Tuggeranong over the weekend. Thankfully, that did not come to pass, of course because of the heroic efforts of many of our firefighters and emergency services personnel, and some favourable winds. But the threat is still very real and it has not gone away. These fires to the south of Canberra, just like those all around the country, may burn for a long time. It may take some significant rain, some of which is forecast later on this week, and we are very hopeful that that will significantly slow or indeed put out the fires. But those of us in Canberra have seen, unfortunately, devastating fire conditions in the past. Many of us remember 2003, when day turned to night, on 18 January. I remember it well. We lost four lives in Canberra and almost 500 homes as a devastating fire came through our region.

While on the issue in the ACT, I did want to take a moment to just congratulate and commend Georgeina Whelan, the ACT emergency services commissioner. I think at a time when many Canberrans are being reminded of the real fear and grief they faced during the 2003 bushfires, the commissioner has been a constant, calm and reassuring presence. During the peak of the Orroral Valley fire activity last week, it was reported that the commissioner had her own son rushed to hospital after he experienced a hypoxia seizure triggered by a heart condition. Even with this pressure at home and concern for her own child, the commissioner has not faltered and has continued to provide advice and warnings in a way which makes sure Canberrans are alert—not alarmed—and always well informed.

I've had the opportunity to make contact with a number of our rural landholders in the path of the fire in the southern part of the ACT. I pay tribute to their efforts, because their expertise—and they have experienced some of these fires, including the 2003 bushfires—and the feedback they give to our RFS and our emergency services do help in the fire effort. I had some conversations with some of those people over the weekend. I know they were feeding that back, and they were very grateful that some of the suggestions were taken on board by the RFS and those others fighting the fires. So I commend those people. They are a big part of it. We need to listen to them and not just when the fires are being fought. We need to listen to them. Just as we learned from our Indigenous Australians about ancient practices, we should also listen to those in rural and regional areas, including those rural landholders here in the ACT who have so much expertise in land management and, of course, in fighting devastating fires. Bushfires are not just a challenge for regional Australia, of course; we see them right around the country, particularly on the urban edge.

As Assistant Minister for Finance, Charities and Electoral Matters, I've been fortunate enough to see some of the work being done by our charities on the ground. When I visited the South Coast, I had the opportunity to visit the recovery centre there in Batemans Bay and spend some time talking to some of the extraordinary volunteers. I think these recovery centres are a great example of cooperation. There are local government, state government and federal government agencies there. There are the insurance companies and others. There are many representatives of charities, churches and other parts of the community who are all putting in.

I had the opportunity to speak to a lady, Jacqui, from the Red Cross. Jacqui is part of the SES, so she has been responding in all sorts of ways to the emergency but then also volunteering her time with the Red Cross. As I spoke to Jacqui, the emotions were still very raw. But one of the things that struck me about the conversation was that, whilst I was commending her on the work that she had been doing for her community, she was talking about how relatively easy she had it because she hadn't lost her home, as many others had. But she, like so many other Australians, was doing her bit. I met volunteers for St Vincent de Paul and the Salvation Army, some of whom had come from Brisbane and some of whom had come from Sydney. Some of the St Vincent de Paul volunteers had come from here in Canberra. Some of the local chapters sprang into action.

This is the other thing when we think about the charitable efforts. There are the headline numbers of the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been generously donated by Australians and, indeed, people overseas. Some very high-profile people and many large companies are donating huge amounts of money, and we thank those large donors such as Andrew and Nicola Forrest, who made a $70 million donation. But also millions of Australians, in fact, have made small, medium and large donations. I saw a survey recently that showed over 50 per cent of Australians have actually donated to the bushfire effort and the bushfire recovery effort. When I was talking to representatives of St Vincent de Paul, they were talking about the fact that, when it comes to, say, the Catholic Church's response to the bushfires, it's not just about Vinnies; there are so many other arms of the Church which have sprung into action. It might be representatives of schools. It might be representatives of social services and other areas. They've sprung into action. Much of that never gets documented. It's important to put this on the record as we look at some of the statistics. Much of that never gets documented. Much of that comes from just the volunteer labour. Much of that comes from the reserves of some of these charities that won't be reported on for a long time.

While it is right that we hold charities to account, that we have accountability mechanisms when there are hundreds of millions of dollars being donated, that we ask how that money is getting out and that the money gets out quickly, it is also important to note that, yes, there is a great need now—and the government, the charities and other parts of the community are responding to that—but the need will not go away in three weeks time, a month's time or in six months time in many cases as these communities rebuild. The government will be there in the short term, the medium term and the long term, and I know, from speaking to a number of the groups responding, that many of these organisations and many of these great charities that are on the ground like the Red Cross, the Salvos, Vinnies, Anglicare, the RSPCA and so many other great ones want to be there for the long haul as well. So we need to make sure that we work on that balance.

In closing, I again commend those who are responding to the recovery effort right now, be they parts of government, the community sector, the charities sector, churches, other community organisations or people on the ground. I also want to join with Senate colleagues in paying my respects, expressing my sincere condolences and the condolences of my community to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice and again thanking those who have put their lives on the line to protect their communities and to protect us as a nation. Finally, to those who are doing that job right now, as we speak, we send them not just our love, our thoughts and our prayers but also, of course, all of the resources of our nation, state and territory and Commonwealth governments, as we continue to get behind this. We'll learn the lessons from it, but we will come together as a nation and deal with these challenges going forward.