Mr GEE (Calare—Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister) (17:32): On behalf of the electorate of Calare I'd like to extend our sincere sympathies and condolences to the families and friends of all those who've lost their lives during these tragic bushfires. This has been an extraordinarily difficult time for our electorate and our region. About 65 homes have been destroyed, many have been damaged, including the loss of quite a few homes of RFS members. About 600 rural landholders have been impacted. Almost 200 outbuildings have been destroyed or damaged. Countless kilometres of fencing are down. There is stock still wandering the roads of our region. Many of our farmers, tragically, have had to shoot stock, many of which they were handfeeding to get through this drought. It's taken a huge physical toll, an emotional toll and a financial toll. Pastures have been burnt out. For a region already reeling under the devastating effects of this drought, these bushfires have seemed like a hammer blow. They have swept a huge trail of destruction from Oberon to Clarence and Dargan to Lithgow, up through the communities of the Castlereagh Highway, Capertee, Running Stream, Cullen Bullen, Clandulla, Olinda, Coxs Creek, Rylstone, Bogee, the Capertee Valley—the list is enormous. Despite the huge trail of destruction and the misery left in the wake of these fires, it is truly miraculous that no lives were lost in our area and that countless homes were, in fact, saved. Before these fires hit, our residents also had to deal with the excruciating tension of this looming threat that hung over them for weeks and, in some cases, months. It was a tension that seemed to increase and get ratcheted up every time a new fire event happened. So, to all of our fireys, our SES and emergency services personnel, the farm crews and the private firefighters, the heavy plant and equipment operators, the council workers and all the community volunteers who've supported them, I would like to extend the gratitude of our region to you all. I can't name you all in this House today, but the simple truth is you are the ones who got our communities through this, and we'll forever be grateful for all that you've done for us. On the day that the fires hit Clarence, Dargan and Lithgow, I was in Lithgow itself. I was at the Lithgow fire control centre in the morning. I was with community members after that. But, when the hills around Lithgow absolutely exploded, and they did, I was standing outside the Lithgow Workies Club, and I will never forget what I saw that day. The hills and mountains in front of me just, as I said, exploded; they lit up. As I looked to the south and to the east, the same was happening there. There were people coming into the Workies Club who were visibly upset and shaken. There were trailers of farm animals and pets pulling up. People were scared. There was smoke everywhere. There was a hot wind blowing. The air was filled with the noise of sirens, and then the emergency services vehicles started racing around. Not far from the Lithgow Workies Club, just a matter of blocks away, houses started to go up in flames. You could see it. The fires were inside the perimeter of Lithgow city itself. Police, who were attending the surrounding streets, were grabbing fire hoses and trying to hose down the roofs of residences. And then evacuees started coming into the Workies Club, and the full scale of this devastation started to become apparent. It went on all through the afternoon and into the night. I was there when a little girl called Milly, a lovely young lady from Lithgow, found out that her home had been all but destroyed by these fires, and I was there when she ran into the arms of her dad and he told her that they weren't going to go back to their house that night because of the fire damage. Her first reaction, through the tears, was: 'How's Santa going to find us? How will Santa know where we are?' Someone said: 'There's a Christmas tree here at the Workies Club. Santa will know that you're here.' But Milly was very upset. We were trying to comfort her, and I said to her, 'Milly, what would you like for Christmas?' Through the tears she just said, 'I'd like a new house.' Those were her words. What do you say to that? As it turns out, Milly's dad—and Santa—had a bushfire survival plan. Santa did find Milly, and the family is doing well, although it's going to be a difficult road. The impact of these fires on children can't be underestimated. There are also other stories of miraculous deliverance, and I take the township of Cullen Bullen as an example of that. It's a wonderful community on the Castlereagh Highway. I was in the RFS shed at Cullen Bullen on the day that a gathering of residents and RFS crews was called. The captain of Cullen Bullen, Darcy McCann, was there, as was the captain of Capertee, Steve Dalli. They were told there was an inferno coming their way and that, while everyone would do their best, they couldn't rely on outside help coming in and they may just have to