Prime Minister
PRIME MINISTER: Can I begin also acknowledging the clans of the Eora nation as we gather here today for this, our sorry business. We pay tribute to their elders past, present and the future. To distinguished guests, colleagues who are today but most importantly, the families of the 25 wonderful souls we have lost, our deepest condolences and sympathies to you again on this day. To those here who have served, to those who are watching on from other places today who have served, our fire services and emergency services and our defence forces and in so many other roles. We gather here today and simply say thank you for your service.
But to also reflect on a black summer that started in spring. A summer where the dark sky turned black and sunsets only signalled another night of terror. Where the fire crashed on our beaches from the bush that surrounded them and the scorched high country that turned white and on this occasion black. A season of air you couldn't breathe and of orange skies that wouldn’t rain and unforgettable trauma absorbed into our very beings, and of unrelenting grief for our land and our wildlife and our families.
Children kissing the coffins of their fathers, proudly wearing their helmets, mothers and fathers who should never have had to bury their children. Friends who came to our aid, who travelled across the water to support us but to return home under their nation's flags. Families sifting through the ashes of lost homes and livelihoods, towns and places that came to embody both our loss and our strength.
And towns that came to embody both our loss and our strength: Batemans Bay, Nerriga, Cabramurra, Tinpot, Cobargo, Nerrigundah, Malua Bay, Lake Conjola, Batlow, Balmoral, Kangaroo Valley, South Arm, Bilpin, and a thousand more. Markers on our maps.
And it was a time when neighbours opened their homes to neighbours and anyone needing shelter. And Australians: be they city or country; Christian, Sikh, Muslim; Indigenous or immigrant; old or young; rallied to each other. In this room there are thousands of stories - of loss, chance, grief, courage, generosity, and above all, love. And many more beyond, known and unknown. We see those in those stories a reflection of our humanity.
Across this land, and here in NSW, we witnessed the most extraordinary actions by Fire and Rescue, the RFS, our paramedics, our ADF, our defence forces, and almost every community group our country could muster to this effort. Standing by each other and willing each other on. Not individual efforts, but efforts of crews, of teams, of communities - discovering and demonstrating once again that we are always stronger together.
On Australia Day I told the story of the Wingello Brigade, who I was able to meet just the other week and say thank you in person. Near night’s end on their night of terror, Brigade Captain Mark Wilson said it felt like “we were losing”. But in the morning the town had been saved. A similar story was told in Batlow - of courage, loss and achievement and in so many other places. Amazingly, Mark had arranged for his daughter to be looked after by her mum, he told me, while Mark was called on to lead his Brigade. Mark told me he thought she would be out of harm's way. She went to Cobargo, only to see her mum’s business destroyed as the fire hit that town, even before that terrible night in Wingello.
These fires offered little if any respite or places to seek refuge, as they burned and burned and they burned across our state and our country. And I’m sure Commissioner Fitzsimmons, who has led this effort so incredibly well, could tell us many more stories - and I’m sure he will - and these stories will be told amongst brigades for decades to come.
In every case, our firefighters confronted the fear by relying on the love that was behind them. On New Year’s Eve, two firetrucks from Fire and Rescue’s Strike Force Golf were immobilised fighting a fire near Nowra. Eight firefighters trapped. It was dire. All eight firefighters sent texts to their families. Trish Doyle recounts receiving a text from her 20 year-old son. Just 20. He texted, “I don’t think we are going to make it. I love you, Mum”. In the midst of fear, chaos and confusion, and a thousand thoughts, this son’s heart and those of his comrades turned home towards the people they loved. For two and a half hours these families waited. Despite their trucks being destroyed, these firefighters survived and we are thankful.
We lost firefighters, aviators, farmers, and civilians alike this summer, all carried within them even until the end, the DNA of our universal language: I love you. We know all who were lost, who fought, who served, who volunteered, drew strength from who they loved and who loved them. What lay before them was not as strong as what was behind them, which continues to sustain us all now, as the fires go out.
And from this we witnessed thousands of extraordinary actions. We have heard of the Horsley Park Brigade who lost Deputy Captain Geoff Keaton and firefighter Andrew O’Dwyer in December. Just like Sam McPaul, they were young family men. The morning after Geoffrey and Andrew’s loss, the Brigade met. Under Darren’s leadership they wept, they remembered but they made a decision to return to the fireground. As one firefighter said: “It was the only place where we felt we could honour the bravery of our friends”. And so they did. They went back out and faced another day - but still relying on each other, sustained by the love of those they left behind.
That’s a lesson for all of us who have lost this black summer - to rely on each other as we stand to face another day, often without those we love. It’s Sunday, so let me finish, indulge me, with a reading from Isaiah 58:11-12, which I’ve turned to on quite a few occasions lately.
The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
This is my prayer this day. As a nation let us stand together - repair the broken walls, restore the streets with dwellings, let us heal, let us rebuild. And most importantly, let us never forget, especially those we have lost, who can never be replaced. God bless you all.