Thursday, 28 August 2025

Ministers statements: Victoria Police deaths

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:07): Today I rise to acknowledge the community of Porepunkah, who right now are living, as we know, under the long and heavy shadow of unthinkable tragedy. I want to acknowledge for the community of Porepunkah that life is far from easy right now, that nothing is ordinary, that every part of their daily life is touched by fear, touched by uncertainty and, for so many, touched by grief. As anyone who has lived in a community like Porepunkah knows, when tragedy strikes it is never just one family or one workplace who is touched and therefore grieves. Grief in a town like this is never contained; it spreads like smoke through the air, it ripples outwards and it touches everyone, because communities like Porepunkah are built on closeness. They are built on neighbours who watch out for each other, on families who celebrate together and also on people who shoulder each other’s burdens in the hardest of times.

When tragedy strikes, it does not stop at one doorstep, it reaches into every home on every street and into every family. That closeness, that sense of togetherness, is what makes the bush so strong, and when this is over it is what will carry Porepunkah and every town in the north-east touched by this tragedy through the weeks, the months and the years ahead. I want them to know that they will not carry it alone. Our government, this Parliament and every single Victorian stand with Porepunkah. We stand too with Victoria Police. We stand with those families and those emergency services who are out there again today in the cold, in the rain, in dangerous conditions, who are working day and night to see justice delivered and also to keep this beautiful community safe and indeed every corner of this great state safe.