Wednesday, 26 August 2026

 Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (17:33): I rise to speak on the Environment and Planning Committee’s inquiry into the 2026 summer fires. It was an honour to take on the role of chair of this committee and this inquiry in its latter stages. I have spoken previously in this place of the immense weight and value of the transcribed evidence of the hearings, especially those from the fire-affected communities and from the firefighters who shared their experiences.

More recently I had the privilege of attending the annual dinner of one of the many terrific local CFA brigades in my electorate, that being the Scoresby fire brigade. Scoresby is a mighty local brigade. With a catchment covering central Knox, it is one of the busiest CFA brigades in the whole state, with more than 520 reported call-outs in the last financial year alone. I would like to acknowledge the entire brigade for graciously welcoming me to their dinner, in particular, first lieutenant Dean Walker and his partner Shaye. It was wonderful to see so many members of the brigade acknowledged for their service and for the everyday acts of heroism that mark that service. Once again the brigade has published a very impressive annual report. Contained within the report are details of many of the significant jobs that they attended, such as a hazmat spill in Knoxfield and the Monash Freeway grassfire of January this year. On the latter I enjoyed the remarks of brigade member Sophie Veitch when she described how she and her fellow firey Lachy raced up a very steep grass embankment to chase the fire after a wind change. She noted:

I’d like the record to show that the Scoresby tanker crew were the first brigade to reach the top of the hill. Take that Noble Park.

As with so many other brigades across the state, though, of course, one of the most significant jobs for Scoresby in the past year was their work on the strike teams fighting the 2026 summer fires, including strike teams 1313 and 1341 fighting the Longwood fire. Throughout this report you will find emotive and enlightening firsthand accounts from brigade members about their experiences in battling these intense fires. Lachlan Schulz’s strike team supported farmers in and around Yarck by filling their water troughs and assisting them where they needed. He spoke of the work they did in Terip Terip, a community devastated by the fires. He said:

The journey into Terip Terip was a confronting experience. The landscape had been devastated, with extensive destruction to homes, vegetation and surrounding farmland.

For Lisa Loo, Longwood was her first strike team. She wrote how the experience gave her a strong sense of pride in how far she has come as a firefighter. She said:

Beyond the firefighting itself, what impacted me was the resilience of the community. Speaking with farmers who had lost so much yet expressed gratitude for our presence was humbling and eye opening.

These are just some of the powerful stories contained within this report. I understand that back in the day there was a convention whereby a member could seek to place a document and lay it on the library table for the benefit of fellow members to be able to read. At the risk of offending all manner of ancient conventions and standing orders, I will not seek to do that, but with the blessing of the brigade, I am pleased to place this excellent report at the library desk. May it serve as a record of the everyday heroism of the members of the Scoresby fire brigade here in our Parliament.