Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to add my voice and the voices of many Western Australians to the condolence motion and, in doing so, extend my sympathies to those many Australians touched by the devastating impact of this summer season's bushfires. This condolence motion recognises the loss of 33 lives, the destruction of over 3,000 homes and the devastation of wildlife and of regional communities and the local economies that provide for them. It extends the deepest sympathies of this Senate to the families who have lost loved ones, recognises the bravery of all emergency service volunteers and career firefighters, applauds the efforts of Australia's Defence Force personnel and its reservists, and honours the perseverance and courage of those nine firefighters who lost their lives answering the call to go to the aid and defence of our local community.

Unfortunately, Australians are not new to adversity and disaster, and many can recall the tragedies of the past: Black Friday in 1939, Ash Wednesday in 1983, the Canberra fires in 2003 and Black Saturday in 2009. We'll soon add to this list the unfinished tragedy that has marked this summer in Australia.

But this is a tragedy that has been met by enormous charity. Western Australians, being well acquainted with bushfire, felt knowingly of the heartbreak, shock and loss being experienced by their fellow Australians thousands of miles away. While Western Australia has been relatively isolated from the worst of these latest bushfires, the response by the West Australian community has been one of solidarity when witnessing the hardship and danger experienced by their fellow country men and women. Despite the safety and security that come with distance, West Australians have dug deep to support bushfire recovery efforts. No town, suburb or community in my home state of Western Australia is without its own story of compassion coupled with charity. From the local coffee shop staff donating their tips, to community organisations like the Wanneroo Lions, who collected donations at their annual Australia Day breakfasts, to children donating their pocket money to support recovery efforts, the pain of thousands has been met with the charity of hundreds of thousands.

This afternoon, let me honour those WA communities of new Australians who have dug deep to support their fellow Australians: the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan in Perth's northern suburbs; the Buddha's Light International Association of Western Australia; the Chung Wah Association of Western Australia; the Filipino Community Council of Western Australia; my good friends in the Chin Community in Western Australia; the Indian Society of Western Australia; the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir in Wangara; the Sikh Gurdwara in Bennett Springs; the Tamil Association of Western Australia; the Bosnia-Herzegovina community at Bennett Springs, in Perth's northern suburbs; and the Vietnamese Community of Western Australia, who raised funds at their Tet New Year Festival just last weekend.

Tonight I also honour and pay tribute to the contributions of another group of great West Australians: the sacrifice of more than 100 West Australian Department of Fire and Emergency Services personnel who rallied to the call to support the voluntary efforts of others across our country. This disaster has shown once again that adversity brings out the best in every Australian.

An Australian's home is their castle—a source of pride; a domicile of memories—and around 2,900 castles have been lost in these fires and many more damaged. While they will be rebuilt, it will take much longer to make them a home again—the wall with kids' measurements that no longer stands; the photos of happier times that have been reduced to ashes. These homes will never quite be the same, but their reconstruction will demonstrate the resilience of the Australian way, our strength of spirit and character, conquering adversity, and getting on with the job. Today, we pay tribute to those who are already beginning to rebuild their lives and to create new memories.

There's no doubt that along with the physical repair and recovery effort after these bushfire disasters will come a more contested political debate, perhaps a deeper policy response to these bushfires and, with some maturity, perhaps a national consensus on at least some elements. This must be done. The events of this summer have been unprecedented, but I don't believe they can be characterised as unexpected. The attitude of our community to our changing climate has been evolving for many, many years. In discussions with friends and family and the wider community over the Christmas break, it is abundantly clear that the people we represent are expecting more to be done to respond to and to mitigate against the human-influenced component of our changing climate. Australians know that cutting emissions in Australia, when we contribute just 1.3 per cent of the global total, is not going to dramatically shift the dial on climate change. But neither do they believe we are excused from inaction or excused from re-evaluating our assumptions when the evidence makes it obvious to do so.

In this condolence motion, this Senate commits to learning the lessons from this fire season. There will be lessons that can be applied locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Some will want them to be symbolic; others, like myself, will want them to be pragmatic, practical and tangible. And part of that action should involve using our competitive advantage in mining and petroleum to deliver solutions to the world.

Western Australia is home to the minerals the world needs to create batteries, and, already, two energy-intensive lithium processing facilities are under construction. The Western Australian government is committed to developing a hydrogen industry to support clean energy solutions. Western Australia's LNG is a vital part of the world's transition to renewable energy, with it generating 50 per cent fewer emissions than other fuels. And our uranium deposits are vast and ready to be developed, with nuclear technology providing a cheaper, cleaner, base-load power option for developing and developed nations. By using our natural competitive advantages, we can deliver lower emissions for emerging energy markets.

With regard to a future response to the challenges of our changing climate, I stand with a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron and his view when examining the challenges of climate change and his assertion that this is a natural conservative issue. On this theme, he recently made a very pertinent remark. He said:

… don't leave this to the left or you'll get an anti-business, anti-enterprise, anti-technology response. We need business technology to be at the heart of what we do. And I think conservatives can lead on this.

Not all action is good action when responding to the dramatic changes in our climate. Our response to climate matters can't be allowed to entrench energy poverty in developing nations and impoverish the many vulnerable people who are their citizens. Australians do not believe that standing in the way of supplying affordable energy to economies that need it for electricity, refrigeration and access to technology is the way to be a responsible global citizen. Access to cheap energy is vital if we are to boost the living standards of others. Refrigeration leads to improved health outcomes and technology drives education and innovation.

Today's condolence motion marks not the end but the beginning; the beginning of the repair and of the recovery, the beginning of the lessons learnt and the application of new approaches and new responses, and, hopefully for the many that have been touched by this bushfire disaster, the beginning of the healing.