Page 114 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 12 February 2020
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and volunteer firefighters and the wind direction meant that these fires did not cause the widespread devastation to property and lives as we saw in 2003. The hundreds of RFS volunteers and ESA personnel fought tirelessly to contain these fires. With more favourable weather conditions over the past little while they have achieved the task. Our firefighters were ably assisted by the Australian Defence Force. Australia-wide, over 6,000 ADF personnel, including 3,000 reservists, were deployed across the country. Our defence forces provided vital logistical, informational and on-the-ground support.
I would like to thank the many individuals, families, neighbours and organisations who have donated their time, energy and resources to assist those in need. I spoke at length yesterday about the generosity of some of the people in and around Canberra, and I reiterate today my thanks to them. There has also been such great generosity from people internationally, as well as domestically. We have seen firefighters from many other countries come and fight our fires with us. We have seen public figures from across the globe raising money for Australian charities and RFS crews.
Comedian Celeste Barber raised tens of millions of dollars for the NSW Rural Fire Service. We saw generous donations from dozens of tennis players who were playing in the Australian Open, from Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to Nick Kyrgios and the awesome Ash Barty. Famous Aussies such as Chris Hemsworth and Nicole Kidman also donated. As I said yesterday, closer to home the “G” Spot in Gungahlin, the Canberra Sikh community and many other generous Canberrans also donated their time and effort.
While many fires continue to burn across our region, this week we take time to acknowledge the impacts of these fires and recognise and thank those who have protected us and supported our communities, and we commit ourselves, vitally, to learning from this experience. There is already a discussion going on in some segments of our community about what we can do better next time. Many constituents have reported positive interactions with the ESA, particularly on the use of their social media channels. For those who lived through the 2003 fires this was a great change, and the improvement in communication was welcome.
The bushfire season, however, has also highlighted some areas that require improving or addressing, and it is important that we put this on record and commit ourselves to learning from, and understanding better, these experiences. Many RFS volunteers have been disappointed with the lack of training in driving with lights and sirens, which culminated in the ESA directing the RFS not to use this important emergency tool. We need to look at how we can provide sufficient training for our firefighters to drive with lights and sirens.
It is not good enough that during the Beard fires the ACT RFS crews were stuck in traffic, initially unable to use their lights and sirens to get past. Meanwhile, all other responding services were able to get past. I understand that eventually, after some time, the RFS chief gave permission to use lights and sirens, though this would appear to conflict with the ESA’s earlier position of not using them due to insufficient training. This confusion and lack of training must be looked into and resolved. I also think we should look at recognition of prior learning. If RFS volunteers have been
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