Page 24 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 11 February 2020
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I rise today to also thank the ACT Emergency Services Agency—in particular, the ACT Rural Fire Service and the State Emergency Service for their tireless efforts towards keeping the territory safe. Alongside our parks and conservation teams and the ACT Ambulance Service, they have minimised the potential damage to homes, wildlife and human life for the last three months.
I would also like to extend my thanks to the Australian and New Zealand defence forces and the emergency service units from other jurisdictions for their support in helping respond to the bushfires and storms. Despite a huge section of the territory being under threat of fire damage, there has been minimal damage to property, and we have our emergency services to thank for that.
I would like to acknowledge the integral role that the ABC and other local media have played in keeping our community safe over the last few months. This summer’s dangerous conditions have reinforced the importance of properly funding our broadcasting services, particularly when these services are relied upon to maintain public safety.
However, this season of wild weather is not yet over. Our emergency services will have to work into the coming months to ensure that the territory remains safe. Let me be clear: the unprecedented bushfire threat across Australia this summer is a direct consequence of climate change. In the ACT this has meant that our summers are hotter than ever before, our water levels are diminishing rapidly and, coupled with more frequent lightning storms, the territory will face longer and more threatening fire seasons.
Australia has just experienced our warmest and driest year on record. Canberrans have experienced the highest annual mean temperature on record in the ACT. Just last month Canberra’s air quality index ratings peaked at 7,700. All readings above 200 are considered hazardous.
This summer Canberrans have felt the effects of the inaction of others on climate change. Since our air quality first reached hazardous levels on 9 December, our local shops and restaurants were forced to close, our national institutions were made to shut their doors and our postal services even came to a halt. Most of us did not leave the house for days at a time. Those of us that did were met with scenes of empty roads and commuters wearing P2 masks, which have now become the norm. Conditions like these can only be described as apocalyptic.
However, it is those who are most vulnerable in our community who have had to deal with the worst of the weather this summer. Climate change is already disproportionately impacting those in our community who are doing it tough. Without access to air conditioning or air purifiers, pensioners, young children, those living in shelters and people sleeping rough have been more exposed to the negative effects of extreme temperatures and smoke.
It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge that these threats of extreme weather are not yet over. The fire to our south has so far burnt through around 80 per cent of
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