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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-07-16 Daily Xml
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VICTORIAN BUSHFIRES

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (12:05): I move:

That this house recognises and thanks South Australians for their outstanding effort in assisting the victims of the Victorian bushfires.

Members will remember the condolence motion that was passed in this house shortly after the Victorian bushfires and the passionate speeches that were made on both sides of the house. However, the effort from South Australia involved more than just kind thoughts and empathy from members of parliament and many members of the community. A lot of on the ground work was done and a lot of material was sent to Victoria, and I would like to talk about some of the areas in which I was involved and able to assist, along with many members of the South Australian community, as an example of what South Australians can do and frequently do to assist people who have been affected by natural disasters, whether they are large or small.

The terrible fires in Victoria on 7 February made worldwide news. I read this morning that $350 million was raised by the Red Cross through donations, $250 million of which has already been distributed to victims of the bushfires. A lot of that money came from South Australians.

I was in the Riverland for a Liberal Party seminar just after the bushfires and I was contacted by a chap I have known for quite a long time through my veterinary practice, Mr Paul Scragg, of Meadows. Paul is a farrier, and he said to me, 'Duncan, we can help the Victorians. It's not only money and people that are needed and it's not only people who are affected; a lot of animals are affected. The Victorian Farmers Federation is assisting the larger farmers but there are many smaller farmers who need to be assisted—hobby farmers and particularly horse owners.'

So, Paul Scragg, along with Mr Adrian Mathews of Meadows, spoke to Mr Dean Lewis of the Victorian Farriers Association. They were able to use the database of the Victorian Farriers Association and contact many of the clients of the various farriers in the Victorian bushfire affected areas and find out what the situation was, and they discovered that it was a dire situation. Obviously, the fires had destroyed not only all the pastures but also many stocks of feed, fence lines, stables and equipment; it was completely gone. Through the network of the South Australian Master Farriers Association, facilitated by Paul Scragg and Adrian Mathews, we got the word out here in South Australia, and the response was overwhelming.

In the end, through Mr Scragg's group, we sent 24 truckloads of hay concentrate and dog food, and we even had a big parcel of hair care products given to us to take over and give to some of those hobby farmers and people who had been affected. Everything from three tonne trucks to horse floats to large semi-trailers was offered, without any need for payment or any obligation. We were able to facilitate some payment for fuel. It took a little bit of organising (and I will speak about that in a moment), but the overwhelming response was amazing.

Just a few weeks ago, my wife and I and a friend of ours helped to load a B-double from Milawa Transport to go across to the Alpine Shire with more hay because, obviously, it takes a while for pasture to grow back and for feed to be grown. So, there is still a desperate need. Milawa Transport had a B-double (because of the B-double regulations we had to split it to go down to Meadows; but that is another thing), and we have sent over another 400 square bales and 15 large round bales just in the last few weeks. And the need goes on, with the snow and cold weather over there. Hay and other feed is still required.

We had donations from Mildura to Lobethal, from Port Lincoln to Currency Creek, and from Mylor to Maitland. In total, we sent about 5,000 small square bales of hay, about 200 large round bales, 500 bags of chaff, bags of pellets and concentrate, and large bundles of horse gear—rugs, halters, buckets, feed buckets and brushes. It was uplifting to see what was being offered and what was being given without any thanks required. It made you very proud to be a South Australian.

I would like to quickly thank the former minister for agriculture (Rory McEwen), who was able to facilitate some contacts within the Victorian department of agriculture through Premier Brumby's office, and that was followed up by minister Paul Caica and his chief of staff, Paul Ryan. Thanks to minister Caica and Paul Ryan, we were able to ensure that people who spent a lot of money on fuel (and some spent thousands of dollars on fuel) were given some money to cover their expenses. It took a little bit longer than expected but, thanks to Paul and minister Caica, that has been fixed now.

The South Australian Farmers Federation was able to give us some advice but, unfortunately (and this is something that we need to take note of), there was not a lot of on-the-spot organisation. There were not a lot of protocols in place for this sort of incident, so that is something we need to look at.

Mr Don Plowman of PIRSA was very helpful. To take hay across to Victoria, you need to have a plant health certificate. Because of his logistical background with the CFS, Mr Adrian Matthews was able to organise a chain of responsibility (a trace-back chain), so we were able to get a blanket plant health certificate to take this material across to Victoria, and that certainly facilitated the ease of loading trucks and getting hay that had been donated across the border to where it should be.

Brian O'Connor of Premier Brumby's office was of particular help when things were not going quite as smoothly as we had hoped, and he was very useful in facilitating the placement of feed over there outside of the farriers association. The chief vet in South Australia, Dr Rob Rahaley, is a mate of mine and I spoke to him about some of the issues; and I would like to mention the fact that he helped.

