Page 33 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 11 February 2020
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responses make me proud to be a Canberran and proud to be a “Tuggeranongite”, if that is actually a word.
Thanks absolutely to those who bore the brunt of fighting the fires. Some who came to help to serve and protect did not return home and we, as Australians, will be forever grateful for their sacrifice. As someone with a family member in our emergency services, this is a real fear for our loved ones.
To the residents of Tuggeranong, thank you for your humour and stoicism and grace under pressure and thanks also to the residents of Tharwa. To the residents of Tuggeranong, thank you for perhaps finally completing your bushfire survival plan. It took a bit of encouragement, but I think we got there.
We need to acknowledge the losses faced by some of our community, including one of my family members who drove down to their farm a week and a half ago to be confronted with the smouldering ruins of their house and land and fences. We need to applaud and continue to encourage the preparedness of our whole community and we need to absolutely appreciate and applaud the willingness of so many to help in a myriad of ways to support fellow Australians. And our hearts go out to those Australians who are still facing a summer of potentially threatening fires, floods and other natural disasters. I applaud the motion before the Assembly.
MS ORR (Yerrabi—Minister for Community Services and Facilities, Minister for Disability, Minister for Employment and Workplace Safety and Minister for Government Services and Procurement) (11.54): This summer has been an extremely stressful and devastating time for many Australians, and I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives in recent bushfires across the country. While bushfires are often a common reality of an Australian summer, it is safe to say that we have never experienced anything like this bushfire season.
As Canberrans, many of us have been or know someone who has been impacted by fires in the recent months, whether it be friends and family members who have had their local communities devastated, volunteer firefighters who have given up their time and, in some cases, sacrificed their income to contribute to the firefighting effort, or the impact of the smoke haze and poor air quality that has challenged us this summer.
Our South Coast neighbours have particularly felt the severity of fire, smoke and heat this summer. We are all aware of the devastation caused by the Currowan fire, which burned close to 500,000 hectares of land over 74 days. The announcement by the NSW Rural Fire Service over the weekend of the Currowan fire officially being out came as a huge relief. The fire left a path of destruction across the entire South Coast, and we know it will take a very long time for communities and ecological systems to recover.
Here in the ACT, we have of course been faced with the danger of the Orroral Valley fire. We have tragically lost 80 per cent of the beautiful Namadgi National Park,
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