Tuesday, 3 February 2026

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (13:57): I move:

That this house:

(1)   extends its condolences and deepest sympathy to the Victorian communities affected by the ongoing 2026 bushfires;

(2)   praises the work of emergency services personnel for their courage and sacrifice in fighting fires and protecting our communities;

(3)   expresses its deep gratitude to the many volunteers and community members who have supported friends, neighbours and anyone else in need; and

(4)   pledges to continue to work with communities and all levels of government to support and rebuild fire-affected communities.

As we rise to join in this motion today we also do need to recognise that firefighters and emergency crews continue to be out there right now fighting difficult and dangerous fires in different parts of the state and also, as a consequence of that, that there are many Victorian communities that are still living with the risk of fire in the landscape and the uncertainty and the anxiety that comes with knowing that these fires are not yet under control. But also we know what has been lost: homes have been lost, stock and machinery have been destroyed and businesses have been lost and damaged. Places, homes and communities that have held generational memories are now changed forever. So we rise today together in this house to acknowledge that loss, but also we acknowledge the strength and resilience these country communities have shown in the face of these natural disasters.

At the outset I want to start by acknowledging the tragedy that occurred in the Longwood fire: the loss of a much-loved member of that community, local farmer Max Hobson. I know his family are grieving, and the entire Gobur community, along with the wider region, are carrying that loss with them today. To his loved ones, to his friends and community I offer and we offer our heartfelt condolences, and the Parliament stands with them.

This tragedy is a stark reminder of just how fast these fires move in those extreme catastrophic conditions and how dangerous and deadly they become. It is also a reminder of the difficult, dangerous and confronting work our firefighters, police and emergency services perform every single day. These fires in January were brutal, with hot winds, dry fuels and fire behaviour that shifted and intensified without warning. I heard time and again how the flames moved with a speed that left very little time to act. It was a day those with decades of CFA service compared to Black Saturday. We know the impact could have been far worse. As bad as it has been, it could have been far worse. The fact that the loss of life was not greater than the tragedy of one life lost is a credit to every firefighter and every emergency services personnel on the front line. So I say this to the CFA volunteers and career crews, to Forest Fire Management Victoria and to our SES, our police and our paramedics: it is a credit to the team, including those in the State Control Centre, who are working around the clock, every hour of every day and every night. It is a credit to the technology and intelligence systems that have been built that help track the fire as it moves. But also it is a credit to the Victorian community, to the people who left early, to the families who had their fire plan in place, who listened to the warnings, who checked in on neighbours and families and who understood the risk that fire in the landscape presented to them and acted quickly. Those decisions saved lives, and they supported that difficult and dangerous work of our emergency services.

We think back to the 7 February 2009 Black Saturday fires, where 173 people lost their lives and thousands and thousands more were displaced. I know that the trauma of that disaster still sits with families and communities today and that trauma is reignited every time there is a fire anywhere in the state. What we also know is from that tragedy so much has been learned. We changed how we prepare. We changed how we warn. We changed how our emergency services coordinate together to save and protect lives. We have invested in the technology and equipment our state needed. We have strengthened the integrated response across agencies. We have also demanded that landowners in high fire risk areas have their fire plan and be ready long before the fire season begins. Those lessons, learned in the hardest possible way, are part of why more people are alive today.

I know personally just how important it is to follow the advice, and I know the member for Euroa knows that as well. On 9 January we were not at home, but I will never forget that sickening feeling when the emergency alert came through. To be told to leave – to be told that it is not safe to stay in your home, in your neighbourhood and in your community – was sickening. But also I understood the impact that sending those messages and being part of that integrated response has on our emergency services. A few days later when I was visiting the fireground in Harcourt I met a young woman from the CFA who came up to me and told me, ‘I sent that message to your neighbourhood on that Friday evening.’ She said, ‘Every time I press the button to send those messages, I feel sick, and I just hope and pray that people take the advice.’ It is the understanding of this integrated response that I give thanks to today, also acknowledging the impact that the fires have had on so many communities.

In our personal community, our neighbourhood, we were fortunate. There were a huge number of brigades that rushed to Harcourt and supported that community. At this juncture I want to acknowledge the Werribee CFA, who travelled some distance with the member for Werribee on board. He messaged me very late on that Friday evening to give an update from the fireground, an update about how difficult those conditions were.

In the days after the fire I also met, hugged and cried with so many who had lost their homes. As I said, we were fortunate, but it was gut wrenching to sit with the woman at the Seymour relief centre who showed me the photo of her home that had been lost in Natimuk. The couple had lost their home and pretty much everything they owned. The clothes on their back were all they had. They had also been injured, and they showed me the burns on their arms from when they had to leave as the fire came through, and it was one of many emotional conversations that I will never forget. But even in that moment and also in the Harcourt community – and this was just a mere day or two after these fires – the conversation immediately to turn to rebuilding and connecting back into community, checking in on their neighbours and helping one another.

That brings me to Harcourt, Speaker, a community you are so proud to represent and a community too that are my neighbours and a community I feel connected to, as my own kids went to kindergarten in that great community. There are so many examples of community spirit that can be pointed to in the Harcourt community. I just want to share one. Again, in the days after the fire, along with the member for Bendigo West, we visited the Victorian Miniature Railway site, a small tourist attraction, and people who know train people know how much they love their miniature railways. What they did that day was just an incredible display of community spirit. There was still smoke in the landscape – you could smell it – but what they had put on was a simple barbecue that then turned into a full-on community relief hub as were standing there, as truckload after truckload of food and support was being delivered. It became a place where community could go to immediately but also a place where people could come and talk, and this was all driven out of that great, strong local community.

While I was in Harcourt I had the opportunity to speak to the local CFA captain Andrew, who spoke about his crews, some fighting their first fire, others fighting while knowing their own homes had been lost – yet they got back on that truck and kept going. Then at Alexandra district hospital with the Minister for Health I met with the nurses and staff of that incredibly strong little country community. During the fires, that hospital became so much more than a place for great health care. It became a place of refuge, a place on that Friday night where people were sheltering. People who were sick and vulnerable were in that hospital, were receiving incredible care from those nurses and staff, whilst at the same time members of the local fire brigade were ringing the hospital and the town, pushing the fire away from where people were sheltering. And I had the opportunity to speak to the Alexandra CFA captain, who told me about the long hours that the brigades worked, the unpredictability of the winds they were dealing with and that deep responsibility they felt knowing that the fire line was so close to their township. I thank them for the work that they did. It is not work to them, it is what they do, but they do deserve that acknowledgement.

Finally, on the Saturday, at the Seymour relief centre, the Sikh volunteers were there. Of course they were there doing what they always do, often without being asked – just turning up and feeding so many people quietly, compassionately, knowing that they needed to be there because the community needed them. This is what the community looks like. This is Victoria at its best.

I think it is important to acknowledge, as proud as that made me as Premier, as a local member and as a community member, that it also needs to sit alongside a harder truth that we cannot ignore: our climate is changing. Our state is getting hotter, and for communities like mine this is not a debate anymore; indeed it has not been a debate for a very, very long time. This is our life. This is what we live with: more warnings; more smoke days; more dry, restless, windy, unpredictable weather; more emergency alert messages; more evacuations; and more moments when families stand at their front door deciding whether today is the day they leave. So many of us have the bag packed every day during summer sitting by the front door, because we do not know if today is the day we need to grab it and go. I know there are some that do not want to admit this. There are some also here in the Parliament who refuse to accept what communities around the state already know.

It is true: the seasons are harsher, the land dries out faster and the high-risk days come more and more often. That is the reality we are living with. These fires show that we also must prepare for a future where the risks are greater and the pressure on our emergency services will continue to grow. It is alongside this that we also must confront something else that is challenging communities, and that is misinformation. We have seen how it is in moments like this that misinformation tries to take hold. It spreads quickly. It plays on fear and it exploits uncertainty. What I abhor is that it targets people precisely at the moment when they are most vulnerable. I say this in the context of going back to my contribution earlier, when I referred to the importance of those emergency alert messages. Trusted information saves lives. Clear warnings save lives. Taking the advice has saved lives. All of us have a responsibility to deal in facts, not fear, and to support our emergency services – the fire services and also across the entire emergency services ecosystem, because it is integrated and each component works together to save lives, held together by information and technology and fact and resources. It is all with that single focus: to give communities clarity when they need it the most, because it can be a matter of life or death. Communities deserve that honesty, and they deserve all of us standing behind them and supporting them.

On that matter of support, I want to say to all bushfire-affected communities that my government has and will continue to stand with you on the long and difficult journey ahead. At this juncture I also want to acknowledge the work of the Minister for Emergency Services – incredible work. Also I would like to thank the Prime Minister and the federal government, who have worked very quickly with us to ensure that there has been immediate relief and support. I acknowledge that sometimes it can never be as quickly as you would like, but we have seen so much support provided, with more to come. We know that there is more to come. I also want to acknowledge the work of local government, who have set up the relief and recovery centres and who are there often as the first port of call for local communities.

We are all doing this together to support families who have lost homes. In particularly acknowledging the livelihoods that have been impacted, I want to pause for a moment and acknowledge farmers, because it has been our primary producers who have also been so badly impacted as a result of these fires. They have lost stock, fencing and income. We also know that there are many local businesses that are working to reopen. I would like to acknowledge the work of the Victorian Farmers Federation to coordinate the fodder relief and to get that fodder out as quickly as possible into local communities.

We do look for moments of hope. One symbol of hope is the funding that was announced last Friday for the Harcourt Cooperative Coolstore. It was shattering to see the coolstore destroyed, because it represents not just the economy of Harcourt and the farmers and primary producers around it but also Harcourt itself. So to be able to support the rebuilding of the Harcourt Coolstore stands as a symbol of how we will work with communities in the recovery journey ahead. It is a symbol of this community’s recovery.

There are many weeks ahead of us. There is so much work ahead of us. As I said, there are many more weeks of summer still to come, with fires continuing and those fires that are continuing to flare up. For those of us who have our VicEmergency app close by, the alerts are going constantly about ongoing fire risk in the landscape. The work ahead is steady, it is practical and it will always be focused on the people who need it the most, because I understand and my government understands that the road ahead will be long. I commit to this: no family, no business, no community will walk it alone. We will rebuild together. We will recover together. We will look after each other in that way that Victorians always do in the aftermath of difficult natural disasters and come back stronger. I commend the motion to the house.

 Jess WILSON (Kew – Leader of the Opposition) (14:15): This year our state has seen one of the most devastating bushfire seasons in recent years. As the Premier has noted, fires continue today, and we thank our emergency services for their ongoing work and sacrifice. Across Victoria, from the High Country to the coast, fires fuelled by an unprecedented heatwave have burnt over 435,000 hectares. They have destroyed homes, farms and infrastructure, and they have brought suffering and hardship to families and communities who have called these lands home for generations.