The huge volumes of hay that we received were gratefully received at the other end, and I have seen lots of photographs of horses eating hay in bushfire-ravaged areas. It is a good thing that South Australians have done, and it makes me very feel very proud to be South Australian.

I would like to read into Hansard a list of some of the people who donated hay. They are: Sheila and Val Caddell of Meadows, Kirstie Hannan of Meadows, Emily Foster of Hahndorf, Robin and Lexie Kinlough, Abbie and Carla Cerchi of Meadows, Alan Humphries, Mike and Lyn Prescott, Tracey Nicol of Echunga, Lisa Kirkland of Mount Barker, Wendy Harrison of Woodcroft, Shelley Barritt of Kersbrook, Kirsty and Wally Rehn of Kersbrook, Juliet Bleby of Nairne, Zecevich Stud at Mount Barker, Mike Connell and Jane Homburg of Echunga, Mignon Williams of Hahndorf, Katherine Hope of Bridgewater, Diane Kerr of Strathalbyn, Sarah Harris of Echunga, Trudy Fischer of Strathalbyn, Mel Carter, Geoff and Tessa Fairweather of Flaxley, Frankie Hocking of Belair, Matthew Ward of Tinlins Wines, Alison Linford of the Onkaparinga Valley, Birgit Davis of Stirling, Catherine Smith of Nairne, Alexander and Jenny Yeeles of Goodwood, Sharon Connor of Mount Compass, Nola Saywell of Cherry Gardens, Tamzin Woodcock of Kersbrook, Carmen Hoen of Balhannah, Chris Meyer of Mount Gambier, Julie Payne of Mount Compass, Geoff Page of Meadows, Kerry Glass of Meadows (a neighbour of my wife's farm at Meadows), Glen Liebelt of Littlehampton, and Stuart Adlington of Echunga.

Coopers Grains at Mylor were particularly helpful. They were selling bags of chaff at cost, and they delivered it to the farm at Meadows where my wife had offered our property as a staging point. About 500 bags of chaff were purchased by people and then delivered through Coopers at cost, and it was a terrific help. My wife will not want me to mention this in Hansard but I will. My wife Johanna donated 900 bales of hay from our last year's crop, which was one of the first loads that went over.

As well as the large amounts of feed, there were huge piles of horse gear—rugs, halters, saddles, boots, buckets and feed buckets, that sort of thing—and all were well and truly accepted by those in Victoria. Goldner's Horse Transport, through Andrew Goldner and Kerry Glass, was vital in trucking over this equipment. Every time some horses went from South Australia across to Victoria, Andrew, through Goldner's Horse Transport at Somerton Park (constituents of mine)—and Andrew lives next to our farm at Meadows—loaded up the big horse transports with some of this equipment.

Rose Moss and Sheba Horse Shop at Victor Harbor donated a lot of equipment. Sandra Brown from Oakbank donated a lot of rugs and other equipment. Coralta Kennels at Coromandel Valley (a client from one of my vet practices) donated a lot of rugs and equipment.

Northern Suburbs Hairdressers donated $2,500 worth of hair products which was then distributed through the same outlets as the feed. The trucks that were offered were everything from horse floats and 4WD utes that we could load up through to B-doubles. Some of the volunteer truck drivers were Bret Snapes, Graham Peoples, John Henke and Simon Palk from Toolern in Victoria.

As I said, the other day we had Milawa Transport from Victoria take some feed over. They came over and dropped some gear here in Adelaide and they had an empty truck going back, so they said they would take a load of hay back. Roy Muddock and his people came out of Queensland recently; I am not sure where they are based. I think Roy may work for John Lindsay at Lindsay Transport at Mildura. This was a case of people coming together. They came to Adelaide, unloaded and they knew that Victorians needed help, so they were more than happy to help out. I thank John Lindsay and Roy Muddock for going out of their way to facilitate this equipment going over to Victoria.

Mark Eckermann took his five tonne tray top over there for us and, as I said before, most of these people did not want any thanks at all. They just wanted to help out, and they did that efficiently and with much enthusiasm. Sarah Paech took her horse truck over to Victoria. We loaded it up and it is amazing how much feed you can get into a horse truck when you do not have any horses in it. Andrew Horn and Phil Schultz at Lobethal Freight Lines also made themselves available.

Some feed came across from Port Lincoln. Jenni White facilitated, through Dennis Transport, a truck to go across from Port Lincoln straight to Victoria. Jacob van Dissell and Michael van Dissell took across their three tonne truck. As they say, little fish is sweet. It was able to be delivered over there and the feed was well received. Bob Moseley and Gay Manning at Greenock provided their trucks as well.

