Bushfire recovery is a most difficult area for people who have been affected by bushfires. It takes a long time, and it costs a lot of money. There's a report this morning that the bushfire recovery will cost in excess of $100 billion. When you equate that out to the farms, the communities, the homes and the businesses that have been affected, you can understand how that amount of money is desrtoyed by fire and needs to be rebuilt. You can be very strong in your rebuilding, but a lot of people will take a long time to rebuild.

This time last year I was standing on top of the hill behind my property. I was watching where two lightning strikes had started two fires in two valleys, which the member for Kennedy would understand, and those fires eventually converged into one fire, ripping right through the north of Nar Nar Goon and the north of Bunyip forests. It destroyed everything in its path—all the homes, all the farms, businesses, people's retirement living, tree huggers—the whole lot. Everybody was devastated. You didn't hear as much about that fire, which was equally as damaging to that area, as you heard about the recent fires in New South Wales and Queensland, all the way through to eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales. But, for that community, it was exactly the same devastation.

These days on farm, we don't have the same steel fittings as we once had. They're all plastic. It takes years to get out there, dig another hole and put new plastic fittings into all your troughs. This is ongoing now. That was 12 months ago. What we've done is made some changes to the way services are delivered, by the federal government and the state government working closely together, to the victims that have gone through this bushfire period. Some, though, that have gone through bushfires prior to that are not getting the same benefit. I'm working with the government now, step by step. The member for Hunter will know very well how hard it is in rural communities to work through these issues and how important they are.

There is the building up of stock—especially the loss of breeding stock that you lost in one fell swoop. You have lost your dogs that help run the farm. So we're working through it. It costs a lot of money, but I've just been told also that the virus that's now crisscrossing across the world is going to cost a lot more. Australia is in a very, very difficult position. We've got to be with our community and lead our community as we work through this difficult time. 

 

This is the face of Sally Anne Edwards, who died of the scourage that is ovarian cancer on the 14 February. She was 54 years of age. This is a beautiful photo of her as a child. She is one of a thousand who will succumb to this disease over the next 12 months. Fifteen hundred women or more will be diagnosed with this shocking disease that hides its symptoms away until it's too late. One of the stories told in the upper chamber a few moments ago mentioned the fact that one woman who died, who was very important to a particular community, had one symptom of all the symptoms. This disease hides itself away. We punch above our weight in health. We're one per cent of the world's community, and we punch above our weight in gene therapy and all other forms of medicine, but we can't find a way to rid ourselves of this disease through early detection. All we need is research that clearly delivers us early detection for ovarian cancer to save the women of Australia and therefore the women of the world. We have an enormous amount of work to. We've put an extra $20 million in, and I thank Greg Hunt for that, but we've got to start somewhere, and it's got to start today.

 

It wouldn't matter what time I got up in the morning; there would be a farmer up before me somewhere in Australia. He could be a dairy farmer, an orchardist or a cattle, sheep or pig farmer—you name it. He could be on the Murray. He could be in South Gippsland amongst my mighty dairy farmers. He could be down in Darren's electorate right now, where the farmers that have been burnt out down there are facing the most difficult of times and thinking about how they're going to replace half a million dollars worth of fencing. He could be up on the Murray, where they've got water issues that we all know about; they've been struggling with them for 20 years, and they need to be sorted out. It could be, over in the west, one of our own members, Nola, who, with her husband, is a dairy farmer. So we're connected. We're connected into our dairy farmers. We're connected into our beef farmers. They are the food supply for this nation. They're not only our food supply; 80 per cent of what they grow and create is exported.

One of those great farmers and agripoliticians—and some would say an angry agripolitician—is a fellow named Bill Pyle. I will be launching this book, Australia: Land of Milk and Politics, about his history and his story, with the help of Kevin Carmody, who was a long-time ABC presenter in Gippsland and a member of my staff for quite a while. They've collaborated to tell this story about Bill, which is a story about the dairy industry in Victoria, how it evolved and how it needed restructuring and changing for the benefit of all. This guy actually stood for preselection for the seat of McMillan many, many years ago, and I'm rather glad that he didn't get it, because it might have changed the course of history. He was a very good politician. But his path was swayed because he didn't get that preselection. He was then drawn straight into the politics of the dairy industry. He saw there were massive problems. He saw his mates working really hard in the dairy industry. He saw them getting nowhere and he knew there needed to be a change.

This piece I'm about to read now, as part of this speech, will be my remarks tomorrow at the book launch:

Bill Pyle is a good dairy farmer. For his entire working life, he was disciplined and innovative. He was a loving husband, and a doting father, grandfather and in more recent years great grandfather. And importantly for Australian dairy farmers and the industry he helped to restructure, he was a leader.

As a young man, Bill saw the hard work all the dairy farmers in the region were putting in and knew it himself. Despite this, the dairy farmers still were doing it tough. They weren't making enough money. Bill knew things had to change. Ask him about it now and he'll tell you it was a total basket case, the dairy industry!