deal with it on their own. When that news was delivered I think everyone was shocked by it, but I was mightily impressed by the calm and professional way that Darcy and his team took that news and went about preparing themselves for what was to come. It's hard to believe that these are volunteers. I came back to the brigade on the night the fires hit and I called Darcy very early the following morning. I said, 'Darcy, how did you go last night?', because we all knew it was going to be a rough night. Darcy said to me: 'They came right through, mate'—the fires came right through. There was a long pause on the phone, and I didn't want to ask the next questions, so I said, 'Darcy, how many homes have been lost?' He said: 'We didn't lose any; we saved every one of them. We didn't lose one.' That mighty Cullen Bullen brigade did get some help. They had a little bit of luck from Mother Nature in terms of the winds, but what that one brigade did for their community was extraordinary. A couple of weeks ago I dropped in at Darcy's place. We had a beer together and we discussed the experiences of the brigade at that time. He was telling me about what they had done to prepare, how it wasn't just the RFS crews out that night, it was the community members as well. They'd organised the community members in the defence of their town. I still can't believe that Cullen Bullen has been saved. I was reflecting on this with Darcy and I asked him how he felt about it. He said to me, in a very modest way: 'It's just what we do as Australians, isn't it?' That is what we do. That is what fireys like Darcy do day in, day out. And they did it for weeks. It wasn't just around Cullen Bullen: most of the crews had been fighting fires all around the region and some further afield as well. The Glen Alice captain, Bruce Richardson, and his team had been in the field for about 80 days when the fires finally started to wind down. They are out in the Capertee Valley. The communities of the Capertee Valley were surrounded on three sides by fire, and they lived with that fear for about 80 days. I was at a community meeting at Glen Alice just before the area took the brunt of the fires. There is a palpable apprehension, and I would say fear, in these situations and it's at times like that when the community looks to its leaders like its RFS personnel and other emergency services personnel. I was extraordinarily impressed, again, with the way these volunteers handled that situation, such a calm and professional way that they went about defending their communities. This is something that's been repeated all over our region. The Oberon brigade, led by Lance Sulley, have been engaged in firefighting all over the state. They had members up on the North Coast. I caught up, for example, with Ross McDonald from the nearby Burraga brigade just before Australia Day. He was rattling off so many fires that they had been to it was like a verse out of the song 'I've Been Everywhere'. These are volunteers. How many of us could give up our occupations for 80 days to go and protect the lives and homes of others? I saw senior brigade members—RFS members who would have to have been in their 80s—coming off an all-night shift early in the morning. A couple of them could hardly walk to their cars, they were so tired. The physical toll of fighting fires in this mountainous country was enormous. I saw our young fireys at work—firefighters like Kieron Pritchard from Mudgee, Beth Slender, Max Beechey and Jess Honeysett, all who served with such distinction. I was in the forward command vehicle at Rylestone showground one day when I saw a young firefighter called Charlie Rafferty at work. Charlie is the son of a farming family from the region. Although he works as a paramedic in another part of the state, he'd come back to help the brigade and his community. When I was with him that day there was a house under direct attack from the fires. I'm not sure precisely where, but I believe it was in the Coxs Creek area. I could hear it happening over the radio. I could hear the air support being called in. I heard an American voice come over the radio. They were in one of the water bombers. There was a homeowner on the ground being supported by a chopper doing water bombing, and then RFS crews came in as well. One of that person's family members came into the showground at that time and was asking about their family. They mentioned that there was another family member, with a young child, on the road. Charlie, who's only in his 20s, knew exactly where the fires were and made it very clear to that family member that the car with the child and the other person—I think it was the child's mother—needed to get off the road fast. Charlie is a young man in his mid-20s. We'll never know, but I believe that, in doing that, he saved two lives that day. I then heard the air support being called in with amazing precision, and they saved that home and the homeowner. Not long after that I was standing near the community kitchen at Rylestone and I saw a guy come