According to the CFA, this year’s season has been the longest duration heatwave event Victoria has experienced since 2009. Tragically, the ferocious Longwood fire claimed the life of Max Hobson, a cattle farmer from Terip Terip. On behalf of the Liberals and Nationals I extend my most sincere condolences to Mr Hobson’s family and friends, who have lost someone so dear to their hearts.

I have made an effort throughout January to visit the communities across Victoria who have been affected by these fires. I have travelled to Harcourt, to Tallangatta, to Longwood, to Yarck, to Avenel, to Skipton and to Natimuk. Amid the scenes of devastation I found myself in awe of the courage and resilience of the Victorians who I met along the way. These are people who found themselves with nothing left but the clothes on their backs. They have lost their homes, their crops, their livestock, their machinery and their equipment. They have lost their income and much of their assets, and yet they greeted me with warmth, with a wry smile and an attitude that said, ‘We will just get on and rebuild.’

In Harcourt I met the local CFA captain Andrew Wilson, who spent many long days on the fire front working to save homes, businesses and properties across the region, and I met his daughter, 16-year-old Kate, who volunteers alongside him. They are not paid. They receive no wage to go out and put their lives on the line, to abandon their own properties and homes to protect others. These are people who fight fires in full knowledge that their own home, their own property, may be lost.

In Longwood I met the most incredible CFA volunteer called Liza, who had lost her own property in the blaze, but that did not stop her from devoting every waking moment to fighting fires and protecting the homes and livelihoods of her community. Meeting Liza was one of the most moving moments of my parliamentary career. Liza had been on the fire front for almost two days and had not slept. She knew that her home had been reduced to ash. She knew there was no hot shower or comfy bed waiting for her to return to. When I visited the region I had taken advice on some small items I could bring up that could assist our CFA volunteers. When I handed over a pair of socks to Liza she was so pleased and told me she had been wearing the same clothes since the blaze began days ago. It was a humbling moment in the truest sense of that word. I met John from Yarck, who had lost everything – and I mean everything. His family home had stood there in the High Country for 140 years, but there was nothing left now.

The devastation is simply unimaginable, and yet through the devastation came incredible stories of Victorians banding together to support each other. In Longwood Neil and Kerrie Tubb set up a fodder depot to support fire-affected farmers. They received donations of feed, fencing and farm supplies that totalled over $2 million in value. We know that those who live on the land have been the hardest hit by these fires, and Neil and Kerrie’s efforts have been a lifeline to those farmers who needed it most.

Much has been said of late about political leadership and the need for it in troubled and uncertain times, and I want to take the opportunity to highlight the exceptional leadership from my friends and colleagues the member for Eildon, the member for Polwarth, the member for Euroa, the member for Lowan, the member for Benambra and the member for Ovens Valley, whose electorates have been significantly impacted by this fire season. These MPs and their electorate officers have worked tirelessly to offer support, leadership and advocacy for their constituents at a time when they needed it most. Difficult times like these require us to step up, and I could not be more proud of my colleagues for the work they have done in representing their communities across Victoria. Bushfires are not abstract events for local communities. They threaten homes, livelihoods, lives and our deep sense of safety. Local MPs understand the geography, the roads, the microclimates, the vulnerable communities and the lived realities of their communities. Their longstanding and deep connections to their communities meant they could raise urgent issues quickly and accurately with government agencies and emergency services, ensuring that local needs were not lost in the broader statewide response. The impacts of bushfires do not end when the flames are extinguished. The weeks, months and years ahead will be a tough road for many Victorians who have lost their homes and livelihoods, and I know that our local MPs will ensure these longer term impacts will not be forgotten in this place now or when the media crews have left and the headlines have moved on.

I also want to note the work of many local councillors in the affected regions, many of whom have worked diligently to offer whatever support is possible for their communities. Councillors such as Scott Jeffery, mayor of Strathbogie shire and a volunteer at the Avenel CFA, have truly exemplified the best of what local government can do in a time of crisis to support their community.

What I saw when I visited the people and the communities who have been affected by these ferocious fires was that the devastation that has been caused is so very real, but so too is the extraordinary courage and commitment of the CFA and its tens of thousands of volunteer firefighters – and of course our FRV firefighters as well. These are everyday Victorians who, without hesitation, left their families and jobs to protect their neighbours, their towns and their way of life. Over the last week CFA volunteers have responded to more than 3300 separate fire incidents, with over 23,000 individual turnouts recorded across the state. They worked in conditions that many described as beyond anything they had experienced before – extreme temperatures, erratic winds and fires moving faster than crews could protect against.

I will never forget sitting with Kylie Comte, the captain of the Seymour CFA. I sat with her at her station while she showed me footage of their trucks moving through the fire front on her phone. It was truly like watching a horror movie, and yet the calm, unflappable Kylie spoke about how they navigated the impossibly dangerous conditions to keep each other safe. These firefighters are not just from the community, they are of the community. This disaster revealed the intangible strength of the community spirit that defines our state of Victoria. Neighbours helped neighbours, local fundraisers sprang up, volunteers delivered feed and water to farmers and community groups rallied to support displaced residents and struggling small towns.

But alongside these uplifting stories of courage and community and the resilient spirit of our regional communities, we also saw just how deeply we rely on volunteers to keep the lives and properties of Victorians safe from harm. When I went to these communities, I listened. I listened to what the CFA volunteers had to say on the ground, their faces and gear still wearing the ash of the fires they had so valiantly fought. These people are not paid to walk into these dangerous conditions. They risk their own lives to protect the lives and livelihoods of others, of their communities and of their friends and families. They do it simply to protect those that they love, and many of them told me that they feel that the courage they show and the sacrifices they make no longer seem as valued as they once were. When Neil Tubb, a CFA volunteer for decades, said he was not sure it was worth continuing and that he did not feel valued in that role, that said to me that we must do more for these brave men and women. They are volunteers, and we must always keep that key fact in the front of our minds. We must always do the right thing by our volunteer firefighters in the CFA. The courage and selflessness that they display are among the most profound examples in our modern world of those traits.

Across Victoria families are now navigating significant loss and focusing on the task of rebuilding. I say to those affected communities and individuals: we are with you. Your resilience is remarkable and your spirit is what makes Victoria so strong. We will not forget what you have lost, and we will not neglect to support you as you rebuild. To the CFA volunteers and to all the emergency services personnel who stood on the front lines I say thank you. Your courage, compassion and selflessness have been a beacon of hope in a dark time.

It is incumbent upon all of us in this place to not forget the people of these fire-ravaged communities. Many of them have lost not just their homes but their livelihoods, their savings and their future. We must ensure that we are there for them for the long haul, not just in the immediate aftermath but for the long road they must walk back now as they rebuild their homes and their lives, and we must back without equivocation the brave men and women who volunteer to fight these fires at a time our state needs them most.

 Vicki WARD (Eltham – Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Natural Disaster Recovery, Minister for Equality) (14:26): Living in a bushfire-prone area can carry a heavy weight. It means an accepting and understanding that the landscape and conditions in which we live, raise our families and work can change quickly. It means recognising our weather is continuing to be more extreme – hotter days, infrequent rain, stronger winds. For Victoria’s firefighters, police, paramedics, SES, health workers, councils and supporting agencies it means stepping up when others are being advised to leave to protect their safety. For families and friends, it can mean waiting, holding your breath, monitoring the VicEmergency app and their text messages and waiting for news of safety.

Bushfires are not new in Victoria – we are one of the most bushfire-prone areas in the world – and 9 ‍January, a day forecast to be catastrophic conditions for half the state and extreme for the other half, was a day when the landscape and the weather showed us their very worst and where Victorians showed us their very best. There were over 200 fires in one day, with 10 becoming major fires that have burnt for weeks. As Minister for Emergency Services and Minister for Natural Disaster Recovery, I extend my condolences to all Victorians who have been affected. I offer my deep gratitude to all who have been involved in preparation, response and recovery. You have been extraordinary.

It is hard for many communities across the state, who carry within them deep heartbreak, whether for a neighbour, family member, schoolfriend or themselves. The shock, the trauma and the pain will sit like a stone inside them for some time. Every day since these fires began my thoughts have been and continue to be with each and every person working out each morning how to get out of bed and how to put one foot in front of the other. Whether it was from the constant pinging of the VicEmergency app alerts, images coming from the fireground, the stories or the firsthand accounts, Victorians across the state understood the enormity of this fire season and of last month. That is why, in the months and weeks and days leading up to the fires, we saw agencies and communities roll up their sleeves and prepare. Families cleared gutters, practised their emergency plans, had their emergency kits packed, heeded the advice of our emergency services and left early, and I thank them for that. The actions of Victorians and communities right across the state were nothing short of extraordinary.

Fires cause heartbreak, and last month was no exception. A life has been lost, that of Max, a cattle farmer from Terip Terip. Locals in Ruffy and Alexandra shared with me their sadness at the loss of Max, and I offer my sincere condolences to Max’s wife Julie, his family and friends and his community.

With pain in the hearts of all Victorians, we continue to see the best of people. The emergency services workers, the volunteers, incident control centres, councils, community organisations – to those I have met and to those I have not yet met, I say thank you. To Chris, the captain of Alexandra CFA, and Steve from Fire Rescue Victoria, who planned so extensively with their teams to defend their communities, thank you. To Felicity, Ruffy CFA’s community safety officer, for helping support and rebuild the community you love so much and for speaking so clearly on the ABC about the importance of leaving early, I say thank you. I say thank you to George, Ruffy’s CFA captain. And to all captains, I say thank you for your leadership.

Thank you to those at the Harcourt fireground who I met alongside the Premier and you, Speaker; to those at Seymour relief centre, where I went with the Treasurer; to Yvonne and the volunteers at Longwood Football Netball Club; to the volunteers at the Colac relief centre; and to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing workers, who are helping people access support payments as quickly as possible. To the community of Natimuk, with their stories of such a fast fire, of seeing grass one minute green and the next as black as tar – the fire moved so fast and with such intensity; to the people of Walwa and the crews, including Forest Fire Management Victoria, for the extraordinary work they have done across that forest, where I saw how the fire in a firestorm hopped, skipped and jumped across the forest; to the member for Werribee and his CFA responding in Harcourt; and to the couple from my community of Research delivering donations to Ruffy: thank you. To those council workers who kept working through, supporting their community, not knowing the status of their own homes and family, I say thank you. And to our State Control Centre: you are amazing. I say thank you.

I have seen and heard in communities across Victoria that one thing is very clear: Victorians will always show up and support each other through the most challenging of times. They are there for each other. They are united. There were stories told to me of neighbours who had not spoken to each other for years putting aside differences and turning to each other and offering support, of communities coming together and communities being cohesive. Thank you for your courage, your bravery, your endurance and your quiet determination in the face of these fires.

