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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-02-18 Daily Xml
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Motions

South Australian Bushfires

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. R.I. Lucas:

That this council—

1. Expresses its deep regret at the loss of life as a result of bushfires in South Australia so far this summer, and extends its condolences and sympathy to the families and loved ones of those killed;

2. Records its sorrow and support for those who suffered injury and who lost their homes, property and personal possessions;

3. Praises the work of firefighters and other emergency services, volunteers and community members for their courage and sacrifice in responding to the fires and protecting our communities in this time of need;

4. Recognises the profound impact on those communities affected and the role of governments and the South Australian community in assisting them to recover and rebuild at the earliest opportunity; and

5. Appreciates the great generosity and support to the affected communities by all those who have contributed to the State Emergency Relief Fund and other appeals.

(Continued from 6 February 2020.)

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (16:16): I appreciate the opportunity to make some remarks in relation to the motion moved by the Treasurer on the bushfire season in South Australia thus far. As we all know, South Australia has experienced several devastating bushfires already this summer. From Wednesday 20 November 2019, during catastrophic conditions, fires occurred on Yorke Peninsula, in the Mount Lofty Ranges and on Kangaroo Island.

These fires have all deeply affected households and livelihoods and will present ongoing challenges to communities. Many dwellings were lost and damaged, along with hundreds of other structures on various properties. Sadly, one life was lost in the Cudlee Creek Fire, and two people died on Kangaroo Island. The fires have also impacted a number of other communities in South Australia at Keilira, Duck Ponds on Eyre Peninsula, Coonalpyn, Carcuma and Angle Vale.

Communities, businesses, primary producers, families and individuals have suffered immeasurable loss. For so many affected, these events have been and will be life changing. As the minister responsible for the State Recovery Office, I would like to take a moment to talk about the relief and recovery efforts that have been undertaken to date for these communities.

During the immediate response by emergency services personnel to the Yorketown, Cudlee Creek and Kangaroo Island fires, the relief teams in the South Australian Housing Authority immediately turned their focus to establishing relief centres, which are places where people impacted by the fires can gather to seek shelter and access facilities, information, care and comfort. A centre was initially on Yorke Peninsula at Edithburgh. On 20 December, we set up relief centres at Gawler, Turramurra Recreation Centre at Highbury and subsequently at Mount Barker, which is closer to the communities affected. On Kangaroo Island, a centre was initially at Kingscote.

As the emergency is contained and declared safe, relief turns into the recovery phase, with recovery centres established. These still remain at Yorketown, Parndana on Kangaroo Island and Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills. We have also appointed local recovery coordinators for each of these areas, and I would like to thank Ms Debbie Richardson, Mr Alex Zimmerman and Mr Mike Williams, the local recovery coordinators for Yorketown, the Adelaide Hills and Kangaroo Island respectively, for their ongoing work in those communities.

The immediate concern for both the relief and recovery stage is the safety of people who are affected by natural disasters and providing immediate assistance to those who are unable to return to their primary place of residence. I would also like to particularly pay tribute to Housing SA staff and other staff who have been very engaged in the support services so far. We have had an unprecedented level of need and they have really made themselves available, which is highly commendable.

Over the past two months South Australian Housing Authority staff responses have covered Yorketown, Cudlee Creek and Kangaroo Island in particular. Some 250 authority staff, along with staff from other government agencies, both state and federal, have worked in the relief or recovery sectors. They have provided care, comfort and assistance to those in crisis, as well as helping anyone affected by the fires to apply for grants and connecting them with other support services.

Our staff have worked in partnership with a range of other organisations and support services, including the Red Cross, Recovery and Disaster Ministries SA, Uniting Country SA, the CFS, insurance providers, the Australian Defence Force, Green Industries SA, local councils and community volunteers, including Lions and Rotary, to provide the best possible service to affected communities.

A total of 45 staff have left their homes and families for deployment to Kangaroo Island, and some of these people have been deployed multiple times. Many have been on overnight shifts so that the centres could provide overnight responses to the community. We had 27 staff who worked at the State Emergency Centre, often late into the night or overnight, to support the response, 10 staff worked additional hours to process grant payments quickly for those in need and assist with the administration, and 56 staff gave up time with friends and family over the Christmas break and cancelled their leave to work in the State Emergency Centre, relief or recovery centres, or to support other administrative efforts.

In addition to this a further 78 staff members from other government agencies have been deployed to either Lobethal or Kangaroo Island recovery centres to support the local communities. They are also providing outreach support services in case management of those who have been most severely affected by the fires, in partnership with other services such as the Red Cross and the Disaster Ministries.