out of a chopper. He was wearing what looked to be US military fatigues. I heard him speaking and I assumed he was the person whose voice I'd heard in the chopper, which had done such remarkable work that day. So I went and thanked him for everything he'd done. To him, I think, it was just his job, but I'd like to extend the gratitude of our region to all of those who came in from overseas. In our area we had Americans, Canadians—even Tasmanians; they're from overseas as well! We're very grateful to them all. Seeing these young fireys in action was extraordinary. I think our future's in pretty good hands if we've got volunteers like these young people saving lives and taking on such huge responsibilities in times of emergency and crisis. It wasn't just the senior fireys and it wasn't just the younger ones; people of all ages were there. I have to mention local legend Group Captain Alan Selman, also known as Yowie to his many friends out there. There are so many people to acknowledge, and unfortunately I can't do it all here. I was at a bushfire recovery meeting at Hartley a few days ago. I was there when Lydia Kolar thanked Greg Noble and Hartley RFS brigade member Rod Gurney for the homes they'd saved in the Lawsons Long Alley area of Hartley Vale. As fire swept through that area, four RFS members and Greg were at Lydia and her husband Vick's place. Vick and Lydia had prepared well and were ready, but it sounded truly terrifying. The blaze was so intense that there was no going in or out for anyone. Greg isn't a current RFS member but he has his own mobile firefighting unit and used it to help save Vick and Lydia's home, as well as others. A couple of hundred metres away, Rod got his brigade members to shelter behind a house they were defending as fire swept over it but somehow didn't burn it down. When they came around the front again, it was so hot and the blaze was so intense that the wheels on their RFS truck were on fire. Rod, Lydia and Greg will tell you they were just doing what they had to. But, make no mistake, these were indeed life-or-death moments. There were crews and brigades doing extraordinary things from one end of our region to the other in some of the most inhospitable country you could ever fight a fire in. Take Nullo Mountain for example. It's rough and rugged country and the defence of Nullo fell to a small brigade at Olinda, led by Michael Suttor. I've been up there twice to have a look. Once, when the fires were still raging in the area. It looks like an absolute wasteland up there in terms of the devastation. It is remarkable and a testament to the skill and the hard work of those brigade members and all of those who support them that so many homes were saved in such rugged country. And it was not just the brigade members. You had the dozer drivers and the heavy plant operators, like George Bucan and Roger McNally. These people put their lives on the line just as much as the RFS brigade members. I've seen video footage of it. It was truly terrifying what they did. Whenever these fires come into an area it's all about getting containment lines down and trying to stop it. The people who are also on the front line of that, and who perhaps don't get the recognition that they should, are the dozer drivers and the heavy plant operators, plus the private firefighters and farm crews, like the Webb family of Tarana and Olinda. The Ilford/Running Stream brigade ran like a military operation and it was led by Captain Matt Maude who, amongst other brigade members, met the Prime Minister when he came to Ilford. It ran like a military operation but in some respects it resembled the pit straight on Mount Panorama, because the fire trucks would come in and the crews would get out and usually head to the kitchens, where they would rest and get something to eat. Then the community volunteers would move in, clean the trucks, get them refuelled, get water in, and then, just like at Mount Panorama, a new crew would come in and they would be ready to take off again. This went on for weeks. I'd watch Matt Maude and his team at work and, again, I kept having to remind myself that these were volunteers. It was gruelling, tiring and sometimes back-breaking work. But they were at it, day in, day out. We had asked so much of these people, and at times I wondered if they could continue to carry the burden, but they did. I look at the Clarence/Dargan brigade. Several members of that brigade lost their own homes on that terrifying day when the fires came through there and Lithgow. I was at Clarence last week for a bushfire recovery meeting. I was speaking to the brigade members. They were telling me about how the blazes were coming at them from all sides up on the Bells Line near Dargan. The New South Wales fire and rescue teams and the RFS crews formed a huddle, which is a modern-day version of circling the wagons. They circled their vehicles, put the civilians in the middle along with the civilian vehicles, turned on all of their sprinklers and hoped for the best. They did a bit