Steps towards recovery have begun. We know that recovery has a long tail. This Saturday sees the anniversary of Black Saturday and the 2009 fires. These communities know the challenges of recovery, and I offer my respect and acknowledgement to them. We are committed to continuing to back our emergency services and working alongside affected communities as they begin the difficult task of rebuilding their lives and their livelihoods. Whether it is critical relief payments, mental health support, emergency housing, clean-up or business supports, we are on this journey with you every step of the way. We will be there with you.

 Danny O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (14:33): I am saddened to have to rise on this condolence motion to address the incidence of the bushfires over the January period, and as previous speakers have indicated, that are still going in parts of the state today. These fires for some are an emergency, for others a disaster and for others still a tragedy. I begin by paying my condolences to the family of Max Hobson and his wife Julie in particular. Max died in the Longwood fire at Terip Terip, where they operated Aintree Farm Herefords. Max was a former mechanical engineer and project manager who for 50 years had spent time in South America and Western Australia before calling north-east Victoria home and setting up that Hereford stud. He tragically lost his life in the fire at Longwood, which has caused so much damage. We extend again our condolences to Max’s family, to Julie in particular, and to all those impacted.

We also know that there were some 400,000 hectares of the state burnt, an area about five times the size of Singapore. We know that some 1300 structures were destroyed, including 400-plus homes. That leaves a legacy for people for years to come, because many have walked out with nothing but the clothes on their back and memories. That will be a very difficult recovery for those people. You can rebuild houses, for sure, but homes and memories can be destroyed with those flames. We also know that a death toll of livestock of around 40,000 is anticipated, which the Victorian Farmers Federation estimates comes at a cost of around $20 million. We know there is far more than that in damage to farms around the state too, including loss of crops. In the Streatham fire in particular I saw the loss of stored grain that was damaged in the fire. And of course there is the toll on our natural environment and on the many thousands of wildlife no doubt killed in this event.

It is always difficult to travel to these areas in the wake of a fire, but I know people appreciated the efforts of many in doing so. The Leader of the Opposition has indicated where she went. I travelled with my colleagues from Seymour to Longwood to Hilldene, Axe Creek, Harcourt, Streatham, Skipton, Katamatite and Yarroweyah and along the way met many of the people who were impacted directly, many of the people still fighting the fires and running the operations from a professional career perspective and many of the CFA volunteers in particular, who do such amazing work. Indeed the irony was not lost on me when I caught up with the member for Ovens Valley and went up to Cobram to meet with a number of the CFA brigades over a beer at the Cobram pub. Literally as I walked up the road to the pub the fire siren went off and they all disappeared to go out to another event before I even got in the door. Thankfully, it was not another bushfire, but it was a representation of exactly the commitment they give, because only a few days earlier they had been fighting that Yarroweyah fire in that neck of the woods.

I want to pay tribute to my colleagues in the Nationals and in particular to the member for Lowan for her efforts in the fire in the Natimuk area. That comes on the back of last year as well, the fires of the Grampians and Little Desert –

Emma Kealy interjected.

Danny O’BRIEN: And, I think she is saying, the year before that. When you represent 20 per cent of the state, you have got a significant job. The member for Euroa has done extraordinary work, and in the face of personal impact as well. This is a story for the member for Euroa to tell, but on the Friday there was a concern that she had lost everything. Thankfully, her house is intact, but there is still significant damage, and what she has done as a local member for her community since then is incredible. The member for Ovens Valley – as I said, there are a number of fires that I might touch on that were a little bit forgotten; the Yarroweyah fire did not get a lot of attention, but a dozen homes were lost there – has been a champion supporting that community. The member for Mildura – when you talk about fires that are forgotten, I reckon probably there is a good chance that a lot of people here do not realise that there was a fire in the Wyperfeld National Park that burnt 50,000 hectares –

Jade Benham interjected.

Danny O’BRIEN: Seventy thousand, the member for Mildura is now advising me. Of course it was largely in national park, and thankfully there was not significant local infrastructure or public or private property, but that is still a big fire by any stretch of the imagination. The member for Gippsland East as well – there was a big fire in the Dargo area and also in East Gippsland at Mallacoota. But extraordinarily, despite there being dozens of lightning strikes in the Orbost–Cann River area, they did not take off, which was probably a reprieve, because I reckon the member for Gippsland East has had his fair share after the Black Summer fires, and that was very much welcome. Having said that, the Dargo fire had a perimeter of around 400 kilometres. It went about 50 kilometres in 6 hours. You can see, as you can with many of the fires, exactly which way the wind was blowing when you look at the fire area, because there is a very long, narrow strip of that area.

Many of those fires moved with ferocious intent and speed. The Premier mentioned the Natimuk fire, and the Streatham fire as well, which was predominantly in farmland, much of it crop stubble, and was extraordinary in the speed with which it moved. I had the privilege of having a look around the fireground once the threat had passed with Pat Millear of the Westmere group. He and his group are some of the unsung heroes. Some 100 private units took action on that fire, and there is no doubt that without those private units they would not have brought that fire up. It caused significant damage as well, and a number of homes were lost there, but the work of the CFA volunteers and the private operators was extraordinary. I sat in the kitchen with Ben Cameron, the Skipton CFA captain, and his family, including his brother-in-law Sanjan Dawson who is the Lismore CFA captain. They had saved the houses on their property but had seen damage, particularly to the farm. Sadly, only about two weeks later when a fire flared up south of Lismore, Sanjan’s farm was damaged again – his personal farm – so that continues to hit that area.

There are so many amazing stories of the community. The first place I went as the fires still raged was to the Seymour relief centre, where by the Saturday lunchtime there were piles of food and piles of water. The Premier mentioned the Sikh volunteers, and I know the Salvos were there and the Red Cross – all of the usuals doing amazing things and feeding people in a situation where there were some absolutely harrowed faces, people who had lost their homes or had not actually been able to go back at that stage to their properties. There was generosity from the community, from within and from without. The Sikh volunteers had come from Frankston instantly to feed people and give them comfort, which was amazing, followed up within a day or two by the amazing efforts that the Leader of the Opposition referred to – the Longwood fodder drop – which I am sure the member for Euroa will go into more detail on because that was an extraordinary community rally. At Muckatah in the member for Ovens Valley’s patch, we saw the work of one of the local farmers, Paul Grinter, who heard the fire warnings, saw the smoke coming, and jumped on his tractor and literally went through fences and cut firebreaks with a plough around half a dozen homes I think it was, roughly speaking, and saved those homes. He just did it, just cut the firebreak and made a massive difference. I called in to Kestrel Aviation. These are guys who are not volunteers – they have contracts with the state government – but their work in the air does amazing things and has had a huge impact as well.

I would like to thank the media as well – the ABC and many of our commercial radio stations in rural and regional Victoria, including the ACE Radio network – for their work in making sure that the message gets out as well. They play a critical role in that warning system, as well as those working within Emergency Management Victoria getting those warnings out. I think one of the successes that we have had since Black Saturday in particular is getting that message out about leaving early, about getting people to understand bushfires. As the Premier indicated, that has saved lives, because whilst we have had Black Summer and now this event that has been pretty horrific, the loss of life was dramatically reduced from Black Saturday and Ash Wednesday and others in the past, and that says a lot.

I would like to comment on the engagement. I mentioned the work of local MPs. I would like to thank ministers and the Premier for their engagement in providing advice and updates to the opposition. One thing that one of my colleagues, the member for Polwarth, has mentioned is that the bureaucracy could do more to listen to local members. We have a unique perspective as local members, particularly in the country. We pick up information, we hear complaints and we find things that perhaps those who are busy focused on the firefight do not, and I think that is something going forward that really should be engaged a bit more. As I say, I think ministers’ offices were great in keeping us informed and helping to solve issues. Again, my colleagues will say more about issues that got solved, but I think the bureaucracy and the firefighting apparatus they rely on could come back to local members more.

It has been said that the work of the volunteers was extraordinary. I do not just mean CFA volunteers; I mean the volunteers who came and packed food, provided food, volunteered their time and effort to bring fodder to cattle and sheep that had survived and desperately needed food, the volunteers right around the state who did so much work and the people who made donations and all of that.

I think it is important that this chamber realises we do have a problem with volunteers in this state. I am not just referring to the CFA again. We have seen a drop-off, and as parliamentarians and as leaders in our communities we need to see how we can relight the fire of volunteerism. The ones who are still doing it are doing amazing things, but we are certainly seeing an ageing of that volunteer force. There are some amazing young people – I think the Leader of the Opposition referred to Kylie at Seymour, who is the captain there and who is just a fantastic young volunteer – but we need so many more of them, and it is very much something that I think we need to work on.

The CFA and many others did extraordinary things, and we thank them for it. We thank all those who contributed during this fire. We mourn the loss of Max Hobson. We acknowledge the loss felt by so many – of their properties, of their livelihoods and of their farms. We commit that we will stay with them as the recovery goes, because as the minister said, the recovery has a very long tail: it is physical, it is mental and it is social. We will stick with you.

 Ros SPENCE (Kalkallo – Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Community Sport, Minister for Carers and Volunteers, Minister for Treaty and First Peoples) (14:47): Like many Victorians, I watched with deep concern as we saw catastrophic fire danger warnings issued in early January. Our farmers and our regional communities know too well the devastation that such fires can cause, and sadly those fears were realised. Tragically, cattle farmer Max Hobson lost his life, and I extend my deepest condolences to his family, friends and loved ones and the community that is mourning his loss.

I visited some of the communities most impacted by the fires in the north-east of the state. In Ruffy and Yarck I met with courageous farmers and community members who are now facing the long and difficult task of cleaning up and rebuilding their lives. I thank the member for Euroa, who was affected by the fires, for joining me in Ruffy and sharing her insights. Despite the devastation that surrounded us, we saw strong and supportive communities looking out for one another and people lending a hand and offering support wherever they could.

As the Minister for Carers and Volunteers, I cannot overstate the significance of volunteers in times like these. Of course we rightly acknowledge our CFA volunteers, but many Victorians have stepped up, organising emergency food relief, checking in on neighbours, helping with clean-up and simply being there for people when they need it most. I sincerely thank every community member who has given their time, energy or resources to support others. As Minister for Community Sport, this includes so many hardworking volunteers at local sporting clubs who have stepped up, as they so often do. We have seen the devastating impacts that fires have had on community sporting facilities. The compassion, generosity and willingness to help define the very best of Victoria.

The fires of 26 January have left an enormous impact on our agricultural sector. As Minister for Agriculture, I want to focus particularly on the impacts on productive land, livestock and the farmers who work tirelessly to care for that land. The scale of the loss has been significant. Almost 1400 farm businesses have been impacted, covering more than 124,000 hectares. This has resulted in close to 44,000 livestock losses and more than 9200 kilometres of fencing lost. Around 420 sheds have been lost or damaged, often taking with them valuable feed that farmers have worked hard to secure. Many of these farmers were already managing the impact of drought over the last few years. Losing that feed, alongside livestock the farmers deeply care for, has been devastating and deeply traumatic.

