Gary's Speeches

Black Saturday Condolence Speech

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It is with a great degree of sadness that I rise to support this condolence motion. I intend to touch on the broader statewide impact of the fires and then make some comments and observations regarding the impact of the fires in my electorate of Narracan.


The terrible loss of life -- the figure now stands at 210 -- is an absolute tragedy never before experienced here in Victoria. I extend my deepest sympathy to all those families and individuals who have lost loved ones and friends. As we all know, Victoria has been subjected to attacks by large bushfires on many occasions over the years. In 1939, 2003 and 2006 the area burnt was probably more than double that burnt on Black Saturday. The fires of 2009 will go down in history as fires which had a massive impact on populated areas and which resulted in a tragic loss of life and complete devastation for many communities, particularly Kinglake, Marysville and Strathewen, and Callignee in Gippsland.
Having lost a younger brother in a car accident when he was 18, I know what it is like to lose a family member. I have observed the impact a death can have on a family. I think you learn to live with the loss, but you never really get over it. That is probably what most families and friends of bushfire victims will find.


Over time they will learn to live with their loss, but they will really never ever get over the tragedy.

Out of this tragedy, as has been the case with so many other tragedies in Victoria over the years, we have seen the emergence of heroes. Some have gone about their jobs doing what we expect of them, while others have taken enormous personal risks to assist others and save lives. I bet that for everyone who gets recognition in the media for what they did there are hundreds who have performed similar acts of heroism that will go unrecognised but will never be forgotten by those who received assistance. I would like to thank every one of those heroes for their selfless acts of support for their fellow community members in the face of terrifying danger.

In my area of Narracan there are two fires that have continued to pose a threat to a number of communities.


They are the Bunyip Ridge fire and the Walhalla fire. Both fires are still burning. On Black Saturday it was the Bunyip Ridge fire that did the most damage. We were very fortunate. I guess you could say we were the luckiest of the unlucky on that day. I thank God that we did not suffer any loss of human life. Having heard the contributions of many of my colleagues today from both sides of the house, in particular the excellent contributions from those who have had their electorates directly impacted, I feel a bit guilty standing here and saying that, but I do thank God that we did not lose any human life. The buildings, fences, hay and pasture we can restore and replace, but it is impossible to bring a lost loved one back.

The Bunyip Ridge fire is believed to have been deliberately lit on the Wednesday before Black Saturday, and I believe the reason we did not lose anybody at the height of the blaze is the warning our communities received. The first community meeting was held at Labertouche at 1.30 p.m. on Friday, Black Saturday eve.


The projections the Country Fire Authority and Department of Sustainability and Environment officers made at that meeting proved to be spot on. People knew exactly what to expect. They knew the north wind would strengthen from 11.00 a.m. on Saturday and swing around to the south-west from 3.30 p.m. onwards. The message was very clear: if you are going to stay and defend your property you have less than 24 hours to ensure you are well prepared; if you are going to leave the area, you should go now.

I firmly believe that many lives that could have been lost were saved because the Labertouche, Labertouche North, Drouin West and Jindivick West communities had this amount of notice and had it spelt out to them so plainly. This was in stark contrast to what happened to those communities north of the Great Dividing Range and in the Latrobe Valley that had no warning.


I would like to thank all of those people who worked so hard in the face of enormous danger to keep us safe on the day: the Country Fire Authority (CFA) staff and volunteers; the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) VicForests and Parks Victoria staff; our police; and in particular the ABC regional station in Gippsland. Gerard Callinan and his crew worked through the day getting the message out right up until when the Mount Tassie tower succumbed to the fire that started in Churchill. They had the FM station back up and running by about 6 o'clock on Monday evening. It was a great effort by them to get back on the air and keep getting the message out.

I also extend thanks to the timber harvesting contractors and to the chopper and plane crews, including the Elvis crew, who responded so well. The fact that they were able to fly all day on that Saturday in the prevailing conditions was amazing.


