TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Regional Development) (12:25): I rise today, like Minister Symes, to thank our firefighters in the Grampians region who saved countless homes over the last fortnight with fortunately no loss of life. I acknowledge in particular the CFA brigades that I met on the weekend in Dereel, Beaufort and Raglan for their bravery and for contributing local knowledge and expertise to the bushfire response. Can I also give a shout-out to the Forest Fire Management Victoria teams that I saw everywhere I went on the weekend. Thank you. The common threads of my recent visits to the fire and storm impacted towns have been communities across the region rallying to support each other, optimism despite the difficulty and practical ideas to support recovery.
I acknowledge our smaller councils for their crucial role in response and recovery and Pyrenees Shire Council mayor Robert Vance, CEO Jim Nolan and Cr David Clark, who I was able to spend quality time with – fine examples of the local government leadership we are seeing right across our region during this very, very challenging period. Many of these rural councils are visiting Parliament today, and I look forward to further discussion with them later on this afternoon.
The hardworking staff of Regional Development Victoria are continuing to work every day and night hand in glove with local councils towards recovery. A testament to these joint efforts is the new $200,000 investment by regional development in the Pomonal community hub as a central point for recovery and planning. This will help locals distribute the community newsletter, shovels and wheelbarrows as part of the clean-up. Practical, community-driven solutions are very important in regional development right across regional Victoria, and I am pleased to see that this approach is absolutely taking action.