The destruction of over 500 vehicles and machinery is not only the loss of precious assets, but these are vital in giving farmers the means to clean up and recover. I am proud to say that Agriculture Victoria have been on the ground from the outset, responding to the needs of affected farmers, and I thank all of our Ag Vic staff for their tireless efforts to support our farmers. In the immediate aftermath the focus was on animal welfare and livestock disposal. Very quickly the need for emergency fodder became clear. On 8 January Ag Vic activated the emergency fodder distribution agreement with the Victorian Farmers Federation. I am very pleased that all of the requests for emergency fodder have been actioned, with over 8300 bales being delivered or in transit. I sincerely thank the VFF for their efforts to work with Ag Vic to stand up this service so quickly, and I thank our farming community for their generosity in providing these fodder donations.

To support fire-affected farmers, more than $60 million of direct support has been announced. This includes the fodder support recovery grants of up to $75,000 and concessional loans of up to $250,000. Agriculture Victoria continues to prioritise attendance at community meetings and recovery hubs, ensuring a strong on-the-ground presence to provide advice, information and practical assistance. I also want to acknowledge the importance of the free financial and wellbeing support available through the Rural Financial Counselling Service as well as the Look Over the Farm Gate community grants. On 30 January the Commonwealth and Victorian governments announced a further $160 million in support to help families, businesses and primary producers. If there is one message I would like to convey to the fire-affected communities, it is this: you are not alone. Financial assistance, along with decision-making and mental health support, is available to help make your recovery easier. Please utilise those supports, because we know that they can help. Recovery is never straightforward and it can often be a long road, but as a government we will continue to support our farmers and regional communities every step of the way. I commend the motion.

 Emma KEALY (Lowan) (14:52): Late last year I attended the 150-year celebration of Horsham fire brigade. Horsham town hall was filled with volunteer firefighters and emergency services workers, acknowledging the many disasters that they had attended over the past century and a half. Little did I know that less than two months later it would be the same assembly of emergency services workers and volunteers – tired, feeling the load of firefighting and the loss of property – that would be in that exact same hall. It was a huge acknowledgement by Terry Fradd from the CFA to not just acknowledge and thank the CFA volunteers but also acknowledge the work of the private appliances, the people who turned out and turned towards fire and smoke rather than turning away from it and the people who had slip-ons, fire pumps, speed tillers and the disk ploughs to build firebreaks. I will note that Terry said it was those farmers that turned out to build earth fire lines that saved Horsham. They have not been acknowledged nearly enough. In fact those people that stayed behind to build those firebreaks and to fight those fires, without whom we would have faced catastrophic outcomes had they not turned out, are not able to access any support funding because they did not evacuate. We must thank those people that turn out when things are tough. This courage cannot be underestimated.

For our region it was not just the disastrous winds and hot conditions – the catastrophic fire conditions. Those conditions meant that we had no air support at all. We had no line from the sky to understand where the fire front really was. This was compounded by the fact that the CFA comms are located on the Telstra tower on Mount Arapiles. Power was lost to this tower very early on in the fire. The power switched over to the battery, which after two hours ran out, and it failed to go across to the third line of power, the diesel generator. This meant that not only did we have volunteers by themselves on the ground with no air support, but they also had no comms. It was smoky. You could not see anything. It was chaotic is what I have heard from people on the ground. There were vehicles going everywhere trying to put this fire out to save lives and save property. I commend these volunteers not just because they turned out for this one event but because they are the same volunteers who turn out to every single fire, no matter where it is across Victoria.

I was moved on the day of the fire when I saw the Victoria Valley CFA truck coming through the northern part of my electorate. This is the same area of course that was hit so hard by bushfires just last year. They are the same faces; they are the same volunteers. They are the same people who have been turning out for a long time to fight against the unfair and unjust emergency services tax, and if the Premier is true to her word that she will stand by these volunteers, then I urge her to scrap that tax.

It is our communities that turned out to donate fodder. They offered their homes and spare bedrooms. They turned up with food and slabs of water before they were even asked to. They offered to look after pets and horses. They offered a shoulder to cry on. They offered a hug to say thank you. I thank absolutely everybody who chipped in. Unfortunately we are like a well-oiled machine in far western Victoria. We have had many fires, but that means that when it comes to the crunch we have leaders in the community who can stand up and rely on one another. They do not have to make a hero of themselves. They know where they fit and they do their role, and everyone respects them for what they deliver for our community. It is a voice of confidence and control when everything else for the community feels lost. I commend the communities for their incredible work to support one another.

I will make note of course of the Streatham fire, which started in my electorate and then quickly skipped across into another. For some reason borders matter sometimes, but in this case they did not. Bruce McKenna was one of the many volunteers who were on the back of a fire truck over that fire. It was chaotic, as I said. At the end of the fire Bruce needed a rest. When he needed a rest, he thought, ‘I’m going to head home,’ and then he was told, ‘You don’t have a home to go to.’ He had lost everything aside from the shirt on his back. This is the story of so many of the volunteers in far western Victoria in particular. They are Parks Victoria employees, Forest Fire Management Victoria employees and people working within the CFA and other emergency services who lost their homes. They still turned out to save other people’s property, even though their own homes were at risk. I thank them for their support and service to the community. We will stand by you. We will stand by these communities as they recover and rebuild.

 Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon – Leader of the House, Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Women) (14:57): My electorate is no stranger to the impact of natural disasters, from floods to fires and storms. We have seen it all in the time that I have been the local member. While some communities in my electorate were threatened by these recent fires, including Sutton Grange, our thoughts have been primarily with your community, Speaker, with the people in the abutting Shire of Mount Alexander, and we are grateful that we were spared the terrible impacts of these fires. Of course across Macedon our CFA brigades and our local SES units do what they do every time – that is, rise to the challenge and make themselves available to be deployed as required right across the state – and I thank them very much for that. I thank them for their ongoing commitment to volunteerism and to protecting the lives and properties of Victorians when they need it most. I also want to thank the community, because without a doubt the lessons that were learned so dreadfully during Black Saturday have been heeded, and I thank community members for leaving early, for enacting their fire plans and for evacuating when asked to. The Premier spoke to this earlier on. Undoubtedly this has saved lives, and we thank the community for taking action.

I want to take this opportunity today to pay tribute to our healthcare workers but also to the volunteers and indeed the public servants who are on the front line in our relief centres. In my community we stood up a relief centre at Kyneton, as you well know, Speaker, to support the Harcourt community. I was able to visit that relief centre, and I thank the members of the Macedon Ranges Shire Council staff, who worked tirelessly to make sure that our neighbours got the support and care that they needed, and similarly the volunteers from Red Cross and the Victorian Council of Churches, who are always there, proving that sometimes just the ability to take the time to listen provides really valuable care when it is needed most. I thank those volunteers for their readiness and their friendly smiles and cups of tea.

I also had the opportunity to visit both the Wodonga and Castlemaine relief centres, and, Speaker, I visited Castlemaine with you. I want to acknowledge that you took your entire office. You shifted it to the relief centre and then later you took your office to Harcourt. You made yourself available to your community in their time of need. When I went to the Castlemaine relief centre and indeed to the Wodonga relief centre, I saw council workers doing whatever needed to be done to ensure that their communities felt safe and supported. In Wodonga it was shire workers from Towong. Even though their own homes, farms and neighbours had felt the full force of the fires, they were there to deliver for their communities, and in Castlemaine similarly.

It has been picked up here earlier by other speakers that the department of agriculture people are delivering evidence-based support and advice. They were so ready to deliver the care, to provide the advice and to do what needed to be done. Disaster recovery funding arrangement teams were out there delivering relief payments with speed and with compassion. Our public servants do not always get the thanks that they deserve in these moments, and so I want to take the opportunity particularly to acknowledge them and also our healthcare workers. It was incredible to be able to visit Tallangatta hospital, to visit Dhelkaya Health, to be there in Darlingford in Eildon and of course, as the Premier said, to join with her at Alexandra.

At Alexandra we had the opportunity to speak with Luke and Simone, two fabulous nurses who, as the Premier has already indicated, were there delivering the care that was needed when the hospital ended up being a refuge. More than 50 people from the community slept there that night. Do you know what, we had the media in attendance to hear Luke and Simone’s story. What a pity that that story was hijacked by a bunch of disaffected people who want to drive down trust in government and drive down trust in government workers. A small number of disaffected conspiracy theorists who made it all about themselves on that day took away the spotlight from our healthcare workers. How shameful is that? I want to thank the Murrindindi shire mayor Damien Gallagher for calling them out and being at pains to let the Premier and me know that this was not the people of Murrindindi and Alexandra and that instead they stood there alongside our healthcare workers. So right across the state we have seen our healthcare workers deliver 24/7 health care no matter what they have been faced with during this dreadful time.

 Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (15:03): As we have heard, the fire at Longwood moved quickly and tore through the areas of the northern part of my electorate, doubling in size and eventually burning 140,000 hectares. Unusual because it did not have a particular fire front, it burnt in 360 degrees and left multiple paths of devastation: loss of homes, sheds, tools, machinery, stock, hay, silage, pasture, water troughs, tanks and livelihoods. As we have heard, we lost the life of Max Hobson, cattle farmer at Terip Terip. Seventy per cent of the Longwood fires tore through my electorate, predominantly in Murrindindi and also through Mansfield. The impact assessment shows that 45 per cent of the total number of structures destroyed across Victoria were in the Murrindindi shire. Murrindindi shire is a small, cash-poor shire at the best of times, and it will very much struggle to make ends meet here and will need considerable government support. They have behaved exceptionally through these fires. 193 ‍homes were lost in Murrindindi across 21 localities: Highlands lost 38 homes; Yarck, 33; Gobur, 23; Terip Terip, 19; Caveat, 18; Fawcett, 11; Molesworth, 10; Alexandra, seven; Dropmore, seven; Kanumbra, six; Ghin Ghin, five; and Koriella, four. Across Cathkin, Maintongoon, Whanregarwen, Limestone, Devils River, Gooram, Merton and Ruffy there were a handful. Merton also lost five, in the Mansfield shire. These are exceptional numbers of losses on top of 519 sheds, 2000 kilometres of damaged or destroyed fencing, 14,000 hectares of farmland, which is different from the areas burnt, and over 5500 livestock. What people might not expect was that 389 beehives were lost there, and this could have particular impacts on the agricultural sector going ahead. 3222 people sought drought disaster relief payments.

These losses were extensive. But for many in my electorate, this was not their first rodeo. Murrindindi is used to devastation. We had the October 2022 floods. We have had storms, cyclones and the tragic circumstances over Black Saturday. I acknowledge that this Saturday it will have been 17 years since that event. Our emergency services performed exceptionally, backed up by locals – the farmers with their own units and private vehicles – but also the staff from Forest Fire Management Victoria, who are seen very positively.

