Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to offer my condolences to the victims of Australia's 2019-20 fire season. The toll of these fires so far includes 33 people dead, over 2,000 houses destroyed, over a billion native animals killed, and thousands of Australians suffering the health impacts of the constant pall of smoke that has shrouded our towns and cities. Economists estimate that the cost of this fire season may be as high as $100 billion, or one-twentieth of Australia's gross domestic product. Every state and territory in Australia has been affected in some way.

As a senator from Tasmania, I'm grateful that my home state has been spared destruction on the scale that we have seen on the mainland. We already experienced one of our worst fire seasons on record last year. The Huon Valley community, just south of my office in Kingston, is still recovering economically and emotionally. They were hit hard by the damage to the Ta Ann rotary veneer mill and the Tahune Forest AirWalk, which were vital assets for the timber and tourism industries. The amount of land that has been burnt so far, Australia-wide, in this year's fires—over 10 million hectares—is more than the total land mass of my home state.

In my contribution to this motion, while offering my condolences to the thousands of Australians who are suffering from these fires I would also like to take this opportunity to give thanks. Thanks, first and foremost, to the brave men and women who have been fighting these fires for days, weeks and months on end. I especially thank the volunteer firefighters, people who are spending time away from their jobs, businesses and families and giving up their time freely in an effort to keep Australians safe. I thank the Tasmanian volunteer firefighters who are fighting fires here at home, as well as the dozens who have travelled from Tasmania to help on the mainland. Not only are these firefighters giving up their time; they're making the extraordinary sacrifice of risking their safety and their life. It is worth remembering that several volunteer firefighters have been killed and injured this fire season, in the course of their duty, so they are risking everything for their fellow Australians. I also pay tribute to a number of other emergency services workers who have made a contribution to the safety of their communities during the current fire season, including police, ambulance, SES and members of the Army Reserve.

There are a number of other volunteers who deserve our heartfelt appreciation—those who are supporting the relief effort, day in, day out. Of course, the relief effort would not be possible without Australians digging deep to fund it, and I'd like to thank all those charities and their donors for their work raising tens of millions of dollars for those in need. I'm aware, through the invitations I've received to several local fire relief fundraisers, that some local businesses have dug deep, such as Machine Laundry Cafe in Salamanca, which donated an entire day's takings while their staff worked for free and donated their wages. Another cafe, Jackman & McRoss, donated the revenue from their Christmas stock. The Republic Bar held a comedy night fundraiser, and the Hobart clothing store Smitten Merino donated $10,000. It gives me a great sense of pride to live in a country where, in times of crisis, people demonstrate such extraordinary generosity.

Australia has had fires before, but this fire season is unprecedented in its scale. As we prepare to recover from this disaster, we may also have to brace ourselves for the reality that this year's fire season may well be the new normal. That's what a number of retired emergency services chiefs have been warning for more than six months now and what climate scientists have been warning for decades. Australia's climate has changed, and we need to understand and accept that. It means our response must address more than just relief and recovery. Our words of condolence are hollow and meaningless unless we commit to doing everything in our power to face the threat of more severe fires in the future as well as trying to prevent them from happening. This means a nationally coordinated response to future fire threats, a permanent increase in our aerial firefighting capacity and a genuine contribution to the global effort to address climate change. We owe this to the people fighting the fires, to the people whose health—both physical and mental—has suffered and to the people who have tragically lost property and lives. Let's act now and never again face Australia's fire season so unprepared.