The endeavour of South Australians in this relief effort is something that I will never forget, considering how quickly people came on board and how enthusiastically they volunteered. I want to mention some of the local CFS groups that helped out. Meadows CFS sent a truck to make sure that, while we were loading the hay, there were no incidents. The crew also helped to load hay onto some of the semis and other trucks that were going to Victoria. Blackfellow Creek CFS was also very helpful in sending people down to help and to provide a fire truck at times when the Meadows CFS could not be there. It was a day of extreme fire danger. If we remember that day here, it was extremely hot and dry, and the last thing we needed was a fire in the hay and feed that we were sending across.

As a South Australian member of parliament, it makes me proud to stand in this place and talk about my fellow South Australians having donated the way they did. They expect nothing back from the Victorians other than to see their smiling faces and the wellbeing of the horses, cattle, goats and sheep of the hobby farmers that most of this feed went to. Because of the efforts that were made, those people who suffered are now better able to concentrate on getting the rest of their lives back together.

It is unimaginable to have a fire such as that in Victoria rip through your place. I know that some members in this place have experienced the Ash Wednesday fires and they have had similar experiences. The devastation in Victoria was visible through all the media. It was immense at the time and it was a wonderful thing to be able to help out and now to be able to stand in this place and thank the people who helped out because I know that everybody in this place, when they spoke about the bushfires, was genuine about their expressions of gratitude and how proud they were of their constituents in each of their electorates.

I would appreciate any other members of this place speaking on this motion, not particularly about what the South Australian Farriers Association and the Victorian Farriers Association facilitated but about anything South Australians did, because it was far more than just a bit of feed. It was an effort from the whole of South Australia—one I am very proud of and one I am very proud to stand in this place and thank them for.

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT (Lee—Minister for Police, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (12:20): I support this important motion on behalf of the government and congratulate the member for Morphett for bringing it to the house. He has richly put on the record the broad contributions that South Australians made in relation to this devastating bushfire, the worst natural disaster Australia has ever experienced.

As a nation, we have never witnessed such human loss and suffering. Black Saturday records Australia's highest ever loss of life from bushfire: 173 people perished, entire communities were destroyed, families lost loved ones and lives were changed forever through loss and injury. It is in times such as these, when faced with such adversity, that Aussie mateship comes to the fore and we unite to help our fellow Australians.

I also acknowledge and applaud the selfless contributions made by all South Australians in assisting the victims of the Victorian bushfires. The plight of our Victorian neighbours touched our hearts and we gave very generously. The government pledged $1 million to the Victorian bushfire appeal on behalf of all the people of South Australia, and state agencies gave resources and expertise, sending equipment and personnel to assist on the front line and to support the recovery and rebuilding of communities. Country and metropolitan communities spent endless hours collecting donations of cash and kind.

It is impossible to speak too highly of the courage and commitment of the firefighters, emergency workers and volunteers who battled the terror of this bushfire. No words can adequately convey the gratitude we owe these men and women. I was privileged to see a number of these people off and also be there on their return, and the Premier joined me on a number of those occasions.

The efforts put in by our emergency services was nothing short of sensational. Approximately 800 personnel from the Country Fire Service, the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service and the South Australian State Emergency Service volunteered for duty in Victoria. Some were deployed more than once, and many were prepared to be redeployed until the safety of the stricken communities was assured. These personnel worked closely with colleagues deployed to Victoria from the Department for Environment and Heritage and Forestry SA.

South Australia also provided four level 3 joint agency management teams that provided specialist staff to help in emergency management and recovery centres. The CFS undertook 55 significant movements of resources, including personnel and vehicles, into and out of Victoria, and volunteers and salaried staff from the SES assisted by sending personnel to help out in the interagency emergency management centres as well as providing peer support to the communities in need. Both salaried and retained MFS personnel provided expertise in structural firefighting to each appliance crew and engaged in fire suppression activities as part of the combined MFS/CFS firefighting teams. SAFECOM provided support personnel for expertise in incident management.

It is also important to acknowledge the efforts of other agencies that assisted in this disaster. South Australia Police offered assistance by sending one inspector, one senior sergeant and 48 general duty members. These officers were sworn in as special constables for the state of Victoria and then deployed to perform general policing functions related to the fires. In addition, the South Australian Ambulance Service and St John Ambulance volunteers and salaried staff assisted in a range of roles, including communications, first aid and coordination of support for incident management.

Forensic Science SA assisted in the difficult and traumatic task of victim identification, while staff from the Department of Primary Industries and Resources spent a week assisting with livestock assessments. I also wish to mention the assistance provided by the staff and volunteers of the South Australian branch of the Australian Red Cross, who worked tirelessly alongside state and federal government agencies to aid those in distress, and also the South Australian Department of Health, which had personnel on standby to be deployed. As a nation, as a state, as a community, without hesitation we went to the aid of our neighbours. We will forever be indebted to all who so generously came forward to assist in this horrific national tragedy and to all who continue to help to rebuild lives and communities. We certainly had a fantastic effort in providing the assistance.