We saw the spirit of mateship through all of this. As I said, for many it was not their first rodeo. I was talking to young Kellan Fiske of Gruyere fire brigade. Kellan was 20 on the back of a truck in Marysville, where his family hails from, on Black Saturday. He had been there before. John Drysdale, who lost his grandfather’s house in Yarck, had been through Ash Wednesday, Black Saturday and these fires. He stayed to defend but said, ‘I knew when to leave.’ It was evident that so many people did have plans, whether they were staying to fight or leaving early or choosing the time to leave.

The roads were burnt, so they were cut off. Our communities were cut off. People could not get there to give them support. What was remarkable was the growth from within. At the Yea Community House Carlie Underhill got into action really quickly. At Fawcett we had Sam Hicks, Andrea Bauer in Highlands and Lyn Burleigh at Terip. In Yarck the pub initially was the community meeting place, followed by the hall, and it was a community effort with everybody playing to their strengths. People came together locally to determine what they needed, and it was just amazing what could be achieved and brought together from the ground up. Community-led recovery absolutely worked so well here. They were overwhelmed with the support of donations and food. The hay supplies had a lot of trouble getting in. We had so many donations of hay, and it was slow to come in. When farmers lost fences, pasture and hay, they needed hay. They needed to get stock out and taken elsewhere. There were some delays there but it eventually got through, and we had some incredible convoys going through. Andrew Embling from Alexandra and Dame Pattie Menzies really got this going. We had the Need for Feed through the Lions club.

My gratitude goes to so many of the volunteers, whether they were the CFA, private vehicles, those providing food, those helping sort through the donations, of which there were many, or those that helped euthanise as well, because they do not want farmers to put down their own stock. There is nothing more distressing than to put down your livelihood, and people came to help them with that – community members who rallied. The council staff at Murrindindi were amazing, led by the mayor Damien Gallagher, who started on the back of a truck before ending up taking on more of his mayoral role. There was the collaboration – and this is so important – between Murrindindi, Mansfield and Strathbogie shires and then the support given to them by the Yarra Ranges shire and Whittlesea and most recently by Melbourne City Council, because they have skills that they can help Murrindindi with at the moment. We had the unbreakable farmers. The stock agents were fabulous getting into gear to help the farmers. Agriculture Victoria, as mentioned before, were on the ground trying to help people. I spoke to people from Leongatha, Colac and Horsham in Yarck, which is where they had come from. My support has been unwavering, and this is not my first rodeo either. I will continue to support those impacted.

I have got to thank Jack Buksh from the Premier’s office, who on some days I felt like I spoke to 40 ‍times, and I still continue to do so. I did appreciate him being available and getting back to me. My messages now are: fencing, fencing, fencing. People have said we have got to get systems in place. Well, systems are in place. The communities are doing this. They cannot wait for government to make decisions and move. They need support in coordination. They need local support in getting that fencing done. The majority of people who were impacted are farmers and the difficult period is coming now, after that adrenaline wears off over the next few weeks. I pledge that I will be there for them. Things were not perfect; they are not perfect. There are still challenges, and we need to get through those so that our communities continue to thrive again in the future.

 Martha HAYLETT (Ripon) (15:11): The beginning of 2026 has been nothing short of heartbreaking for so many families across our state. In my own community the year began with a frightening reminder of how quickly conditions can change. On 7 January a grassfire broke out along the Sunraysia Highway between Maryborough and St Arnaud. In extreme heat, around 40 firefighting units rushed to the scene. Before the fire was contained by crews on the ground and in the air, 28 ‍hectares of farmland had been burnt. Families in Moyreisk, Natte Yallock, Redbank and Stuart Mill were told to leave their homes. Roads were closed. People waited anxiously for news about their properties, their neighbours and their animals. It was a really tense day for so many, but things worsened even more only two days later.

On 9 January catastrophic conditions created more than 30 active fires across Victoria, including major fires in Streatham, Carranballac and the rural areas of Skipton. These fires moved with terrifying speed, leaving devastation in their wake. I saw the impact firsthand when I brought the Deputy Premier to our region just a few days later. What we witnessed was gut wrenching: more than 18,000 hectares lost, dozens of homes destroyed, farm machinery and fencing obliterated and over 10,000 livestock dead. The stories of the farmers who had to shoot 2000 to 3000 sheep and of ammunition being completely used up are absolutely horrific.

Families who had lived on the land for generations were suddenly faced with unimaginable loss, and yet in the middle of that devastation we also saw the very best of our community. Neighbours and strangers were checking in on one another, helping to move stock, sharing equipment and opening up their homes to those who had lost everything. Local brigades worked around the clock, supported by volunteers who brought food, water and whatever else was needed. Together they protected and cared for so many. Even the Carranballac Cricket Club, whose cricket balls had literally turned to ash, were already planning their next training night just six days after losing everything. That determination, that refusal to be beaten, is exactly what defines our rural communities.

I have always said that we have some of the best people that you could ever meet in Ripon, but I have seen it proven over and over again in the last three weeks. I saw it again in Linton on 25 January, where hundreds of people converged on the rec reserve to support the Carranballac Cricket Club. In just two weeks, local clubs had organised a T20 double-header, with a jumping castle, face painting, an auction and a raffle – all to raise money for bushfire recovery. Thank you so much to everyone who made that event possible, especially Luke and Jess Jackson, Kirk McDonald and the Grenville league. Your leadership and your generosity lifted spirits at a time when people desperately needed hope. I also want to acknowledge our first responders – the firefighters, the police, the paramedics and the volunteers – who protected homes, farms and entire communities. Without their courage and skill, the losses from the Streatham fire would have been so much worse. The recovery effort is now well underway, and I want to recognise the many organisations and individuals who have stepped up.

BlazeAid are now based at the Skipton Golf Club, with volunteers clearing hundreds of kilometres of fencing already. Local volunteers like Tash, Lauren and Gayle are keeping families fed through the Skipton Food Bank, and donations have been so generous that a shipping container has been brought in to store them. The local Skipton op shop is also working around the clock to get essential supplies to those who need them most. These acts of kindness matter so much. They help people feel less alone in these days.

As we begin the long road to recovery, it is vital that those impacted know that help is available and that they do not have to navigate this alone. Government agencies are working closely with the community to make sure every affected family receives the support that they need. Grants for immediate relief, mental health support and clean-up assistance have been made available, and a recovery network coordinated by amazing local women like Megan Read and Lyn Heenan has also been set up to keep momentum strong and make sure that no-one falls through the cracks. More assistance will follow, and healing will take time, but no-one will face that journey alone. Together we will rebuild.

 Tim McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (15:16): On Friday 9 January it was 45 degrees with a northerly wind blowing an absolute gale-force storm. It was horrendous. An ignition took place at the Yarroweyah roadhouse 4 kilometres west of Cobram and 20 kilometres north of Katamatite, and it just took off. Irrigation country like this is not used to bushfires because the ground is covered with green summer crops and grass, but this was different. It was roadside vegetation and Goulburn–Murray Water channel banks choked with weeds and overgrowth that fuelled this roaring blaze.

Over 30 appliances turned out to try and put a stop to this out-of-control blaze, which was headed directly for Katamatite. This furnace was covering ground at an unprecedented speed. Twelve houses were destroyed in a little over 3 hours. Fences were gone and sheds and outbuildings were destroyed. The Cobram and Tocumwal brigades became trapped and experienced a burnover, which they thought they would not survive. Thankfully, two Hercules C-130s and a helicopter gave these CFA volunteers a chance. If not for them, the Katamatite township would surely have been disintegrated.

The Muckatah community only a week earlier had hosted a rodeo where the firestorm was headed. The Muckatah tanker has been offline since October due to a mechanical fault, and the Muckatah crew did the best they could with a 30-year-old truck. They told me on Sunday that if they had been caught with the Cobram and Tocumwal units in the burnover, they would have been cooked. Tobruk Road took heavy losses, with houses exploding and buildings burnt, and as the name suggests, a siege took place. But the allied forces of our local CFAs just could not stop this beast.

I visited many of these local affected communities and farms, and we shall have a lot of work to do. Many thanks to Moira FoodShare, Moira Shire Council and particularly Scott Williams and the staff at the recovery centre. We all know there are those who shine when the emergency is on, but the slow grind of recovery requires different skills, patience and empathy, and I thank those in our community who are performing that role at the moment. I also want to say that Powercor were exceptional, returning power to what was left. No lives were lost, but we were oh so close.

Our volunteers came from all around – from Strathmerton, Naring, Katamatite, Cobram and further afield. Our New South Wales volunteers from across the Murray River were there in force, but as one said, it was like fighting a raging bull with nowhere to run. You will not find a more blatant example of roadside vegetation acting as a wick. The fire was contained east and west by the green grass in the summer crop, but north to south there was dead and dried-up vegetation as far as the eye could see.

More than a couple of people were evacuated from their homes with only minutes to spare, while farmers like John Stacpoole, Adrian Conti and Paul Grinter have been applauded for their courage on tractors, digging up ground and saving houses.

There are so many ifs and what-ifs. If the wind had been westerly, Cobram township, 10 times the size of Katamatite, would have been wiped off the map. If the Muckatah crew had have turned right instead of left on Peach Road, they would have been cooked. And if the wind did not drop around Sandmount Road, Katamatite would also be char.

With 12 homes destroyed in the Yarroweyah fire, we are better off than many. However, one house is too many and one family impacted is one too many. Hats off to our brave CFA members who ran towards this beast, and to all our CFA volunteers and other volunteers across our state who put themselves in harm’s way to protect our people and property we say thank you.

The Katamatite community, led by Ian Fox, held a thankyou day for our CFA and other first responders on Sunday at the Katamatite Recreation Reserve. We got to say thank you and that we are on their side. I shout out to BlazeAid. Words cannot describe the work that these people do – absolutely salt of the earth people supporting others, strangers helping strangers. It is just unbelievable. Katamatite police officer Charles Ryall showed poise and leadership in a crisis, and many unsung heroes have helped out over the past three weeks during the clean-up and the painful steps of sifting through the rubble and wiping the tears for those who have lost everything and even those who did not. Our fire could have been avoided. If you leave fuel lying around, you have to expect one day it is going to catch fire. Thankfully the CFA are our safety net. They always are.

 Lauren KATHAGE (Yan Yean) (15:21): I rise to extend the condolences and sympathy of my community for all those who have been impacted by bushfires in Victoria. In my communities, protected by CFA and SES volunteers, the annual Santa run means our kids do not think of Santa arriving on a sleigh – he comes on a fire truck. Santa comes on a fire truck. So towards the end of December families get out their maps and they check the route of the CFA Santa so they can be there on the side of the road welcoming their heroes – the kids waving so hard you think their arms are going to fly off with the excitement of it all.

