Page 387 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 2 March 1994
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There is one important point to make before I sit down. The concept of sending emergency service workers to fight those fires in Sydney was a very important psychological message about the role Canberra plays in Australian society today.
Mr Wood: And how well organised they are.
MR HUMPHRIES: It does show that we are very organised, that is true; but it shows something more important than that. People often think about Canberra as a place to which they constantly send things, particularly money, and it is nice for people in other places in Australia to know that Canberra can also have a very human and very real heart. It can make a positive contribution to the day-to-day welfare of individuals living in other places in Australia. This is not just senior public servants and politicians; it is real Canberra people who go somewhere else in Australia and say, "If you are in trouble, mate, we are here to help you". That is an important message that perhaps people overlook when they think about Canberra. We achieved a very important message about what Canberra is about and how Canberra people are prepared to stick up for people elsewhere in Australia when their backs are against the wall. I am very proud of what our emergency service workers did in those circumstances and the way they have sent that message. I hope that we will all support this motion in that same spirit.
MS ELLIS (12.05): Madam Speaker, I do not think any of us will forget the drama, the threat and the horror that were brought to us by radio broadcasts and television pictures during the early weeks of January. I am not convinced that those of us who were fortunate enough not to be directly involved can comprehend what the people involved were going through. Out of such tragedy and predictable horror came personal actions and, in many cases, heroism and bravery, care and concern for others. It is what some people call the true Australian spirit. This is something that is difficult for most of us to define, but at times like this it becomes very evident what we mean when we talk about the true Australian spirit. The people from the ACT who were sent to New South Wales were part of that extraordinary thing.
The ACT sent 200 volunteers from urban and rural brigades, emergency and ambulance services. Much praise has been heaped upon our contingent by everyone involved, both here and in New South Wales. As a Canberran and as a member of this place, I am both pleased and proud that the community of Canberra could respond so quickly and so positively in this terrible emergency. In taking the opportunity to be part of a contingent from the Canberra community, those people gained invaluable experience in firefighting and emergency response in conditions more extreme than any that had been experienced in recent times.
I have had the opportunity since then to speak informally to some of the members of our contingent in social contact. The overwhelming attitude transmitted to me has been quite extraordinary. It has been one of gratitude that they were in a position to participate. It is extraordinary when you think of the level of danger that they happily walked into - and I say "happily" because I think that was the case. In paying tribute to those 200 personnel who visited New South Wales in the emergency, there is another group whom we must consciously not forget when addressing a motion such as this. I refer to the firies and the emergency workers who did not go. I do not think they did not go because they did not want to; in fact, they believe that it might have been a lottery they lost.
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