Thursday, 22 February 2024

Gippsland storms

Jeff BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (09:59): I too want to talk about Mirboo North. That storm only lasted 5 minutes, but it is going to take months if not years to clean up. Roads in and out of town were blocked. Even football goalposts were pushed over, which is something I have not seen before. Farmers in the area lost lots of crops. It is potato season, so there are obviously going to be some downstream problems with that. As mentioned, Bruce Manintveld was tragically killed whilst working on his property during the storm. With wind gusts of up to 130 kilometres an hour, it was so serious. I think we all should thank all the emergency services and volunteers, and what I did notice was that the Sikh kitchen was out again. Every time there is a disaster, basically, in Gippsland, which seems to be all too frequently, I note their little van with free food is there. They travel from Melbourne. So well done to everyone that is pitching in and helping.