The member for Finniss has reminded me of the volunteers who came across from Victoria for the Kangaroo Island bushfires, and we, of course, in part repaid our debt for their great efforts when we had the devastation on Kangaroo Island. But, as the member for Morphett outlined, this effort by South Australians was widespread. Government agencies played a role, as did individuals in the community, and to each and every one of them this house sends a very big heartfelt thankyou. Their efforts went a long way toward helping with the recovery effort and the people of Victoria are forever thankful. We have had appreciation expressed by the Victorian minister. To all the agencies and groups involved—whether CFS volunteers, Metropolitan Fire Service personnel who went over, people from the Department for Environment and Heritage, or all the individuals and groups, many of whom were listed by the member for Morphett—we are very appreciative of the great work done by all South Australians.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (12:27): I also rise to support the motion put forward by the member for Morphett, as expressed very well by him. I also acknowledge the contribution made by the Minister for Emergency Services. The minister mentioned a moment ago the discussions he and I had had about the contribution made by Victorians during the fires on Kangaroo Island in December 2007. Without a shadow of a doubt South Australians felt that they wanted to assist the Victorians in that time of great drama and tragedy earlier this year. It is difficult for people, particularly in urban and metropolitan areas, to understand bushfire and the effect of fire. What happened in Victoria manifested itself across Australia in a great outpouring of grief and support.

As both speakers said, it was Australians coming together to help other Australians: that is what it was all about. You put politics and everything else to one side and get on with it on those occasions. I do not wish to embarrass the minister, but after last weekend he was on the phone to me about the situation on Kangaroo Island, which I greatly appreciated. Going back to the fires, we do not want to be in any doubt that we could have the same situation occur in South Australia. I hope it never does again. I know that the member for MacKillop was heavily impacted by the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires and many of us remember that occasion. During my term as chairman of the old CFS board, that was in the forefront of our minds at all times.

I am very happy to make public the contribution by people from my own electorate who went across to Victoria. I was at the annual dinner of the Parawa Agricultural Bureau a couple of weeks ago and the special guests for the night were a group of farmers who, under the Uniting Church banner, went over to Victoria to assist in the clean up. They spent a week over there, did an enormous amount of work and formed very close friendships with the people with whom they worked. They went in and did things and the people from my electorate could not believe the gratitude shown by the landholders, farmers and community people in Victoria.

I was at a Lions Changeover dinner (which many of us go to), and a group from the island drove over and went fencing and spent time over there. Indeed, the Mayor of Kangaroo Island, Jane Bates, is currently at Marysville, I think. She formed a friendship with the Mayor of Marysville, and she is visiting there now, which is a good thing. So, Australians do come together. When these things happen, we recognise that we need to pull together. The contribution from everyone was absolutely outstanding. Whether it was from government agencies, emergency services, fire services, it does not matter; we were all in it together. There is only one way to get out of it when these things happen, and that is together.

As the minister also said, the member for Morphett's motion is very worthy of being supported by all in this house. I do not think anyone would speak against this; I hope they would not. As I said earlier, we need to remember that this could happen to us. Another thing that we need to remember is that, when we have these crises—whether they be fire, flood, or whatever—and there is an initial great rush to get in and provide support (such as money, food, clothes, or whatever), as we have witnessed, six months, 12 months and two years down the track, it is still ongoing.

So, there will be a need to assist these people in Victoria for a long time to come. Just the amount of work that has to be done in fencing, for example, is beyond them and, in many cases, the volunteers who went over from South Australia only did boundary fences. So, there are all the internal fences on properties, which are a huge job. Quite often, there is far more internal fencing than there is boundary fencing. These things do not go away.

My understanding is—and I will stand corrected—that there are still groups going over, whenever they get the opportunity, to assist with the cleanup, the re-fencing or anything they can. I know that vast quantities of feed have gone over from South Australia for livestock. Donated hay and grain have been gratefully received. I think it is most appropriate, and I have great pleasure in supporting the member's motion.

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (12:33): I thank the minister and the member for Finniss for their kind remarks. I know that every member in this place supports South Australians in their efforts during these times, and I know they are just as proud as I am.

I would like to say one thing. There was some hay left over at our farm that was spoiled by a bit of rain and, just to make sure that people do not think we are actually using it ourselves, that is actually going down to Planet Ark at the airport as mulch on the planting of new seedlings to reclaim some of that land along the Patawalonga Creek.

Motion carried.

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