The Australian Defence Force has provided invaluable support in the recovery effort in the Adelaide Hills and on Kangaroo Island as a result of the call-up of Army reservists. Army Reserve personnel have carried out a myriad of tasks supporting government agencies and organisations as well as individuals impacted by the fires. Tasks have included water carting, assistance with waste management and clean-up, fire track remediation, hazard reduction, and outreach, and I would like to thank all the ADF members for their continued support to our communities, particularly at this difficult time.

As always, during a recovery effort it is not just the government that steps in to support those affected; support is also provided by a very large number of non-government organisations that are often supported by volunteers. Groups are involved from the moment that the event unfolds through to the response phase through to relief and recovery, with many working to support the community for the long term.

I would like to provide a list of non-government and volunteer organisations that have stepped up during the recent bushfires. It is not by any means exhaustive, but I believe it illustrates the generosity of South Australians and people from other parts of Australia, indeed globally, who have been engaged in assisting the affected communities. These include:

St Vincent de Paul, the official partner in managing donated goods. They have done extraordinary work in managing what has sometimes been an overwhelming volume of donations;

Anglicare's Thread Together program, that provides brand-new clothing to those who have lost everything;

Red Cross Australia which, from the time the bushfires commenced, has been providing care, comfort and psychological first aid to affected people who attend the relief and recovery centres. Red Cross is also assisting Housing SA with their outreach visits, and provides a range of financial grants to those who are impacted by the fires. They will continue to be present over the months and years to come supporting communities during this time of recovery;

Team Rubicon Australia, which unites the skills and experiences of ADF veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams across the globe. Team Rubicon has deployed to the Adelaide Hills and worked with the ADF to conduct over 5,000 hours of assistance with debris clearing, tree felling and sifting through the ash for any salvageable personal items. Team Rubicon will go on to partner with the philanthropic organisation Minderoo to continue delivering assistance to communities;

Foodbank SA, which has been appointed as the primary organisation to support food relief efforts from the South Australian bushfires. Donated food collection, distribution and provision have been given in a variety of ways from pop-up food vans two days a week at the Lobethal Recovery Centre to food hubs at community meetings and events; and

BlazeAid, which is a volunteer-based organisation which helps to rebuild fences and other structures which have been damaged or destroyed by natural disasters. Camps have been established at Edithburgh, Lobethal and Kangaroo Island, and hundreds of kilometres of burnt and affected fencing has been replaced.

I would like to thank all these charities, not-for-profit and non-government organisations and the individual volunteers who stood side-by-side with the government as we responded to these emergencies and as we continue to provide assistance during this recovery phase. I would also like to particularly thank Volunteering SA&NT, which has provided help in matching offers of volunteer assistance with where that assistance is most needed.

I would also like to acknowledge the commonwealth government, which is the co-funder for a range of programs in this space in terms of clean-up particularly, and the grants made available to individuals and businesses. We have personal hardship grants. As at 17 February, $1,575,000 worth of grants had been issued. Re-establishment grants of up to $10,000 are available to those who are uninsured and have had their principal residence damaged. As at 10 February, we had received 29 applications for those three regions.

Up to $75,000 is available to primary producers affected by the fires. As at 14 February, about 45 grants had been issued for, between them, Cudlee Creek, Kangaroo Island and Keilira. There is also $50,000 for eligible small businesses. As at 13 February, 25 grants had been paid totalling $677,000. All these grants are joint-funded by the federal and state governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

My colleague the Treasurer announced that South Australian small businesses, primary producers and non-profit organisations impacted by the fires will be eligible for concessional loans to assist them to rebuild and continue operating while the regions recover. We also have the State Emergency Relief Fund.

There has been an enormous amount of South Australian and indeed global generosity and support for that from a range of individuals and organisations. The South Australian government has contributed $2 million. I think at the last count between $6.5 million and $7 million is providing direct support to those who have been affected by the fires.

The first category has been for those families who have lost family members in the fires. The second category is for individuals who have been seriously injured. The third category is for households who have lost their home, regardless of whether they had insurance or not, and that is a grant of $10,000 per household with an additional $1,000 per child. The fourth category, at this stage, is for property owners who have suffered infrastructure damage.

Those payments thus far are in the order of $1 million, and growing. All those funds are managed by the State Emergency Relief Fund committee, so every dollar that is raised is being provided directly to those who are impacted by the fires. Furthermore, we have the National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia partnering with the Nature Foundation to establish the Wildlife Recovery Fund, which is assisting with wildlife in those bushfire-affected landscapes.

