Tony Lupton - Speech
Bushfires Condolence Motion
25 February 2009
I rise to express my sincere sympathy and that of the residents of the Prahran district to all those affected by the recent bushfires. I commend everyone who assisted in firefighting and emergency services efforts, and in relief and recovery efforts.
Our entire community has come together, whether it is individuals, families and community organisations, schools or businesses. All have come together in an extraordinary outpouring of generosity and strength to help in this time of unprecedented tragedy.
I pay particular tribute to the staff at the Alfred hospital in Prahran for their extraordinary efforts in treating the injured.
On the evening of Saturday, 7 February, the emergency department at the newly opened intensive care unit and the burns unit at the Alfred became part of the front line in dealing with victims of these tragic fires. Hundreds of staff at the Alfred carried out their work with exemplary skill, care and professionalism.
Our health-care professionals train for emergencies, but they hope they will never be called upon to act in such circumstances. When the call came on the evening of 7 February they rose to the occasion, and especially in the burns unit where the work they are doing will continue for many months to come.
Since that day I have had the opportunity to visit the hospital and speak to staff. I have been provided with the opportunity to see their work firsthand and to express my appreciation and the appreciation of the government and the community for the work they are doing.
I mention in particular the work and the leadership of Dr Mark Fitzgerald and Eliza Burke in the emergency department; Dr Heather Cleland and Tracey Petrie, the nurse manager, in the burns ward; Professor Jamie Cooper and Julie Wilmot, the nurse manager, in the intensive care unit; and also Andrew Stripp, who is the Alfred's operations director. I thank them for their leadership in such a trying time. I emphasise that there are in fact hundreds of staff members at the Alfred who have contributed to this incredible and extraordinary effort.
One of the things mentioned to me when I visited the Alfred was the way in which local businesses have assisted the families of the injured in various ways, including providing meals for family members at local restaurants. It is these sorts of things that do not make it into the media. They are often done anonymously, but they are enormously appreciated and very important to the people who are suffering. It is important to acknowledge those sorts of actions.
The patients and staff at the Alfred hospital need our ongoing support as do all those affected by the fires. Local communities have done an extraordinary job assisting the donation and recovery efforts. People from all around Victoria have been assisting in a variety of ways. The outpouring of support has been extraordinary. Local schools have raised very significant sums of money as part of the bushfire appeal. The way in which our community has come together as a result of these tragic events is an example of the type of community we are, we should be and we can be.
I have also had an opportunity to visit some of the fire-affected communities, in particular Healesville, Yarra Glen, Dixons Creek, Whittlesea and Kinglake.
Visiting the relief centres at those places has shown the extraordinary work of people from government departments, private businesses and volunteers from all over.
I met volunteers who just turned up at the relief centres because they wanted to assist. Many people came from all over Melbourne and other parts of country Victoria.
At the relief centres we have seen extraordinary cooperation. People from private companies that are normally in competition with each other were sitting at the same table, helping people who were affected by the fires. They put aside their competition and just cooperated for the good of the community to assist anyone who needed help. There were people from telecommunications and insurance companies and a range of other organisations.
At all the places we have visited we have seen extraordinary actions being carried out by ordinary people. I had the opportunity to speak to people from Marysville, Narbethong, Kinglake and elsewhere -- some people had lost their loved ones and friends, and all their possessions. I spoke to members of one family whose sole possession in the world at the time was a dog's bowl -- that was all they had left. They were members of one of the local State Emergency Service crews. As I said, they lost all their possessions, including their house. Fortunately the family members were safe. Their first reaction, after losing everything, was to go back and resume volunteer work with their local SES, to help others. That was the sort of action we saw all over, and which we continue to see.
People who fought to save others when their own families and homes were at risk -- or even worse, had had family members killed by the fires or who had suffered -- deserve to be honoured; they deserve to be recognised and assisted, and their great work needs to be remembered.
The hope that we have arising out of this tragedy is that we remain a more united community than before the fires. These events have brought to the surface a spirit of strength, a spirit of service and a great generosity in our community. In honour of those who lost their lives, we must all work to maintain that spirit and help to rebuild our state.
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