That promise, the promise of summer, gave way to feelings of tension and worry as the catastrophic fire day warnings came through. Representing a community that was impacted by Black Saturday, that feeling is deep – and it is not just something that is imagined, it is a memory, so it has extra weight and extra fear. And of course it came to pass, not for us so much but for our neighbours – the fire and devastation, the loss of livelihoods, the loss of a life, the loss of homes and the impact on families that we know will be there for such a long time. Farmers, salt of the earth people that we know take such good care of their livestock, were having to deal with putting them down. It was devastating.

At the same time, day after day the brigades from my community, the men and women, jumped in the trucks and headed north and they headed west, leaving behind their families and their friends, heading to another community where maybe they did not know anyone – day after day. The stories that came back from the fireground were harrowing, and talking to girlfriends, they were worried about their partners who were out on the night shift with different strike teams. Our brigades have made our communities so proud, and that community pride has expressed itself through community members, almost like they took offerings to the CFA brigade stations. Wandong CFA spoke of the cars lined up in their driveway to bring pizzas, crackers, Gatorade, anything – a gift – to these men and women who jumped on the trucks and headed off. We sent the best from our community to people who were having the worst day in other communities. I am so proud to represent them. And of course when fires came closer to home, to our community, the favour was returned. We had Craigieburn there, we had Wollert there, we had Darraweit, we had Bolinda, we had Kilmore – all of them in their trucks coming to us in our time of need. This is who we are.

Visiting the emergency centre in Whittlesea with Minister D’Ambrosio, meeting people who did not know if their home up north was still there, who were worried for their families and their livelihoods and who did not know what they would return to, I was struck by the fact that the people caring for them there in Whittlesea were those who had been impacted themselves in Black Saturday. Time had come around full circle, and they were there with the knowledge and skills ready to support those who needed them. This is who we are. Thank you to the Whittlesea Agricultural Society, who opened the showgrounds so that farmers could bring livestock down to us if it was needed.

The recovery will take years. We know that where I am from because we are still recovering in our hearts, in our minds, from Black Saturday. We know how long it will take, and we know that all levels of government working together makes a difference. Working together with organisations like BlazeAid, who have 11 base camps around Victoria – and they are calling out especially for volunteers in Walwa but also for all BlazeAid camps. All people working together is how we get through this. This is who we are.

 Richard RIORDAN (Polwarth) (15:26): I rise today after what was the most extraordinary January I have had in my 10 years here. Many people in my community I know would say that if you did not laugh, you would be crying, because it has been an exhausting time. We have had floods, we have had fires, we have had tragic train accidents and we have had cliff rescues on top of all the normal day-to-day activities, in an electorate that is entirely looked after in the emergency management space by volunteers. Volunteers and community members from one end of it to the other are there at the forefront, and they are exhausted. They are exhausted after an unrelenting January where it went from one thing to another and from just the sheer concept of a large fire, sitting within 5 or 6 kilometres of a major population centre, which like a volcano sat rumbling and has continued to rumble for the last three weeks. It is tiring, and what the community understands and appreciates at the country level but may not be necessarily as well understood amongst many city folks is that these people that are at the coalface actually have other jobs to do as well. They are farmers, they work in shops and they run the local small business in the general store in the local town. They have other commitments and responsibilities. That has all come during January, and we all know January is a family time. There are literally hundreds of families across my electorate that have forgone rest and relaxation. They will go into the autumn farming season and just will not have time to catch up.

There are costs and consequences from a disastrous season right throughout. I do not have enough time today to mention all the various heroes, but I do want to acknowledge the volunteer groups. The CFA, the SES and the local P and A society, which got a shout-out in another electorate – they were fantastic offering their showgrounds. It is not only that but also the everyday people in the community who stepped up when we had unexpected flash floods. In fact the Lorne community barely knew it was even raining, yet within hours people had food and clothing and beds on offer for people who suddenly found themselves without a car, without any way of getting home. Communities can be so amazing in this area.

I also want to really acknowledge our local councils: Surf Coast shire, Colac and Corangamite. Their mayors, their CEOs and their emergency management staff were first class. They really have a well-oiled machine that kicks in and really knows how to set up somewhere safe for people to go and how to look after them and work with them. That comes on top of the flood of state government fire and forest management people and others that have come in and set up camp. There are some 200 people camped – and will be for some time – at the Colac Central Reserve, a great resource of people who know what they are doing and how to do it. The proof is in the pudding in the fact that despite floods, fires and other things we have managed to have no deaths and minimal property losses, but nonetheless it still sits there and, sadly for our community, will sit there for the duration of summer until such time as some autumn rains arrive.

I touched on train accidents, and I also want to point out the great tragedy for the small community of Cressy. It is important to note that this is the second major fatality within two years within literally a kilometre – two unmarked, unnoticed level crossings. It was a tragedy, and the fire brigade out at Cressy were called to that. They are just hardworking farmers who have left the farm for the day to go and deal with an absolutely catastrophic situation. But within days of that you also found them at the Lara Lee fire, up at the Skipton–Carranballac fire and down helping in the Otways. These Cressy people did a marvellous job. It was a very busy and hectic summer for them in a community where of course this time of year can be quite busy with finishing off harvest and crops for a late season.

On top of that, just in the time I have left I really want to acknowledge the wonderful job of our local Lions clubs, the Salvation Army and the op shops in my community, all of which flooded. I met with the Minister for Emergency Services, who came down to Lorne, and she would have seen too firsthand all the clothing and things that were offered onsite very quickly as the Salvos bought their emergency vehicles in to help look after people. We had our surf clubs – there are eight surf clubs in Polwarth – all step up, providing meeting venues and providing, in the case of the coastal ones, somewhere for people to sleep overnight for a few days. Right across the community, people and community organisations and footy clubs all stepped up. The Lorne football club, for example, at a training day cleaned the beaches and picked up what could become dangerous obstacles in the sea, to keep people safe. All in all, it was a fantastic effort from the people of Polwarth, a community that knows how to come together, work together and keep not only themselves but also literally tens of thousands of visitors safe, for whom they still managed to provide a wonderful holiday in a wonderful part of the world at what was a very tricky time for so many.

 John LISTER (Werribee) (15:31): We cannot avoid the motto. It sits on the training PowerPoints and on the booklets we get from Emergency Management Victoria. Despite its corporate presence, it reflects a deep feeling all emergency service workers, volunteer or paid, feel when people need your help: we work as one. In delivering my condolences to the communities affected by fires across Victoria – and we have heard about so many different communities, which have been name-checked today, across Victoria this summer – I want to highlight the role of my fellow emergency service workers in living this motto. I have not only sat through policy meetings for emergency services in a previous life and in this place; I have seen my share of the red stuff up close. I want to share just my small experience with what this summer has been like so far.

The story of my role this summer is like that of thousands of other volunteers. I have always referred to our outer suburban brigades as the cavalry. We sit watching EM-COP – if you are in the game, you will know what that is – on the big screens at the station as they track the fires live, and we can see the helicopter footage as well. We follow that situation throughout the day. You are on alert from so early in the morning, living that unofficial fire services motto of ‘Hurry up and wait’. Not only did we go out every hour to the assortment of emergencies in our own urban area; we knew that it was only a matter of time before that page comes through to form up at some random service station on the way out of town and head in to help. Over summer so far 400 of these strike teams have been deployed with, as has been mentioned, 23,000 individual turnouts.

Later that Friday night, like many other volunteers, I had just sat down for the evening at home. I got a quick call from our crew leader saying that we were likely to go to Harcourt that night and to make sure my bag was packed, which I always have packed, and 60 seconds later the pager message went off. I had been to Harcourt many times as a kid; it is a beautiful place. But in the dark, surrounded by the orange glow of the day’s threat, it took on a different feeling. As we arrived to the staging ground, which was well set up and had lots of food actually, which was really nice – we do not always get that when we get there in a hurry – seeing the tired sector commanders, the local crews darting back and forth to the control lines patrolled by the cavalry of strike teams and the pumper crews who stayed back to defend the township, it hit me: the job was not done. The threat was not over, but here were trucks from dozens of towns and suburbs from all across Victoria all there for a single purpose: to help. You see the forest fire management crews guiding the bulldozers to make firebreaks in the dark ‍– I have no idea how they do it; it is amazing – mapping the fire across country they saw green and lush only six months ago. The green frogs, as we affectionately call them, are some of the bravest firefighters I have ever seen.

I saw the line of Fire Rescue Victoria pumpers winding through the main street in Harcourt, ready to defend the township once again in the morning when the wind picked up. Shifts that started in suburban stations, where the days are punctuated by emergency medical responses and fire alarms, now ended up hundreds of kilometres away. SES workers and police helped set up staging grounds and roadblocks, working with those who had evacuated, keeping them in touch with what the situation was. CFA, Forest Fire Management Victoria, FRV, SES and police worked and work as one. Our ranks in the CFA are growing, including in my own brigade, and often we think of the operational firefighters in our bright yellow gear on the fireground. In paying tribute to the people who helped defend communities across Victoria, I also want to recognise everyone who worked back at the stations and units where we came from, restowing and washing trucks at all hours of the morning when we get back, checking gear, driving crews hours back and forward to staging grounds. The lists of jobs we do when we are not in front of the red stuff is really long. Whether it is on the fireground or back at home, we work as one.

To all emergency services workers, thank you. The impact of the fires has been well outlined by previous speakers. I again extend my support to these communities not only as someone, like many, ready to get on that truck but as a member of a government that is working to help them recover. Despite some attempts to turn this summer into politicking, I do not want to countenance this. Instead I look at the thousands of people, from the Prime Minister and Premier down, who worked as one. This is what makes us Australian, and I commend this motion to the house.

 Annabelle CLEELAND (Euroa) (15:37): Condolence motions are often about the loss of life – I am already struggling; it is going to be a long 5 minutes, sorry – and today we mourn the life we lost in the Longwood bushfire, Max Hobson. My heart goes out to Julie and Max’s family and friends during what is an unimaginably difficult time. He is known as a great person far and wide, with significant impact in the Hereford industry. Today I also want to speak about something our community is carrying: its grief, fear and the heartbreak of losing so much, so fast.