The industry needed leadership and structural change. There was unrest in the manufacturing sector, no research into farming and the prices of grain, beef and dairy had collapsed. They needed a better system. However, farmers split between organisations and in their visions of the future. They struggled to have a united voice, let alone be heard.

Bill became the uniting force. He knows farming like the back of his hand, he has a natural knack for politics, but most importantly he understands people. Even those who didn't agree with him respected him. And he was then able to persuade the community to come together. He led the necessary organisational change Victorian dairy farmers needed. He spearheaded the negotiations with the government. And he marched a group of thousands down the main streets of Melbourne.

In his 9 year presidency of UDV, United Dairy Farmers of Victoria, they were able to achieve great positive changes for the industry. It's thanks to these efforts that the price of milk was deregulated. And the manufacturing processes were made more efficient and consistent through herd improvement and production standards.

Bill was able to achieve due to his resilience in testing times and incredibly supportive family who he is endlessly grateful for. Bill has led a life to be looked upon with great pride and the industry must thank him for it.

To all the friends he has made along the way, many of whom— will be present tomorrow— thank you everyone. Of course you will get much more detail and insight in the book Bill has written. I commend it to you, Australia: Land of milk and politics.

I read that out, which is very unusual for me in a speech, because that was written by his granddaughter, who works for me in the office at the moment—so politics is a strain through the family. Well done to Bridget Tracy, his granddaughter, who is working up here and is at ANU. What a great nation we live in!

I want to agree with the member for Fraser on one thing: the importance to the Australian people of this issue and how we deliver services to older Australians. I listened very carefully to his statistics and the fact that we have an ageing society and government needs to address it. With regard to the personal stories told today, none of you said that those members of your family who were treated were treated badly. In fact, every one of you said they had the best of care—the best of care.

I've got a good story to tell. That story is this: from Koo Wee Rup to Korumburra to Leongatha to Foster to Warragul to Moe to Drouin and up to Neerim South, my aged people are getting the best of care from talented people who know how to deliver a service to those of us that are growing older and need that care. Yes, I've experienced aged care in its rawness with my own parents. I know what dementia is all about. I know the difficulties that families face. I know what my mum went through, hiding it for many years before it was so exposed that my father couldn't be hidden anymore. We've all been through these issues. It's not about bringing our personal responsibilities or experiences into this place; it's about good policy and delivery.

You can all criticise one another for failing, but let me give you some history. When I first came to this place—after a long time in aged care and disability, by the way—the outlay of the government of the day, a Labor government, was less than $2 billion. After I was thrown out and came back the next time, it was $4 billion. Then, when I was thrown out again and came back again, aged care was on the agenda again, and it was $8 billion. The executive was starting to complain, whether it was a Labor executive or a Liberal-Nationals executive, that these outlays could not go on; the need was exponential. So members like myself—and yourselves—were coming in and pleading with the executive for more money, more money, more money. We have to have greater outlays in this area. The system that serviced our parents was now broken; the model was gone, because people were going into aged care at a much older age and, therefore, leaving aged care and having greater difficulties. Then we had low care and high care, but I won't go into all that with you.

My job, as the local member, was to go to Korumburra and realise their need and deliver the $1.2 million that got their aged-care centre up and viable. It was capital outlay, but they've got really strong community support. Ageing in situ is really, really important for country and regional people. You who live in the city can hop on a tram and visit your older people. But, if you have an aged person in a facility, it's got to be in your community. So here am I, standing in this parliament after all these years, saying: we need to put money into these nonprofits in small communities so people are being cared for in their communities and can be visited. They do well in that system. So I talk about those small communities, and I put it to the executive.

I say to the Labor opposition: had you won the last election, you would have been having exactly the same struggles that we've had. I sat with the Prime Minister immediately after the royal commission's interim report. I travelled to where he was. We went through the way ahead. We have a plan for the way ahead, and we're working through that plan for the way ahead. We're all in this together. Every one of us is going to have an aged parent. Every one of us is going to be there ourselves one day. I know we can always do better. Every one of us can do better in everything that we do. I don't like the system. I didn't like the system when it was changed under John Howard so that the minister doesn't have an input into the AKAR round. This is an abrogation of the responsibility of government to manage the thousands and millions of dollars that are outlaid. It shouldn't be about the department; it should be the government of the day making decisions. If I can get that legislation repealed before I leave this place, I will. I want government and the minister to have direct involvement in the outlays in aged care. That's crucially important.

There was clearly a lot of passion in the member for Gilmore's address. I think that all members who are fire-affected members have been touched by this tragedy and tragedies that have gone before.

Not one word spoken in here today will assuage or ameliorate the pain of those who have been directly impacted by these fires and previous fires. What it brings home to all of us who have memories is that there are people out there affected by previous bushfires whose memories are being torn back to the tragedy that they faced all those years ago—or, perhaps in my case, in February and March last year with the Bunyip North bushfire. These people are really hurting today. Their trauma is deep. It is extremely hard for them to handle. We cannot even try to identify their pain, their trauma and their shock ourselves because we didn't stand in their shoes, we haven't stood in their boots and we haven't been there in their thongs—if that's all they've got left. The Slade family lost an integral, very popular local man in Bill. He was connected to everybody in Wonthaggi and surrounds. He was hit by a falling tree that wasn't burning.

