Kangaroo Island Bushfire Response

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson) (14:42): Why did the Premier not stop to talk to 50 CFS volunteers at the Kangaroo Island airport on 11 January during the bushfire crisis?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:43): I was talking to many CFS volunteers over the course of the bushfires we had here in South Australia on 20 December up in Cudlee Creek and the bushfires that started about a week earlier on Kangaroo Island and then reached their peak on 3 January.

We are very grateful for the CFS volunteers. We are very grateful for the MFS, we are very grateful for the firefighters that operate from DEW and also the people who have farm firefighting units. We are also grateful for our many volunteers who exist within the SES and very, very grateful to all the community organisations that support those people who are on the front line. I think one of the things that we should be focusing on here is just how much support there has been from volunteer and career firefighters and supporters to the victims of the bushfires.

I must say, many people who have been devastatingly affected by the bushfires are buoyed by the level of support that they have received from the broader community here in South Australia and, quite frankly, around the country and around the world. We are seeing a great outpouring of support for those people who have been affected, and I take the opportunity whenever I can to thank the volunteers.