On the Friday of the catastrophic fire day I received a call from our neighbour. His wife is my best friend, and we are raising children together. He screamed into the phone, ‘I’m alive, I’m alive. Tell her I’m alive.’ For our families throughout our region – Longwood, Ruffy, Euroa, Highlands – and right across the state this summer did not just take homes and livestock, paddocks and fences. A devastating fire tore through our region, and it shook something deeper: it shook people’s sense of safety. It is the fear of driving down a road you have known your whole life and suddenly checking the tree line. It is the fear of hot winds. It is the fear of a text message, a siren or that relentless bloody beep-beep-beep of the VicEmergency app. Your heart rate will never stop rising when you hear it. It is packing the car in a hurry and telling your children to grab what you love most – important documents, photo albums, the pets, your wedding dress – and then trying to explain why the bike cannot come, because it cannot fit, or why the chickens and the cubby house have to stay, why the dream you spent your life building with your partner cannot be packed in the back seat and why Dad has decided to stay and defend. You drive away praying that there will be something to come home to. But at that exact moment others are driving as well. The pager goes off, the boots go on and the truck goes out the gate, driving towards flames while their own families sit at home waiting.

More than 400 local volunteers fought our fire – farmers, mums and dads, tradies and neighbours. People who had every reason to stay and fight and protect their own property chose to protect everyone else. Some stayed on the truck for three days straight, some for several weeks – weeks of smoke and heat, weeks without proper sleep and weeks of seeing things that no-one should have to see, and they will carry the toll of those memories forever. They were led by local captains who carried enormous responsibility for their crews and their communities: Will Fenech, Hilldene; Kylie Comte, Seymour; Michel Becks, Whiteheads Creek; Chris Baker, Creightons Creek; Shaun Hearmon, Longwood; Steve Brook, Locksley; Damon Rieusset, Euroa; Jeff Jennings, Violet Town; David Hamilton, Strathbogie; and many, many, many more. They stepped up without hesitation, and when they finally came home exhausted there was another army waiting – neighbours cooking meals, dropping off supplies, checking in and making sure they could rest before heading straight back out again. Friends and colleagues, like the member for Kew, dropped in undies for me, a clean shirt and clothes and nappies for the children because we could not get home – and beer and socks for our community because we had nothing.

I spoke to George Noye, the Ruffy captain, on Thursday night in the midst of it all. For 30 hours he had been on the truck; he had no sleep, and homes had been lost in Ruffy. The town was lost within hours, and he felt like he did not do enough. He called me with a shock in his heart, and I want to say he did do enough. They all did enough. They protected lives, homes and people’s dreams, and when the flames passed they stepped straight into helping their neighbours organise fodder, water, feed and supplies, because that is what our community does. We do not wait; we just get on with it.

Alongside the loss, we have seen the very best of who we are as a community and who we are as Victorians. Within hours the Tubb family called me and said, ‘What do we need?’ Within 30 minutes we announced a fodder drive on the radio. The Tubb family opened their property and turned it into the heart of the response, moving $2.5 million worth of fodder in two weeks. We wanted to keep stock alive, and we wanted to keep farmers farming. We saw Don and Felicity Sloman, Colleen Furlanetto, Anne Douglas and Katie Hill making sure families who had lost everything still had clothes, food and water. We saw hay runners cross state lines through the night; truck drivers refusing to fill up their tanks so more could go to someone else; bakeries, cafes and the IGA feeding volunteers while their own businesses were hurting – they still are; Rotary, Lions and the RSL showing up without being asked; and people stopping work, putting their own income aside and simply saying, ‘What do you need?’ and then just doing it.

I remember sitting that Friday night with my sister Clementine, our six children and our pets and working dogs and a small zoo army. We were watching the fire zooming in, wondering if we still had a home. That is a helpless feeling, and there were so many people who lived that nightmare. You just feel lost – decades of work, livelihoods, livestock and memories gone in a minute. But the hardest job of all was for young people walking burnt paddocks euthanising stock because help could not get there fast enough. I personally thank Ash Rowling and Onion. ‘Thank you’ seems so inadequate for the job that they had to do. If there is one thing that we need to change, it is that no farmer should ever have to put down their own livestock, wildlife or pets because the system is too slow – because that is not resilience, that is actually failure.

We lost one life, but we also need to care for the living and for those with trauma and exhaustion, the firefighters who cannot sleep, the parents holding it together for their families – some falling apart on camera – and the families wondering whether they have the energy to start again. Our responsibility in this place is not just to mourn, it is to stand with them, to make sure recovery is real, to make sure support actually turns up and to make sure no regional family ever feels forgotten. A mighty fire tore through our region, but it did not break us. What I have seen is courage, generosity and decency, and that is the value of Victorians – ordinary people doing extraordinary things for each other.

Yesterday, walking off our burnt property, I saw green shoots pushing through blackened ground. I see them and the first shoots of trees everywhere. It is emotional. There is no rain. This is resilience. Our land is tough and so are our people. Today, when we honour the life we lost, Max Hobson, I want to also honour those who ran towards the flames and the communities who were courageous enough to protect each other. We make the promise that we will not let them rebuild on their own.

I also need to do a shout-out to Jack. Sorry, that sounds terrible. I have just got him as Jack on Siri. Do not call him, Siri. We moved mountains together. We reconnected water. We got shipping containers delivered. We changed the limit on the freeway within an hour, I think. We put up signs so that this community response was safe and supported. I am so proud. We got Tones and I. Jack, you promised me Zach Bush, so it is on the record, mate. There are too many legends to name in 5 minutes – I apologise – but I just want to say I am so proud of my community.

 Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (15:47): On behalf of the Greens I want to express my sincere condolences to the victims and survivors of Victoria’s latest horrific bushfires, as well as the floods that affected Victoria over summer. I want to acknowledge the contribution that came before me. In particular we send our thoughts to the family and friends of Max Hobson, a beloved farmer who died defending his property in the Longwood fire. We send condolences to all the Victorian communities impacted by bushfires this summer, which have already torn through more than 400,000 hectares of land and destroyed around 200 homes, with an unknowable number of animals killed and injured.

I also want to thank the firefighters and the volunteers, who have given an incredible amount to save lives and property at great risk to themselves. As I have spoken about in this place before, my dad was a firefighter with Parks Victoria and the department out on many, many, many bushfires. I know that fear of waiting up at night, wondering when he will come home. I know what it feels like to see your loved one come home exhausted and shattered like Dad did after Black Saturday. Firefighters endure so much with very little, night shift after night shift, battling infernos with no visibility, just trying to save who and what they can in horrifying circumstances.

People lost everything in these fires, people like Dr Robyn Coy, who was forced to shelter in a dam, standing in the water with her brothers, watching as fires destroyed the Tarcombe wildlife centre, along with almost all the incredible animals that she had devoted her life to rescuing and rehabilitating. Then there are people like Alex Kelly, who not only had to evacuate catastrophic fires in Castlemaine but then had to evacuate again a few days later when flash flooding hit the Great Ocean Road, where she was staying. The cruel reality is that we have more intense and more frequent disasters, and it means that communities barely have a chance to recover from fire before they then have to face floods, and it feels like nowhere is safe.

I want to acknowledge every Victorian who felt that fear as they checked the VicEmergency app, looking at fires growing all across the state. As I sat up late last Tuesday night, with the mercury still well over 30 degrees at 10 pm in Melbourne, I could not sleep, and it was not just because of the heat. It was because of the dread – smoke blanketing Melbourne, huge swathes of forests in the Otways on fire, people’s homes literally going up in smoke, followed by cars being swept out to sea. I stroked my children’s hair as they tossed and turned and tried to go to sleep in that extraordinary heat, and it felt like there was a rock in the pit of my stomach, because if these children are facing nearly 50-degree heat in 2026, what on earth does the world look like for them in 10 years time, in 20 years time? Our state is becoming almost unlivable. Huge parts of the state had to evacuate because their communities were literally on fire, and if they were lucky enough to escape that, they could not escape the oppressive heat or the smoke that blanketed the state that we all had to breathe in. There is literally nowhere that is safe anymore. But the scariest thing is that scientists tell us this is worse than they predicted and it is only going to get even more catastrophic.

I know so many Victorians felt that same sense of dread but also a sense of palpable anger at our governments, who have approved almost a dozen new oil and gas drilling projects in Victoria over the past year alone. On 10 December, just a few weeks before the latest fires, the Victorian Labor Premier approved exploration licences for two new gas drilling projects in the Otway and Gippsland basins. The Premier last year personally met with the CEO of gas corporation Woodside. Just one day later Anthony Albanese put out another five new tenders to drill in our oceans just off the Otways, which have just been decimated in the fires. How is this acceptable as our communities burn? How dare they? I appreciate that many MPs’ support for their communities in this place is real. The grief is absolutely real. But it is insulting to these communities to see Labor MPs cry and mourn in Parliament and then go off and meet with the CEO of Woodside and approve more oil and gas drilling off the coast of the Otways when they are still on fire.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! I remind members that this is a condolence motion. Irrespective of what your views are, everyone is entitled to make a contribution without assistance.

Ellen SANDELL: I am sorry, but MPs cannot go out and with one hand hand out meals at relief centres and then approve new oil and gas drilling with the other hand that makes these fires and floods worse. It is offensive. It is simply offensive to communities.

Burning coal and gas causes climate change. That is simply a fact. Climate change fuels more floods and more fires. That is simply a fact. What will it take for Labor and Liberal MPs to take this goddamn seriously, because our communities are on fire, and what will it take for Labor and Liberal MPs to stand up to the coal, oil and gas corporations that are causing this devastation? This is a complete failure of leadership and, despite what some might say, it is actually not complicated. It is actually very simple. When we learned that asbestos was killing people, governments banned it straightaway. There is only one reason why politicians now refuse to ban the burning of fossil fuels: because politicians do not have the backbone to stand up to the coal and gas companies who line their pockets and run this country. In the last 25 years almost every federal resources minister has gone on to work for gas or oil or coal companies shortly after leaving Parliament, and the public deserves to be outraged about this.

A man has lost his life. Hundreds of people have lost their homes, their buildings and their livelihoods. Countless animals have been killed. Entire forests have been destroyed and entire communities have been devastated, and we have been here before. And who pays for this? The people who have lost everything are the ones who pay for it. The ordinary Victorians who have to take their kids to the hospital with asthma because of bushfire smoke and the elderly people who die during heatwaves are the ones who pay for this. Ordinary Victorians pay, and the governments let fossil fuel corporations get away with it. Actually, governments do not just let them get away with it, governments keep giving them licences and subsidies to cause even more climate damage. Coal, oil and gas companies privatise their profits and take the money for themselves, but the damage they cause we all pay for. It is a screwed-up system, and it needs to change.

Alex Kelly was one of the people who saw her community devastated in the Harcourt fires. Her home narrowly escaped the fire by just a couple of kilometres. She said:

How is it … that my friends, my footy captain and my kid’s psychologist be out volunteering to protect our homes, sports fields, schools and cafes from these wildly unpredictable ferocious fire storms when the companies responsible for them are let off the hook?

How is it indeed? Because governments let them. Coal and gas corporations should pay for the damage that they have caused. They should pay to rebuild people’s homes, to rehabilitate our forests, for the healthcare costs and treatment for those who get lung cancer or an asthma flare-up from inhaling smoke and particles due to bushfire smoke and for the water supplies in regional towns that are now at risk.

