Page 31 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 11 February 2020
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The commonwealth government provided 400,000 P2/N95 masks to the ACT from the national medical stockpile in early January. Officials from across the ACTÂ government worked hard to distribute these masks to pharmacies and to vulnerable Canberrans. I would like to acknowledge the support of the Pharmacy Guild and the Australian Pharmaceutical Society in this effort, and the support of community pharmacies across the city who provided important advice and support to Canberrans.
As our city has faced air quality issues, bushfires in our own backyard and then of course the global challenge of the novel coronavirus, Dr Kerryn Coleman has taken on all these challenges, as the territory’s Chief Health Officer, ably supported by her staff at the health protection service. It was a pleasure to visit HPS in January to thank staff for this work and the work they do every day of the year to protect and support Canberrans.
The community also stepped up, seeking to support one another share information. To the many health professionals and academics called on to explain the impact of smoke and what we should do about it, thank you. In early January, the Deputy Chief Minister and I met with a group of students and staff from the ANU who had stepped up to disseminate information and resources to their community and were keen to be part of the solution. Their grassroots work provided valuable insights and made a real difference.
Thank you to the staff at Canberra Health Services, Calvary Public Hospital and our local general practitioners and other health professionals who provided support to Canberrans and our neighbours during these difficult times. Staff in the children, youth and families division and across the Community Services Directorate have assisted at the Dickson relief centre and at the Erindale and Hedley Beare evacuation centres. During this hard time, ACT government staff and our community partners have also been keeping in touch with vulnerable families in our community to ensure they have relevant information, know what is happening and have been supported to develop their bushfire plans.
There has been no greater privilege in this job than seeing firsthand the work our emergency services team of teams has been doing from their base at Fairbairn. The planning has been extraordinary. The teamwork has been exemplary. The commitment to the wellbeing of our community and to the ESA and other agency staff has been nothing short of inspiring. I thank them and I commend the motion.
MS LAWDER (Brindabella) (11.46): We are all too aware of the issues we have faced in the ACT over the past few months. It started with smoke, mainly from coastal and other region fires, and then moved to be a threat to ACT residents from the more recent bushfire events. Many have suffered significant losses in our region. Lives, homes, farms, stock, businesses and wildlife have been lost. A large part of our beautiful Namadgi National Park has been burnt, 86,000 hectares, or 80 per cent of Namadgi. Of course, the impact on our wildlife has been devastating.
Each loss is a personal tragedy. Each property saved, each animal rescued is a celebration. In some parts of Australia, we have seen whole communities razed by
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