Thursday, 6 February 2025

 Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (09:57): In recent times large parts of my electorate have suffered through devastating bushfires. I want to particularly focus on the communities from the Grampians region up to the Little Desert, which have shown great resilience, community spirit and courage. I applaud and commend first responders, particularly CFA volunteers and SES volunteers, many of whom are fighting to protect their own families and communities and loved ones from the terror of bushfires. Many have also noted and been disappointed by lack of cool burns in preparation, let alone combating fires in old trucks, some over 30 years old. I do want to pay tribute to Emma Kealy, the Nationals member for Lowan in the Assembly. Emma not only knows every CFA brigade but she knows every community impacted by the fires. Emma has done an amazing job, and it has been awesome to see. I was proud to join Emma, along with my colleague Bev McArthur and Leader of the Opposition Brad Battin, in Ararat recently to talk to CFA volunteers and to local government representatives about the bushfires and the impact that they have had on local communities. There are many lessons to learn and significant changes to make to ensure that we never, ever experience these sorts of catastrophes again.