Ordinary Victorians did not cause this catastrophe; coal and gas corporations did, and they should pay for it. Will the Labor government force them to pay for it? No, I do not think so. So while I very much support this condolence motion coming to Parliament today, I hope all those who got up and spoke, who mourn the devastation these fires caused, also take a good look at what the government are doing and the decisions they are making that are making this a hell of a lot worse, because we cannot have more and more devastation like this. Our state will not survive it.

 Will FOWLES (Ringwood) (15:56): I rise to speak to the Premier’s motion on these bushfires in her absence and thank her for bringing it to the chamber. I rise not so much as the member for Ringwood but as a part-time constituent of the member for Euroa. My family live and work and farm and grow in the member for Euroa’s electorate and we have been personally deeply affected by these fires, and I will be speaking a bit to that experience. But in doing so I do want to acknowledge that in many areas of the state, be it the Otways, Walwa, Dargo, Mallacoota, the fires are still burning. Those communities are living with fear and living with exhaustion, and people are watching conditions minute by minute and checking warnings and watching the wind, not knowing what the next few hours or days will bring. For many people, sleep is broken, bags are packed, animals are stressed and kids are anxious. People are doing their best to carry on while knowing things can change very quickly. That constant tension takes a real toll, and it is important that we recognise that this is still unfolding for many communities.

The fires are still burning in parts of the Longwood fire, including on my parents’ farm, so this is personal for me. My brother’s vineyard in Upton Hill, near Avenel, was hit by fire on Thursday 8 ‍January: 350 acres of vines gone, a thousand sheep lost, my brother’s family home and my uncle’s home both destroyed, my nieces made homeless and then my parents’ farm burnt and is still burning. What used to be productive land now looks like a moonscape. Fences are gone, infrastructure is gone and 20 years of work has disappeared in a few hours. Unless you have stood there and seen it, it is hard to understand how complete that loss is. For farming families, it is not about what has burnt, it is about what comes next. How do you feed stock when the paddocks are bare? How do you replant when all the income is gone? How do you rebuild when insurance does not and cannot cover everything and the emotional toll is already so high?

I want to place on the record my sincere thanks to the CFA volunteers, FRV firefighters, emergency services workers, contractors and everyone involved in the response and in the clean-up. You turned up in dangerous conditions, and you kept going. You walked towards the flames. You stepped into the danger. Many of you were working long hours, often not knowing what was happening at your own homes or with your own families. They made dangerous places safe, though, sadly or unfortunately or perhaps due to bureaucratic red tape, not safe enough for some. A thousand sheep, many of whom burnt – there is a horror with sheep that when they get badly burnt their hooves fall off. They are left walking on bloodied stumps, and the need for euthanising in those circumstances is immediate. Unfortunately, despite the fact that all of our friends, neighbours, family and staff were working on that hideous project, it was deemed unsafe for the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action to attend to assist with the euthanising. That is unfortunate, and that is one of the many matters that I hope we get an opportunity to ventilate in this place as we look to the learnings out of these fires.

Fighting the fires is hard enough. We should be making it easier for the firefighters, providing them with the right vehicles, sure, the right gear and the right support. The difference these vehicles can make on the fire ground is real. It can be the difference between getting to a fire quickly or not, between holding a line or losing it and between protecting a home or watching it burn. I think we need to have a real look at the resourcing requirements of the CFA but also some of the red tape that stands between sensible burn-offs in the off-season and areas of the Hume Highway that simply cannot be accessed by fire trucks because of the barriers. There are a range of issues that need to be ventilated, and I support the Nationals in their call for a substantial review. Our firefighters do an extraordinary job, but they should not be asked to do it burdened by unnecessary bureaucracy, and they deserve the best we can give them. Communities deserve to know that when fires come our emergency services are properly resourced, properly supported and ready to go, and that means governments – all governments – have a responsibility to invest early, consistently and seriously in firefighting capability, not just after disasters and not just when public attention is focused on them. It is about preparation, not politics.

I want to acknowledge the neighbours, friends and community members who stepped in straightaway ‍– people checking on each other, sharing food, water, equipment and shelter, helping with stock, fencing and clean-up. That kind of support is what gets people through the first days when everything feels overwhelming. I have to say chief amongst those is the member for Euroa. What a superstar – an extraordinary effort. Her own home almost burnt, and yet all of her thoughts were for her community. Then there are heroes like the Tubbs – it is no accident that there is a Victoria Cross in that family – the Mercers, Ash, my old schoolmate, and Scott Jeffery, the mayor of Strathbogie. There are just so many people who stepped into the breach. Some are only just beginning to take in what has been lost, and others are trying to work out where they will live, how they will keep going and how they rebuild from here. For some the stress has not eased at all because fires are still burning close by. That constant uncertainty wears people down. It affects sleep, mental health, family life and professional lives. We need to take that seriously and respond properly, not just in the immediate aftermath, but over the long term. I say this not as an observer but now as someone who has lived experience; unlike some, I do hold a hose.

Recovery will take time. It will need practical help for families, farmers and businesses. It will take proper and substantial mental health support, and it will take a long-term commitment to regional communities who have been hit hard and will be dealing with the consequences for years. As an MP I say to these communities: we see what you are going through and we know how much has been lost. We all have a responsibility, irrespective of which side of the chamber we sit, to ensure that either as government or in our scrutiny of government we keep listening and we keep turning up for as long as it takes.

 The SPEAKER (16:03): With the indulgence of the house, I would like to make a few statements in relation to the motion. Can I firstly thank members for their contributions this afternoon to both motions, and can I acknowledge the members who have been impacted both directly and indirectly in their electorates by the fires and the current fires that are still burning.

Fire has a way of stripping back things to a rawness and a truth. In central Victoria and across our state the recent bushfires did just that, taking a life, homes, livelihoods, wildlife and our environment and leaving communities shaken. What has been lost is significant. What has been tested once again, though, is our collective resilience, and what has been revealed is the depth of care people hold for one another, especially when it matters most. My condolences to the many people and communities who have endured a horrific and devastating loss and who continue to face a summer of risk and ongoing fires.

In my electorate the impact of these fires was felt deeply in Harcourt, Harcourt North, Barkers Creek, Walmer, Ravenswood, Ravenswood South, Sedgwick, Sutton Grange and surrounding districts. Like many rural communities, these are close-knit communities, places where people know one another and look out for one another. For these communities under threat of fire, to see it was deeply distressing. We lost over 50 homes in this fire. It was small in geography, but its impact was merciless. Harcourt, which was hit especially hard, is a special place, held close by many in my electorate and far beyond it. For those who do not know, the Harcourt Valley rests beneath the shadow of Leanganook, or Mount Alexander. Leanganook watches over the valley and its residents. Harcourt is known for its apple orchards, cideries and wineries, cherries, its rich gold rush history and its enduring resilience. It is a small town with a big heart.

I want to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of our emergency services, like everyone here knows, particularly the CFA volunteers who stood their ground in exhausting and dangerous conditions on 9 ‍January. To the Walwa, Maldon and Baringhup brigades – and the member for Werribee might like to know that it was the Maldon takeaway that provided the food on Friday night – who were first on the scene, and to the brigades across district 2, who responded so rapidly, thank you. Their courage and tireless work protected lives and property. Local brigades from central Victoria were supported by strike teams from right across the state, as well as many other emergency services, and we are grateful for their support. Then there were the locals and volunteers who stood their ground and fought the fire with their own equipment, like the owners and volunteers at the Victorian Miniature Railway. They battled the fire front and saved the central township of Harcourt. This recently opened tourist attraction swiftly became an essential hub for relief, coordination and community support following the fire.

I also wish to acknowledge the leadership shown from within the community itself: the Harcourt Progress Association and the Harcourt Valley Community House, who stepped forward immediately, working closely with the Mount Alexander shire to ensure assistance reached affected families quickly and with care; the Harcourt brigade captain Andrew Wilson – no relation, Leader of the Opposition – who initially called for more trucks, then even more trucks and then more trucks again; and to the Harcourt brigade volunteers Michael Henry from Henry of Harcourt, who lost his orchard and his home, Jason McAinch, Remy and Bonnie Sowman, who lost their cafe and livelihood, and Andrew Mierisch from Victorian Miniature Rail, for their resilience, kindness and for stepping up in the face of adversity to support our community.

In the days and weeks that have followed, I and my staff have spent time at the recovery hubs in both Castlemaine and then Harcourt, and I was deeply moved by what I saw and the stories I heard – stories of loss, of fear, of raw honesty and grief. Beyond the firegrounds, there were countless acts of kindness and generosity from people near and far. People opened their homes, prepared meals, checked on neighbours, transported and sheltered animals, and offered help without hesitation. That is the backbone of any strong community, and this is the Harcourt we all know. I also want to thank the volunteers from the Rapid Relief Team, Castlemaine Community House, the Indian Association of Bendigo, Bendigo Foodshare, Turbans 4 Australia, the Australian Sikh Support and BlazeAid, who have provided important practical support. And of course there are so many others who have been a great solace and inspiration with their support. To everyone who has played a part in the recovery so far we owe a great deal of love and gratitude. As has been mentioned, we also lost the Harcourt Coolstore and in it the over 90 businesses from across the region who lost their produce – the wines, the ciders, the craft beers, the apples, the pears and more. We will rebuild this central economic heart of Harcourt bigger and better.

I want to make mention of two brigade members from Walwa and Harcourt who donned their uniforms and stood alongside fellow volunteers while facing the devastating loss of their own family homes. That level of service captures the very best of the spirit of our volunteers. Recovery will take time, and for some it will take years. But as has been the case in recent weeks, my community and your communities will wrap their arms around each other for as long as it takes. Already Harcourt is rebuilding and reopening. Next month Harcourt Applefest will celebrate its 35th year on Saturday 7 ‍March. It will be a powerful moment of renewal, an opportunity to stand with this community to celebrate its produce, its people and its determination to move forward together. Friends, colleagues, Victorians, I invite you to come visit Harcourt and the Castlemaine region. Pack up the car and take a drive or stay a little longer. Visit the award-winning cideries, small-scale producers and growers and enjoy a ride aboard the miniature railway.

Fire leaves scars on the landscape and on the heart – I have heard many condolence motions in this place in my time following significant bushfires – but it does not define the future. Harcourt and the beautiful Harcourt Valley will endure. Leanganook is scarred, but it is not beaten. And just as the orchards will regrow and bear fruit again, this community, like many others, will heal together and stronger than ever. Thank you, members.

Motion agreed to in silence, members showing unanimous agreement by standing in their places.

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (16:12): I move:

That, as a further mark of respect to all those affected by both events, the house now adjourns until 5:30 pm.

Motion agreed to.

House adjourned 4:12 pm.

The SPEAKER took the chair at 5:32 pm.