20th anniversary of the ACT Community Fire Unit, Government House

[E&OE]

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the land we are meeting on and recognise any other people or families with connection to the lands of the ACT and region. I acknowledge their continuing culture and contribution to this region.

I’ve said many times that we are blessed to live and work in such a lovely part of the country — from the Namadgi to the south, the Brindabellas to the west, the Molonglo and Murrumbidgee rivers — and I thank the traditional custodians for looking after it, generation after generation.

It is a great delight to welcome you here to Government House.

Really, Linda and I wanted to invite you here today to say thank you.

Thank you for what you have done for our community, continue to do for your neighbours and fellow Canberrans, and the difference you make.

I know that you’re the tip of the iceberg and represent around 850 Community Fire Unit members, so please pass on our thanks to your colleagues.

Linda and I have spent much of our term in communities impacted by disasters.

You know the list of disasters: fires, floods, cyclones, droughts.

I feel like we’ve seen it all.

As this group knows as well as any, that period immediately after a fire or other natural disaster has swept through is incredibly challenging.

There are people who have lost everything. Some have lost loved ones or fear for the safety and welfare of others.

Property, outbuildings, infrastructure destroyed …

Animals and wildlife that have perished ...

Seemingly insurmountable challenges …

People’s futures uncertain ...

Those visits can be confronting.

Linda and I can provide words and comfort, listen to pressing needs and thank those working tirelessly to help each other, but ultimately it is an inevitably grim situation.

Except — and I can say this with certainty — in those darkest hours, there is always a faint glimmer of hope.

People don’t know how they will get through, but they know that they will.

They may feel alone, but they look up and see a neighbour, or a stranger, offering to help.

I often leave those communities with my faith and optimism in Australia — and for our future — only strengthened.

And I will tell you something else: the single greatest joy that Linda and I have in this job is the chance to revisit those communities.

For example, we will be in Kangaroo Island this Saturday for the fourth time since the 2019-20 fires.

We will help open a new community centre — a celebration in itself.

But, really, we’re not celebrating a building — nice though it will be. We will be celebrating the Kangaroo Island community and what they’ve done for each other.

We will see people who we first met on the side of the road, when their homes were smouldering ashes.

They’ve stayed together. They’ve rebuilt and they are recovering. It hasn’t been easy.

Recovery, as this audience is aware, is not a linear journey. People move forward at their own pace, dealing with their own challenges.

They also — and it’s a very Australian trait — often put the welfare of others before that of their own.

It is inspiring and says so much about who we are as a country.

This group, and the many others you represent, is an example of that same richness of spirit.

Out of the despair and devastation of the 2003 Canberra bushfires — 160,000 hectares burnt, more than 480 homes destroyed, four people tragically killed — has come an even stronger community.

Community Fire Units are a manifestation of that strength.

Two decades of commitment, countless hours volunteered, plenty of hard work to help keep others safe.

It is, as I say, incredibly inspiring.

You are inspiring — and I thank you for what you have done and what you continue to do.

[Ends]