We know that we will be in this place for some time to come, and we stand shoulder to shoulder with South Australians.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (16:30): The past few months have been challenging for many regions of South Australia. The destruction and devastation inflicted by the bushfires on families from Kangaroo Island, the Adelaide Hills and Yorke Peninsula has been horrific. South Australia is not alone in suffering from devastating bushfires, of course. Our interstate neighbours suffered, too, and I commend the brave men and women who assisted in fighting the fires, both in South Australia and interstate.

The firefighters' determination to defend properties, towns and wildlife highlights their unparalleled bravery. Not only was the bravery of these people impressive but also their willingness to thrust themselves into action and hit pause in their own lives whilst they did so. Many of these people are volunteers, and their willingness to make time and financial sacrifices is admirable as well. How these volunteers carried themselves is the true embodiment of the best characteristics of the Australian population.

I recently visited Kangaroo Island with my colleagues from the Marshall Liberal team. It was confronting to see how much damage was inflicted, and you could begin to understand the extent of the required recovery effort. Perhaps the most impressive outcome to arise from these terrible events has been how communities like Kangaroo Island have pulled together. Despite personal adversity and the gravity of the task in front of them, communities have been steadfast in their approach to recovery. I would like to commend all the affected communities on how they have dealt with what must be a horrific time in their lives.

One of the ways that communities are recovering is through specific volunteer organisations that assist locals in many ways, often providing financial or physical donations in kind. We have also seen many wildlife volunteers and veterinarians who have donated their time to begin to rehabilitate the impacted flora and fauna. Community organisations, new and old, have acted immediately to assist these affected communities. I have been lucky enough to meet several community groups during these challenging times.

An organisation such as the Nairne Fire Support group formed organically, if you like, during one of the most critical times to assist their communities. Through their local MP, Dan Cregan, the member for Kavel, I was lucky enough to meet members of the Nairne Fire Support group. The organisation has been supplying care packages to households affected by the Cudlee Creek fires. It was my pleasure to fundraise $2,000 for them to help assist the continuing services of their organisation. I can tell you that they were extraordinarily grateful. They are hoping to continue to serve the community until all those affected are back on their feet. The Nairne Fire Support group is just one of the many out there that are helping affected South Australians.

All of these organisations have been able to operate due to the generosity of donations. South Australians' willingness to financially contribute to assist the recovery through these organisations has been nothing short of remarkable, in my view. Many in this place are familiar with other organisations that have assisted the bushfire recovery. Every person who was willing to put up their hand and help has been crucial to our state's recovery. I would like to thank absolutely all people who have assisted and who continue to assist the South Australians who have been affected by the terrible and devastating bushfires.

The recovery effort often requires significant investment to return the affected regions to what they once were. As I have mentioned, South Australians have been willing fundraisers. Communities have come together and raised as much as they can, in the knowledge that every bit helps. Church denominations spread all over the state have been prominent and have been working extremely hard to raise money and gather donations, as have several other organisations, of course.

I have previously spoken in this place about church denominations assisting in the recovery effort, and I am proud that the Influencers Church specifically raised some $240,000, just short of a quarter of a million dollars, from their own congregation. This money has been donated to worthy organisations, such as St Vincent de Paul and BlazeAid. The Influencers Church is one of many trying to help as many as they can. Partnering with the generosity of the community, the Marshall Liberal government and the federal government will allow these communities to not go it alone and will ensure that they have the necessary financial and in-kind support to rebuild.

The South Australian Treasurer, the Hon. Rob Lucas MLC, has announced a host of tax relief measures that further ease the burden and the waiving of certain fees and charges for bushfire-affected South Australians. Such relief includes waiving fees associated with purchasing replacement copies of birth, death and marriage certificates, a traumatic task that South Australian bushfire victims should not have to pay for.

Other government initiatives include funding to fix fences. Many in this chamber would be familiar with BlazeAid's work to help farmers re-establish kilometres of fencing that has been destroyed. BlazeAid will receive a $250,000 funding boost from the state government, which will allow the thousands of volunteers to continue rebuilding vital farm fencing. Additionally, clean-up funding has also been allocated by the state government to help remove debris and assist farmers, households and businesses to move forward from the fires.

The federal Minister for Emergency Management, David Littleproud, announced that the federal government would match dollar for dollar to fund the clean-up. This means areas such as Kangaroo Island have the resources to clean up the remains of these horrific events and move forward in the future, as will the other regions.

