Tuesday, 5 March 2024

Ministers statements: fire and storm events

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:08): I rise to update the house on the incredible work and effort of our emergency services personnel and the ongoing support we are providing to affected communities across the state. We have seen in just recent weeks that a lot has been thrown at our state by extreme weather events, and I particularly want to thank Victorians for the way they have responded both in emergency services but also at a community level right across the state. Whether it has been from Mirboo North to Pomonal or Cockatoo to Beaufort, every place that I have been I have been able to see firsthand the way communities have pulled together in the aftermath of these events to provide practical support on the ground.

To give you a sense of the size and scale of the extreme weather events, VICSES, for example, have responded to a significant 6200 requests for assistance just in recent weeks. We have seen also the CFA, Forest Fire Management Victoria, Fire Rescue Victoria and aerial firefighters working tirelessly to bring some of our biggest fires under control, particularly that fire at Bayindeen, which could have caused so much more damage. I acknowledge it did cause damage to a number of properties, but it could have been so much worse but for the work that was put in by emergency services. I should also say, we should not just thank them for their response to these emergencies; we should thank these emergency services, the volunteers and the paid staff, who train for these events, who prepare for these events. We saw that training and preparation on display as assets were protected and as life was protected.

Also, in finishing I want to thank the Victorian community not just for the way they have supported each other but for the way they responded to the warnings and the way they heeded the evacuation messages and heeded the ‘Watch and act’ messages, because that also makes a big, big difference to the work that our emergency services do in response to an emergency.