Ms LANDRY (Capricornia—Assistant Minister for Children and Families) (18:53): I wish to join my federal colleagues and acknowledge and honour all those who have so bravely and selflessly served through the ongoing bushfire crisis, in particular those who have lost their lives. Their courage has been extraordinary and it is a spirit which we must honour. We have lost too many Australians to this disaster and it is fitting parliament will rightly acknowledge all those who have lost loved ones, those who have suffered injuries or lost their homes. These fires have been devastating, but through these horrific times we have also witnessed the Australian spirit on display. We have seen untold devastation throughout Australia due to these horrific bushfires, from Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia to Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. One of the many areas affected during this bushfire season was Livingstone shire in my electorate of Capricornia. At approximately 12 pm on Saturday 9 November, a fire broke out on Old Byfield Road in Cobraball. Over the next two hours the fire spread rapidly, threatening lives and properties. At 2 pm on Saturday, a watch-and-act message was distributed to residents, and doorknocking commenced. An hour later, the local disaster coordination centre was activated and an evacuation centre was established at the Cordingley Street basketball stadium. By 5 pm a state of fire emergency was declared. Saturday, and overnight into Sunday, were trying days for our community, with the fire continuing to spread due to adverse weather conditions, including changing wind patterns and very high temperatures. Over 800 properties were without power and mobile phone coverage was lost. On Monday 11 November a community return plan commenced, with multiple agencies conducting assessment and approvals. At 5 pm on Wednesday 13 November the evacuation centre was closed, as all persons in the evacuation centre could go home, and on Thursday 14 November, at 12 pm, all the roads were reopened, and by Friday, all affected roads were reopened. There have been 429 assessments collected, with a total of 56 structures totally destroyed, including 15 houses, one mobile property, 38 sheds and two unclassified structures. Four sheds were severely damaged, along with 15 structures suffering only moderate to minimal damage. Over 12,000 hectares were affected, with a frontage of 17 kilometres by 13 kilometres wide. Five hundred hectares of grazing land and 275 hectares of horticultural production land, including tropical fruit production, were all lost. They have just started to get back on their feet, thanks to the category C level of assistance outlined under the National Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements. Two hundred and forty-three businesses were identified as impacted or identified within the immediate fire damaged area, with Department of Agriculture and Fisheries assessments being conducted. In total, 747 properties rated against productivity land use were identified within the impacted area. There was also considerable loss of income for periurban producers and other small and medium enterprises in the fire impacted area. When we acknowledge that this is the ninth disaster event this community has seen in 11 years, the earning capacities of periurban producers have been severely hindered. Evacuated residents and businesses were also unable to feed and water their stock for extended periods during evacuations and road closures. Myself, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management visited bushfire affected farms and properties. I thank them for accepting my invitation to witness the devastation and to offer what little comfort we could. Jack and Rae Cowie lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in destroyed lychee crops. Robert and Jocelyn Sikes in Bungundarra also lost a significant portion of their earning capacity after nearly all of their mango trees were destroyed. Anthony Sylvester, who is the Bungundarra Rural Fire Brigade's first officer and who owns Dynamic Eggs poultry farm, lost over 400 chickens in the blaze. Richard Benson, on Newby Road, also lost thousands of banana trees. Faith and Darren Gordon lost their home to the bushfire. Even after experiencing this trauma, they told ABC Capricornia: We love Yeppoon, we love our property—even though it burned, we love this place and we'll never leave. We are no strangers to bushfires or disaster events in Capricornia, and the courage that volunteers and emergency personnel have shown over the past year is truly astounding. In November 2018 we experienced devastating bushfires further north in my electorate, near Sarina, and just outside my electorate in Gracemere, near Rockhampton. Finch Hatton, Dalrymple Heights, Eungella, Campwin Beach, Sarina Beach, Carmila, Blue Mountain and Sarina Range were all affected, and thousands of residents were evacuated. Even a beloved landmark near Rockhampton, the Capricorn Caves, weren't immune to these bushfires in 2018. Thankfully, due to their preparedness, staff were able to evacuate the entire site, including staff members, guests and animals, in under five minutes. And on the edge of my electorate, and of that of the member for Flynn, lie the townships of Kabra and Gracemere. The residents of these towns were saved by mere inches nearly two years ago. I am enormously proud to be the federal member for these communities who, in times of considerable hardship, will rally together and fight against almost insurmountable odds. The response to the recent bushfires has been unprecedented, with thousands of volunteers and paid responders working around the clock, day and night, to protect property and save lives. The federal government has turned out the biggest-ever response to a national bushfire crisis, with $2 billion in funding committed. Over half a billion of that has already been committed to programs. In Livingstone shire, the Liberal-National government has paid over $162,000 in Australian government disaster relief payments to 140 total claims as of yesterday. In summary, Australia is coming together to respond to what has been an unprecedented series of natural disasters, with bushfires affecting so many different states. We will continue to do whatever it takes to support fire affected communities right across Australia, to help them rebuild, recover and become even stronger in the future. Thank you.