Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Our deepest condolences go to the families and friends of the 33 people that have lost their lives. Our deepest sympathy goes to those that have suffered so much as a result of these fires. Through this motion we provide an opportunity to pay tribute to all those that have risked so much in the fighting of these fires and we recognise the extraordinary contribution of volunteers and the work of the ADF personnel that have been deployed to help communities in dealing with this national tragedy.

We also express our deep gratitude to those who came from many countries to share the fight with us. We acknowledge the deep trauma experienced by the fire affected communities across Australia and especially in the south-east of the continent. I have recently toured some of these communities and I'm in awe of their courage and their resilience. We know that the economic impact of the fires will be long-lasting and will impede recovery. I can't think of an industry that has not been savagely affected by these fires. I want to pay particular tribute, however, to a great Australian institution: the ABC. The ABC has provided an extraordinary service. The national broadcaster has sustained people threatened by fires and has kept them informed and connected, and I am sure it has saved lives.

I want to also pay tribute to the work of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre. This is a CRC which is not a household name like the ABC, but its work has been of crucial importance in preparing Australia for the dangers of the extended fire season. The CRC has operated in its current form for eight years. I was very pleased to be able to support its funding while in government—$47 million back in 2013. It was a successor to a bushfire CRC. I have long supported the work of this organisation because it brings together the expertise of the universities, our science agencies, our emergency services, our government departments—both Commonwealth and state—and international partners. It is of particular irony that the CRC for bushfire and natural hazards is running out of money this year. Under the rules of the CRC, under the legal requirements of the CRC, it can't be allowed to trade while insolvent, so it must actually wind up this year. To make matters worse, because of the government's policy, which has meant that public benefit CRCs can't apply for money, they are restricted. On top of that, they can't reapply for money and they can't be re-funded under the government's change to policy. So they've had a double strike in regard to their operations.

The current crisis has shown why we need organisations like the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre and why it is so important that it is able to find alternative funding sources. We've seen this situation arise in other circumstances—the Reef and Rainforest CRC, for instance. We've seen it in regard to the Antarctic. Governments have found it necessary to develop alternative funding models. I think an institute for fire research is called for under these circumstances, based on a CRC model. If you look at the maps—on Fires Near Me, for instance, by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service—which are produced for predictive ember attacks, they are produced as a result of research undertaken by this CRC. If you're actually facing the prospect of a fire front and you can predict with some accuracy where ember attacks are going to develop, it is of enormous value. The work of this type by scientists, emergency services and government agencies is just so important and should not be allowed to wither in circumstances such as this.

What we have seen, unfortunately all too often, is that the work of scientists has been disregarded in regard to the struggles against fire in this country. We've seen the circumstances in regard to the science of climate change itself. Scientists who continue to conduct research that saves lives ought to be properly funded. Research and technologies keep the death toll so much lower than it otherwise would be. Given we're facing circumstances now of fires of such unprecedented intensity—you only have to examine the consequences of what occurs on these fire grounds to understand just how intense these fires have been—we simply can't pretend that we haven't been warned. Our scientists, and the work of our fire services, have produced warnings that have been ignored. I recall, just late last winter, the Bushfire CRC produced those maps that demonstrated where the fires were likely to strike—and how accurate they were. In April last year, the former fire and emergency services chiefs from all states issued statements explaining what the effects would be of climate change increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events, and they pointed out the bushfire season was lasting longer and that each year the number of days listed at very high or catastrophic risk were increasing. They said the fuel loads were increasing because the opportunities to safely carry out fuel reduction burns were decreasing as winters were becoming warmer and drier. The former fire chief said that the higher temperatures had meant that the forests and grasslands are drier and ignite more easily and burn more readily. They noted that dry lightning storms were increasing in frequency, sparking many bushfires that are difficult to reach and control. We have to see it in this city. You see what's happening with the Adaminaby Complex fires or the Orroral Valley fires, just how intense these fires are and how difficult they are to actually deal with.

What we have seen is the fire season across Australia, and, in the Northern Hemisphere, the pattern has been repeated. They're seeing that they can't rely upon the exchange of firefighting and fire equipment, such as water bombers, the way we used to. We also understand that the fire chiefs have warned us that the increasing overlap of the northern and southern fire seasons is limiting the ability of fire services to actually help each other. This, in turn, raises questions about what we must do to provide for ourselves, the resources this country needs, and whether or not we can continue to rely upon volunteers for month after month after month, or whether or not we need to look at what actually occurs oversees with the professionalisation of firefighting services. It raises questions about just how reliant we can be on the types of firefighting practices that we have traditionally relied on in this country.

Everything the fire chiefs have predicted has happened. Everything the scientists have predicted has happened. But they've been ignored. It's almost as if, in a political sense, we've failed this community, this country. We've been overwhelmed by events. We have circumstances where the fire chiefs can't even get a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss these questions. If we were to stand with the bushfire affected communities, as this motion calls on us to do, we cannot ignore the warnings of the professionals. We cannot ignore the warnings of the experts. We owe it to everyone who has been affected by the fires to take note. We owe it to all of those who want this country to be able to do so much better and to live without the fear of fire. It has been demonstrated why it was so necessary this last summer.