Every cloud has a silver lining. It has been the best of times; and the worst of times.
When people are in strife, deep strife, the human spirit shines through. When those people are your neighbours, your colleagues or your family, it’s as close as it gets.
Tasmanians have been heroic during the recent bushfires. They have been brave, generous, selfless, and tireless.
Hopefully, the blazes are all behind us now and the recovery is underway – but this will be a long process.
As you may know, I was asked to be a member of the Bushfire Recovery Taskforce, headed by former Chancellor of the University and Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, Damian Bugg. That is, of course, recognition of farmers’ losses; but it is also a significant indicator of how far the TFGA has come in the past few years in terms of its standing in the community – and of the recognition of the important role our farmers play in Tasmania.
It is still too early to put final figures on losses to farmers from these fires. We know that at least 10,000 livestock, mainly sheep, have been killed outright or have had to be put down. That is the worst job any farmer has to do. The cost of replacing hundreds of kilometres of fencing alone will be about $10 million. Orchards, plantations and vineyards have been destroyed. Pastures need to be re-established. The list goes on.
Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who has got in there and helped our affected farmers regroup after these devastating fires. Offers of assistance in kind and in cash have come from near and far; in many cases from those who are clearly not that well off themselves but have reached deep for others in need. Volunteers have been there at every turn – delivering fodder, erecting fences, clearing away debris. Many businesses, including transport companies, committed resources and time, as well as making generous donations.
The TFGA has taken a lead role in the aftermath of the fires as far as the farming sector is concerned.
We have been co-ordinating both requests for help and offers of assistance to farmers through our special hotline number 1800 154 111. That became the focus for the work of our staff and members as they sought to match donations and offers of assistance with priority needs. We also established a special fund for farmers. Donations for farm specific activities can be made to a special TFGA account (BSB: 037-608, account number 52-7272.)
In consultation with the government, we’ve worked with other organisations and individuals to make sure that affected farmers have been looked after. The Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Wildlife and Environment has been instrumental in this effort, with staff available to assist in many aspects of the recovery effort.
TFGA and DPIPWE staff have worked rapidly to gather information needed to trigger specific disaster relief funding provisions. Our thanks go to all those in both the Tasmanian and Federal governments who recognised this need and pulled out all stops to fast-track these processes.
Category C grants of up to $25,000 are now available to affected farmers in the Sorrell, Tasman and Glamorgan-Spring Bay local government areas; and we’re working to have them extended to the Central Highlands, Waratah-Wynyard and Circular Head areas. These grants can be used to help with cleaning up, debris removal, disposal of dead livestock and steps to ensure continuing production and viability. These funds are vital to getting our farmers back on their feet. On farms, time is of the essence and these grants will give farmers the confidence to start on urgent works without having to worry about how they will be funded.
These fires were fierce and furious; and occurred early in the summer – well ahead of what has been our traditional fire season. We’ve got some time to go yet before the fire risk is behind us, and everyone needs to be vigilant.
We welcome the Premier’s announcement of an inquiry into the response to this emergency. There’s a lot we have learnt from the response; and many things we all can do better in the future.
The old saying about every cloud having a silver lining has been proven true in recent weeks. Without a doubt the most important thing to come out of this experience is the reminder of how we all work together in times of disaster to support not only family friends and neighbours – but people we have never even met. And we should all be grateful for that community spirit.