of back-burning there as well. Remarkably, again, there were no lives lost up there. But it has been truly devastating. They were showing me a video—which I've now put on my Facebook page—of the brigade driving through 'hell on earth' on the Wolgan Road in the Wolgan Valley. You can see them going through the fire and you can hear the audio. There are rocks and boulders coming down at them. There are trees falling in the area. The truck in front has blown a tyre. Yet they kept pushing through. That was just one small part of a long campaign for that brigade. Of course, it is now about supporting the community members and brigade members who have lost their homes. It's going to take a long time to rebuild and get everyone back on their feet. In Capertee, Steve Dalli and his brigade did an extraordinary job in helping to save their local community from destruction as well. I would love to name all of the brigades and their members but I can't because time does not permit that. But, through it all, behind them was an army of community volunteers—including those manning the kitchens and the food preparation centres at places like Lithgow Fire Control, where Doreen Peters, from Hartley RFS, and her team worked for many weeks making sure everyone was looked after and well fed and had the energy to carry on. Felicity Creswell and Glennys Lilley, out at Ilford/Running Stream, made an amazing effort over many weeks. The Rotary Club of Rylstone Kandos served 2,900 meals over 22 days. These are community organisations and community volunteers—individuals like Rhonda Collins, whom I met at Lithgow Fire Control. On that awful day in Lithgow, volunteers like Rhonda just turned up and started helping in the kitchen; and Rhonda was there again the next day as well. Kianey Crothers, from Kandos, organised provisions for many brigades in our area around Kandos and beyond. And then there was the Kandos Community Shop, the Rapid Relief Team out of Lithgow, local health services, service clubs and church groups. The list goes on and on. And now we are into the recovery phase of this emergency, and the work continues. It's not going to be easy. Our communities came together in response to this emergency and they have come together in the recovery. There is a wonderful community example—Rick and Bev Anderson, at Cherry Tree Hill, which is near Running Stream on the Castlereagh Highway. Rick has been an RFS member for many years. Tragically, when the fires came through, Rick and Bev lost their home. They lost everything. Since that time, they been living in a borrowed caravan, which is in a shed not far from where they lost their home. Despite losing everything, that wonderful community, which came together and united to meet the threat of these fires, is now uniting again to build Rick and Bev a new home. It's been extraordinary to watch this home rising just over the hill from where Rick and Bev's old place was. It's being built by community members. The walls are just about complete, and this weekend they are expecting to get the roof trusses on. Business and community members from all over our region have been uniting and assisting with items for Rick and Bev's place. Petrie's Mitre 10 are supplying the roof blanket. Amos Water Tanks, at Cowra, are providing a water tank. There are other organisations and businesses providing other items such as septic tanks. There is an electrician from Sydney who is coming up to do the wiring. Our communities are rebuilding and they are moving on, but this recovery will take years. Through this whole emergency and recovery I've seen many things. I've seen great bravery, courage and valour. I've seen extraordinary despair and heartbreak, but I've also seen great love and generosity. What I've also seen is the strength of our country—I've seen it—and the strength of our country comes from our communities and those in it. I think that while we have such people, such volunteers, who are willing to serve a cause greater than themselves, then our country will continue to endure as the wonderful place that we love and call home and is the best place on the planet to live. I will conclude by, again, thanking all of those fireys and brigades from our region, and all over our nation, who came in to assist; all of the emergency services personnel and our volunteers; and also our fellow Australians who have come from all walks of life and all places from around our country to help us get through it. I would like to say that our communities will never forget what all of those people have done for us and we will be eternally grateful. Though this rebuilding task may take many years, our communities, as I've outlined in this presentation to the House today, are strong and remain strong and it is that strength which will carry us through the rebuilding process. All of these communities and citizens who have been affected by these fires will see a brighter day. I would like to thank everyone who came in to assist us and who has continued to assist us since that day. Thank you.