In Victoria there are 1,500 firefighters working today, just out of Parkes, backed by 1,600 staff, and there are 18,000 kilometres of fire edge. Of course, communities are feeling under threat. Only a few days ago there were houses lost here, for heaven's sake. We are in the middle of the same fight, the same war. We're living it today, each and every one of us. I honour those who have spoken before me, each of you, so well and with compassion. But we cannot enter into the devastation that has taken place in these fires and previous fires in the Blue Mountains, in the south of New South Wales and in Gippsland especially, and the devastation, of course, across our businesses that is coming home to roost for every one of us here. That's without Attenborough saying Australia is on fire. Well, parts of Gippsland are not. We're still open for business, as has been said.

My pain is for the people really doing it hard today. I can hear you. I want you to know this parliament can hear you in your devastation. There was a gentleman here I met in the Prime Minister's office who was part of the upper Beaconsfield tragedy I was part of for Ash Wednesday. He was left with his pyjamas, he was telling me, begging for some money to get some food to have something to eat that night. It brings back the memory for everybody of what has gone before. I know there are people out there, who, every time the fires flare, are reliving their tragedy, the loss of their family, and we hear what you're saying. Right across this nation, this great southern land, we hear what you're saying and we're identifying with you.

I was at Bairnsdale the other day for Macca Donnelly's funeral. Craig didn't die of the fires; he died of bowel cancer. Craig ran 10 kilometres a day, even in his 60s. He was fit as a fiddle, tough as nails and had a great sense of humour—I won't go there; it has been done badly once today. He was a fireman in his youth. All the kids in our community had to be in the fire brigade; that was automatic, as it is today. Craig was a firey. His dad was a firey before him and a PoW. Craig had one message for the hundreds gathered there in Bairnsdale. He said, 'When the bowel test comes, take it.' If that one message gets out to the community then that's really important because he shouldn't have died.

Outside the funeral parlour was a great big sign. It didn't say 'save yourself'. It didn't say 'be careful'. It said, 'Fires and storms—tune into the ABC'. I knew exactly what they were on about because the ABC was the only way our fire controllers could get messages out when there was no communication, because people still have battery transistor radios and they can get the messages. When it came to telecommunications, we were found wanting. When it came to our planning authorities and rules, we were found wanting. When it came to state and local government regulations, we were found wanting. When it came to fire management, we were found wanting. We were found wanting. We've allowed these things to happen. We have resourced our firemen.

By the way, I don't think they want to be called heroes. They'd like their professional training and volunteerism recognised, yes, but they don't see themselves as heroes; they see themselves as very good at what they do. They've saved hundreds and hundreds of houses. But faced with that onslaught, you can't save everything and you are going to have losses. For the Victorian members, we're just coming into our most difficult time now. All the country members—sorry, I'm not separating country members of parliament from those city members who do understand—are coming into our worst period now.

The Bunyip fire started with two simple lightning strikes—all over, rover, straight through—and smashed that community to pieces. I won't speak for a long time today because I'm actually identifying a bit with what has gone before. I've got to say this to you: we've been through this before. At Nowa Nowa, where the fire stick had been used, there was protection. When are we going to learn?

In this Fire Wise magazine, I read Fireman Sam over the back. It says it all. Deputy Speaker, I'd like permission to table his article.

Mr BROADBENT:  Thank you. I table Fireman Sam's article.

When you talk about habitat and we talk about how people respond to this, I want to say just this, and I won't say any more: when human loses their habitat—and on the ABC we heard that lady say, 'And my husband has lost all his working dogs,' and then burst into tears. That was years and years and years of breeding to enable him to run the property. These are the sorts of grief and loss that we are dealing with today and will take years. I heard what the Prime Minister said when he said recovery takes time and we're here for the long haul. Well, I say to the people of the Bunyip North fire, we're here with you for the long haul too, even though your fire was in February. I will make sure that you get every benefit that every other person on the firegrounds today is getting. We have to treat every Australian that has been impacted by these fires equally. There are going to be businesses devastated by this fire that are going to have the nearly impossible task of rebuilding themselves and putting themselves back in play. This has affected the whole of my electorate and the whole of everybody else's electorates. Everybody is impacted. They need to know that we as parliamentarians as one are with them and understand them. We can't be in their shoes, as I said, but we can do our very, very best.

Sadly, the hands of time may not be enough for a lot of people's pain, but that's the only hope that we have. I know this: with the blood of the victims, the ash of the forest and the sweat of those facing the foe, when drowned in our tears will bring forth new life. Until that day comes, until the sun rises over the southern hills of the Great Dividing Range to a clear, smokeless sky, we've got work to do. We've got men, women and little children to care for. We have communities to rebuild and fires to suppress. But most of all we have a lot of grieving to do, and we will do that together, arm in arm, hand in hand, teardrop by heartbreaking teardrop.

Russell Broadbent MP
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