Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is one of life's cruel ironies and contrasts that fire can provide both life-saving comfort and unimaginable horror. The giver of warmth, light and energy is also a taker of all that we hold precious.

I wish to extend my deepest condolences to those who have lost their homes and their lives already in this bushfire season, and express my great admiration for those men and women fighting the fires and helping people across the country. Three of those fire personnel were killed on Saturday when their plane crashed near my home town of Cloncurry in North West Queensland. Among them was William Jennings from America, aged just 22. The willingness to risk their own lives to protect others is why emergency services staff and volunteers deserve the highest praise and the full support of government in their need for equipment, manpower, training and vegetation management plans. We need a pragmatic and flexible approach to establishing firebreaks in national parks adjoining private property, and we need to listen to the insights and advice of those on the fire fronts.

The MyFireWatch national satellite fire-monitoring service shows hundreds of fires burning, mostly in northern Australia and, particularly, in the north-west. The Northern Territory and Cape York are also burning, putting fire-fighting services on high alert. I urge all Australians to take the threat of bushfire seriously by obeying bans on lighting fires, taking steps to protect their homes and formulating escape and survival plans, should the worst happen. I pray that everyone involved in fire management can get through unscathed, and that all life and property are protected. Thank you again to our brave and dutiful firefighters, especially those volunteer firefighters who are the front line for remote Queensland bushfire-fighting.