Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns visit the Bega emergency operations centre for a briefing on the Coolagolite bushfire.
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00:00 (indistinct chatter)
00:03 - Thanks, Jim.
00:08 Look, if I could just on behalf of the RFS
00:11 and the multi-agency approach,
00:12 thanks very much to the community as well.
00:14 Indications are the community listened to the warnings
00:17 that we put out as early as we possibly could.
00:20 And I think the door knocking that was undertaken
00:23 in a multi-agency environment later on
00:25 showed a lot of people have heeded those warnings.
00:27 And I've got to say for those people
00:29 that saw the footage of this fire,
00:31 saw how quickly it traveled 15 kilometers in a few hours,
00:35 saw how terrifyingly deadly this fire was.
00:37 And for that, if we get out of this
00:40 with no person injured or worse,
00:43 then I think it's been a job well done
00:46 by all the agencies working together.
00:48 At the moment, we can confirm three homes
00:50 are confirmed as lost,
00:51 but there's still a lot of work doing to get to,
00:55 I guess, that final number,
00:57 but it could have been so much worse.
00:59 I think we said from the very beginning
01:01 that our concerns for this fire season
01:03 about how dry it's been and just this particular region
01:08 has been experiencing drought conditions.
01:10 So, and look, we're one month into spring.
01:13 So we obviously are not gonna be complacent
01:16 from this point on.
01:16 And I think for the rest of the community,
01:18 the fire season is absolutely here
01:20 and we need to take this seriously.
01:23 So I just want to acknowledge the work of firefighters
01:25 on the ground, the people, multi-agency,
01:27 RFS, Fire Rescue, National Parks, State Forest,
01:30 all have worked very hard to protect properties
01:33 and also the other agencies that have come together
01:36 to support the community.
01:37 So I think it's, so far,
01:40 you know, it could have been a lot worse.
01:41 So thank you.
01:42 - We're just at the beginning of October
01:44 and already we have a serious fire here
01:47 that has had an impact.
01:49 And it is an opportunity for us,
01:52 myself and the Premier, ministers who are here,
01:55 to just say thank you to the emergency services personnel,
02:00 volunteers and full-time people who do an amazing job.
02:05 This must be an incredibly traumatic experience.
02:10 We're standing here, we can smell,
02:13 we can see the impact that these fires are having.
02:18 And that would be having a triggering response
02:21 for people who went through such a traumatic time
02:25 during the summer of 2019, 2020.
02:29 But many of the people that I met during that period
02:33 who are providing the support and services,
02:36 I've met again, they're back,
02:39 doing what they always do,
02:41 helping their fellow Australians.
02:43 And it seems to me that there's something consistent
02:45 about the Australian character,
02:47 which is at the worst of times,
02:49 we see the best of the Australian character.
02:51 We see people digging deep to,
02:54 in some cases as well, put their own safety on the line.
03:00 There's more than 200 people out there
03:02 fighting fires as we speak right now.
03:05 They are people who are not putting themselves first,
03:09 but putting their communities first.
03:12 And it's been an opportunity to be briefed
03:15 in an extensive way about the full range of services,
03:18 of what's happening,
03:19 but also just an opportunity to say thank you.
03:22 And I'll hand it over to you.
03:25 - Thanks so much, PM.
03:26 Obviously, it's a very difficult time for this community,
03:30 having gone through the 2019, 2020 bushfires,
03:34 and to be back at square one for many communities
03:36 with a fast moving fire through the national park
03:39 in a situation where communities are under threat.
03:42 A couple of things I wanted to say.
03:43 Firstly, it's encouraging to hear the commission say
03:46 that these communities listen
03:48 to official emergency broadcasts
03:50 and follow bushfire preparedness plans.
03:53 That's extremely important.
03:55 Hazard reductions are very difficult to do,
03:57 particularly when you've got a wet winter season.
04:00 And the first line of defence is listening
04:02 to official broadcast communication from the RFS
04:05 and ensuring that you've got a bushfire plan,
04:07 an emergency plan that you follow to the letter.
04:10 Be prepared, be prepared for a horror summer.
04:13 We are one week into October
04:16 and we're experiencing mid-summer conditions,
04:19 multiple days above 30 degrees, high winds, bushfires.
04:23 Love this environment,
04:24 and it's devastating for regional communities in particular.
04:27 But it is encouraging that the communities
04:29 on the South Coast listened to official broadcasts
04:33 and communication from the RFS in particular.
04:36 Lastly, I just want to echo what the Prime Minister said.
04:38 There was 800 firefighters and emergency service workers
04:42 that worked through the night to battle this bushfire
04:45 to save regional communities on the South Coast.
04:48 We owe them a lot.
04:49 A lot of the firefighters that backed up last night
04:52 and pulled a 24-hour shift were the same people
04:55 that had to go through the 2019-2020 bushfires.
04:59 It shows their commitment to this community
05:01 and the state owes them a hell of a lot.
05:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]