There has been much focus on the clean-up and recovery of regions affected by the fires and I am pleased to see the Marshall Liberal government pushing forward with tourism campaigns to ensure that these regions have continuing income streams at a challenging time. The #BookThemOut campaign highlights that businesses in the Adelaide Hills and on Kangaroo Island are open for business.

Visitation is critical to these areas, with 1.2 million domestic day trips to the Adelaide Hills in the year ending September 2019. As South Australians we must continue to visit and boost the local economy to help those who need it most to get back on their feet. Simply being there, spending money in their restaurants, cafes, hotels and in the shops that line their streets makes such a difference.

The bushfires are a challenging time for our state. People lost property, lost valuable memories and, unfortunately, some lost their lives. It has been remarkable to see the communities come together. We will continue to work hard in this parliament, on both sides I am sure, to assist those affected by the bushfires. I am confident that all South Australians will continue their support in any way they possibly can.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (16:36): I rise to associate myself with the remarks of the Treasurer in moving this motion, and also the remarks of the Minister for Human Services and others in relation to the matters covered significantly in the Treasurer's motion but also the depth of the response from not only the government but right across the community. Only on the weekend we saw the extraordinary amount of truckloads of hay arriving at Cape Jervis to be taken across to Kangaroo Island to feed stock that has no feed at the moment.

I made a number of references to bushfire recovery efforts, and particularly the mental health aspects of that, in my Address in Reply speech earlier today and I do not intend to repeat them. However, I would like to indicate here my sincere thanks and appreciation to all the firefighters and emergency services workers, all the other people and the first responders who came out and supported the fire control and recovery efforts.

That great level of appreciation was highlighted in my mind when I drove through a great deal of the Adelaide Hills area that had been affected by fires some time afterwards. As has been alluded to by other Liberal colleagues, what I saw on Kangaroo Island—having spoken to a number of residents of both regions, and of other regions in South Australia that I mentioned earlier today, they perhaps have not had as much publicity in the media but are still people who are affected just as much in many cases.

Driving through the Cudlee Creek area reminded me very much of my experiences in the Adelaide Hills in 1980 and 1983 on the two Ash Wednesdays. One thing about being on Facebook is that sometimes it puts up memories. The other day, it brought up a memory of a post I put up seven years ago, when it was the 30th anniversary of Ash Wednesday II, as many of us call it.

My recollections from then are of being in the Millbrook Reservoir and Kersbrook areas, the extraordinary nature of the conditions and the remarkable behaviour of that fire. That was something I saw the other day and shared again, because it will always bring back the need for us to support the communities in the fire areas and support the people who get out and endeavour to deal with them.

As I mentioned earlier, the nature of the fires is indiscriminate. So many times, I have seen one property completely untouched when all the properties surrounding it are burnt down. That will always be a mystery to many of us. It is just the way the weather is, the winds and other matters to do with vegetation. It also impacts the people who are untouched as much as those who are badly burnt out.

While on Kangaroo Island, at the suggestion of Mayor Michael Pengilly, I drove up the Gosse-Ritchie Road from the South Coast Road up to the Western Districts sporting facility, which had been very badly impacted, and then onto the North Coast Road. That was not indiscriminate there—it was just a blanket of fire that had gone through. It is something that will take a long time to recover from as a community.

I think there has been a great response from state and federal governments and obviously from local government. There is counselling, community grants and a whole range of other things that the Minister for Human Services has outlined earlier today. When we were on the island, the Minister for Human Services, the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, the Premier and I all met with a group of chaplains who had been working in the field. They raised a number of issues, but particularly one about the amount of work—I think one said that I had to do—that we as a government have to do in the mental health area. That is very evident in the statistics that were brought to me recently by the Chief Psychiatrist about work that is being done globally.

When there has been a major disaster in an area, the level of suicide or attempted suicide can rise between 10 and 13 per cent, and the chaplains raised their considerable view that we need to be very much active. Yes, we need to support people now, but it is in the coming months and years that that work needs to be done. I think there will be people in the Pinery region that are still going through difficult times as a result of that significant fire.

As part of that work, the Adelaide Hills council area and the Kangaroo Island council area are two that do not have suicide prevention networks, so I have made contact with both of the mayors in those areas in relation to the development of networks with their community, with their councils, in the coming months.

There is much more that I could say, but I think we all know that as the Governor said in his speech, resilience is there. We just need to back that up with the right effort at the right time to make sure that we do everything we can for the people who have been impacted by the terrible bushfires that we have experienced in the last few months in this state. With those remarks, I support the motion.

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