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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 1 Hansard (30 January) . . Page.. 40 ..

MS DUNDAS (continuing):

Although we have spoken of the impacts on home owners who have lost houses that they have built or renovated, many people who lost their homes were renters of public or private housing. Many renters were among the most financially vulnerable people affected by this disaster. Less than 30 per cent of the renters had contents insurance. We need to work to address this issue so that personal financial loss of this scale does not occur again. I will be convening a round-table discussion next week on the availability of contents insurance for renters and ways that we can identify and tackle this problem.

A sense of uncertainty also prevails for many tenants as they search for new homes in our tight and expensive rental market. There will be flow-on effects for other people seeking rented accommodation. In three weeks, the university academic year will start and the public service graduation program will begin. Our already tight accommodation market has just got smaller. It is not hyperbole to say that we have an acute housing crisis in Canberra.

This is a time for grieving, but also a time for thanks-thanks that it was not any worse, thanks that more lives were not lost and thanks that the scale of events in Duffy, Chapman, Kambah and Holder was not repeated in other areas which came under threat. As has been said this morning, there are many people who deserve our heartfelt thanks-many individuals, organisations and businesses that fought to protect Canberra and to help the community in its time of need and that are now focused on helping people through the shock and grieving and then the rebuilding of Canberra.

To the members of the emergency services, the firies, the helicopter pilots, the police and medical staff, we say thanks. To the volunteer firies who risked their lives and did so with little sleep and no respite from the extreme weather and ferocious flames that burned during the last couple of weeks, we are all eternally grateful. To the friends and neighbours who helped as they could, the turnout has been inspiring, but we should not be surprised.

When faced with crisis, our support networks are called upon. I believe that their strength was unbelievable. The community sector pulled together with almost military precision. With the Red Cross helping in evacuation centres, the counsellors from Lifeline and the volunteers from St Vinnies, the Salvos and the churches, we had a huge team of people providing aid. They all played their part in bringing people in, offering them shelter and support and providing shoulders to cry on, and with the recovery centre their work continues.

To the workers at ActewAGL, Telstra and other service providers who worked so hard to get Canberra back on its feet, we say thank you also. Of course, our local media played their part. It is welcoming to hear such great words being spoken about the media in this chamber when they have so often been lambasted. The team at the ABC did a great job.

I remember the Christmas fires of 2001 and being quite frustrated that we were not getting any news about what was happening in our area. We learnt that lesson this year and that did not happen again. We had up-to-date information being broadcast around the clock. 2CC, WIN and the Canberra Times also played a strong role in providing the community with local information.

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