No other aircraft could get into the air, but they were prepared to take the risks in flying conditions that I do not think they had flown in before, certainly in Australia. I commend them on the work they did and the risks they took on behalf of Victorians on that day. I thank the timber harvesting contractors who responded by providing the bulldozers and their very critical bush experience and knowledge for the firefighting effort.

Probably we all have a good understanding of the roles of the CFA, DSE, Parks Victoria and chopper crews but very little is said or published about the role of machine operators in the firefighting effort. Bulldozers and other heavy machinery are used to construct containment lines, and containment lines are usually constructed some distance ahead of the fire front to try to stop the advance of the fire and often to provide a location to back-burn from in order to widen the buffer between the fire front and unburnt vegetation. As one would expect, with the volatility of the wind, it can be extremely dangerous to work in front of an advancing fire. Constructing a containment line in rugged terrain, which can be very steep or rocky, is also hazardous and requires the skill of an experienced operator. The operators usually work 12-hour shifts around the clock, and working at night presents another added challenge and set of risks.
I would like to pay tribute to all those timber harvesting and earthmoving contractors and their crews who respond to the call without a second thought and rarely get a mention. My son, Tony, is working at the Bunyip Ridge fire, operating a dozer.


Like any parent, we worry about our children, even after they turn 30. Tony sent me a text message to say he was working with Geoff Stafford, Brian Cornwall and Les Christian, all three of whom have an enormous amount of bush experience. In fact Les is a veteran of the bush, one of the best bushmen in Gippsland. Les has been retired for many years, but every time there is a fire he dusts off the old D7 bulldozer and is the first one to offer its services. It put my mind at rest once I knew Tony was working with three such highly competent, experienced and knowledgeable bushmen.

As I mentioned earlier, the response of the Shire of Baw Baw has been fantastic. The relief centre in Warragul was set up at the leisure centre, and by Sunday morning over 360 people had registered with Red Cross. The donations of food and clothing flowing in were overwhelming. The number of volunteers arriving and wanting to help was so great that a special process for registering volunteers had to be set up by the shire away from the relief centre.


The municipal emergency control centre set up by the shire on the day before the fires was working exceptionally well. Once again I commend the Baw Baw shire for its swift and timely reaction to the impending crisis by putting so much in place on the Friday, before the fires swept through.

We were lucky in Narracan, but the devastation to property is significant, and the impact on many people and businesses is going to be long lasting. There is the heart-rending story of Jessica Graden. Jess and her brother, Hew, lost both their parents to cancer in recent years. Jess is 23, Hew is 21, and Jess is Hew's guardian because he has Down syndrome. They lost everything on their family property.

There are many amazing stories of people who stayed, defied the ferocity of the fire and saved their houses. However, as they saved their homes their businesses went up in smoke.


The McGuffy, Betheras and Witchell families of Labertouche North are some examples of those impacted in this way. Boundary and internal fencing, water infrastructure, hay, pasture and shedding have all been wiped out.

Many businesses that were not directly impacted by the fires are being hit very hard. They have lost business because of the lack of activity caused by the fires. Tourism in particular has dropped off. People are not visiting fire-affected areas or even areas neighbouring the fire-affected communities. The towns of Jindivick, Neerim South, Noojee, Erica, Rawson and Walhalla are experiencing this crippling problem. Hospitality businesses in Rawson and Walhalla are having bookings cancelled even as far out as April, which is still months away.

I encourage our metropolitan and city-based cousins to support these communities by taking a weekend trip or making a booking for Easter.


This is still a beautiful place to visit, and while you will see some small evidence of the fire, our high-quality tourism industry is still very much operating as normal and open for business. These people and many others like them are hurting, and we must support them. Our forests will grow back; nature will take care of that. We must take care of our people and ensure that their lives and livelihoods are resurrected from the ashes and returned to normal.

Finally, I would like to thank all my parliamentary colleagues on both sides of the house who visited my electorate over the past couple of weeks, and in particular the Minister for Agriculture, who made at least two or three visits to my electorate. Not only did he give great support to our farmers, but he offered great support at the relief centre and to the shire. I once again pass on my condolences to those of my colleagues whose communities have been impacted in the worst way, and I certainly hope this never happens again.