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 frontline. 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 understanding 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. And 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 to stand behind them and support 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. 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 have experienced before – extreme temperatures, erratic winds and fires moving faster than crews could protect.

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 burned 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, 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.

And 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 – exactly – 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, 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) (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, 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 has 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, and 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 is 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 – 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, because they turned out not just for this one event; 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) (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 a cup of tea.

[The Legislative Assembly report is being published progressively.]