Motions

Country Fire Service

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (16:02): I move:

That this council—

1. Congratulates the over 200 CFS volunteers from across South Australia for coming together to support the Yorke Peninsula community by fighting the recent fires that broke out and destroyed pastoral lands, livestock and homes;

2. Acknowledges the work of all community services, including the local police force, CFS and health services, in supporting individual families and the community to evacuate safely and in a timely manner;

3. Calls on the Minister for Emergency Services to work with regional communities to increase the number of local CFS volunteers;

4. Thanks all CFS volunteers for risking their lives to protect South Australians; and

5. Wishes all CFS volunteers a safe fire danger season.

Wednesday 20 November 2019 did not start like any normal Wednesday, and unfortunately it did not end like any normal Wednesday for communities on Yorke Peninsula. Warnings went out on Tuesday night from the SES and CFS to residents that Wednesday would be a catastrophic fire day. By midnight, the distant hum of harvest had disappeared and there were no header lights dotting the horizon. Farmers had adhered to calls sent out from people, like Lyall Schulz, the Yorke Valley unit manager of the SES, to stop harvesting.

As many local residents mentioned to me, people were talking up the warnings, but it was worse: you woke up thinking this was not going to be a normal day. Lyall Schulz is no stranger to keeping on top of the weather forecast. He has dedicated most of his life to the CFS and SES over 50 years. Since the age of 16, Lyall has volunteered on the ground fighting fires or monitoring calls for support in his role as the Yorke Valley SES unit manager. But the weather conditions on Wednesday the 20^th were a scary combination Lyall had not seen before.

As part of Lyall's role, he sends out the text alerts to families, schools and business from Kadina to Warooka. It is the text to put people on alert and to help prevent unnecessary risks. It would be the text calling for help in Price that would see the start of one of the worst fire days in 40 years on Yorke Peninsula for Lyall and also the Yorke Peninsula community.

An alert popped up on my phone on Wednesday from the CFS, which had issued an emergency warning for the fire that was burning in a southerly direction towards Tiddy Widdy Beach, Ardrossan, Price and the Yorke Highway. Conditions were described as dangerous, and firefighters were unable to prevent the fire spreading. The CFS went on to say:

Anyone in the area is in danger. Take shelter in a solid building. It is too late to leave as the roads will not be safe. Shelter before the fire arrives as heat can kill you well before the flames reach you.

It was at the last line that I thought I had best check in with Mum and Dad back on Yorkes, near Ardrossan. I was not surprised to learn from my mum that my dad and brother were on their way to help with the Price fires. This was always the case when fires broke out in our community, as it is for many families. Locals drop whatever they are doing to help fellow neighbouring communities. They are not trained, they are not paid, and they do not receive any financial support to have equipment on their properties to protect their interests or their neighbours'.

Their vehicles come in many shapes and sizes, from decked-out utes to old CFS trucks. As Lyall mentioned, the private resources used on the Yorke Peninsula are second to none, but no matter the vehicle, farmers and other volunteers arrive, and they arrive because a message is put out for help. As the Price fires were coming under control, calls for help were coming from the bottom end, resulting in resources supporting the Price fires being stretched, as local and CFS crews from across the state were called to Yorketown, leaving much of the mop-up in Price to farmers, volunteers like my dad and my brother.

Lyall, as did many people, mentioned the severity of the Yorke fires did not need to be explained. The calls coming through from the bottom end were not calm voices. People were literally screaming, 'This house is going to go. We need help. We need bombers.' For half an hour, Lyall recalls, you could hear the emotion in others' voices over the radio. As the fire burnt towards the coast and towards Edithburgh and Coobowie, family homes were lost, livestock was lost, crops ready for harvest were lost; sheds, vehicles and much more was lost.

Thursday morning did not bring much relief for these communities. A CFS volunteer from Sandilands, Steve Launer, was supporting crews in Edithburgh when the fire broke the front line. Steve is 25 and started volunteering for the CFS some eight years ago. In between harvests, Steve has spent time in Queensland as part of a strike team fighting fires, and just days before the Yorketown fire he lost over $300,000 in crop value on his own property. He was now returning the favour, the favour that was given to his family, the favour of time.

It was during this time that over 200 local residents were evacuated by local police and took shelter on the Edithburgh foreshore. A stone's throw away from Steve was my sister Bronwyn and her family in Coobowie. They woke up to an alert advising it was too late to leave: 'Shut doors and stay where you are.' My sister recalls it feeling surreal, and seeing the bombers flying over just made the severity of the problem so very real.

Like Lyall, many were surviving on little to no sleep to make sure resources were where they needed to be, as were my dad and brother, who had now joined efforts in Edithburgh. My brother said he had not experienced anything like the bottom end fires. I quote, 'Normally when you go to a fire you can see where it has started and hopefully where it could end, but it just felt like you were a needle in a haystack.' By late Thursday, the fire was declared under control, but it was at this point that residents could see the path of destruction left by the fire.

Wednesday the 20^th was a catastrophic fire day. It was a catastrophic day for many families, but thankfully no families were lost. While the support vehicles—the small and the professional—have returned home, we now see resilient communities and families coming together to start the rebuild. Historic stone fences that have been an iconic part of the landscape for over 150 years have been destroyed. Families have experienced the emotional burden of having to put down livestock, and over 11 properties were destroyed. As my sister said, people were fighting to save homes while their homes were at risk.

The devastation on people's faces will be something hard to forget, but it is so heartening to see the community coming together to provide support. From the local Foodland to the Salvation Army, everyone is pitching in. People are coming together to share meals and to collect items to give to those who have lost everything.

On a lighter note, I thought I would share a message that was found on a kitchen bench at one of the homes, left by a CFS member, which stated, 'Sorry, I had to use your toilet while saving your house—thanks.' Apparently this brought a smile at a much-needed time to the homeowner, so I do say thank you to whoever you are.

Whoever the government of the day is needs to do whatever they can to support those who support their communities—something similar to what the Minister for Health said today. We need to support volunteers in taking the steps to, as Steve Launer said, give back, because if we give back just a little, it will go a very long way.

How we do this is a challenge. It is a challenge whether it is a footy club, a CFS unit, a netball club or a political party. Finding volunteers is a challenge. I recognise the government has taken steps to provide grants of $700 to families affected by the fires to purchase food and other essential items, but we cannot get trapped in the short-term emotion of this catastrophic event.

No-one can put a price on volunteers—they are the nation's treasures. But we cannot take volunteers for granted because, as many have mentioned, the population of regional SA is getting thin, and I welcome any efforts to addressing volunteer shortage in the CFS and generally in the community.

It is in times of need that country footy and town rivalries are put aside and people come together to support their neighbouring communities. People came together from across the road, across the state, in utes, in trucks and in planes to support Yorke Peninsula communities. When thanking Steve, Lyall and my brother, they made the same humble statement: 'I didn't do much, I just helped.'

The devastation of the 20 and 21 November 2019 fires could have been much worse if it were not for the efforts of people like Lyall and Steve volunteering their time for the CFS and the SES. The recovery could not have been achievable if it was not for the community coming together to rebuild, and it would not be possible to support the Price and the bottom end communities if it were not for the contributions made by farmers to fight for their neighbours.

I could not put this any better than Lyall Schultz, so I will steal his words: 'The contribution farmers personally make to fight fires is substantial. You put the call out and they drop everything and rock up to give their support, and once the job is done, they don't sit around, they don't wait for recognition, they just leave and return to their normal jobs.'

To the many farmers, the CFS and many other community volunteers, may your recognition always live on in Hansard. My thoughts are with the many families who have lost their homes, livestock, crops and so much more.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins.