News

It has been an enormous tragedy. The statistics keep changing every day. There were still 15 fires burning but none of them are threatening towns or homes at the moment. Last Saturday the 7 February, Melbourne's temperatures rose to an all time record 46.4 degrees centigrade accompanied by unusually strong northernly winds. In these circumstances, a number of fires broke out, north and east of Melbourne, and have caused enormous damage to communities living in or near bush land affected by the fire. Approximately 2,000 homes have been burned down and consequently there are many thousand people who are displaced and have nothing. There are also 181 people dead and that number is expected to rise, as police inspect remote areas. There are also many people hospitalised with severe burns who will need ongoing treatment. The Australian Prime Minister has said a national day of mourning will be observed in the near future, but at the moment the tragedy continues as several bush fires are still out of control and are still threatening small townships located in bush country. The Australian community has rallied around the victims of the bush fire in a most extraordinary way and they are showing extraordinary generosity both financially and in other ways in assisting the victims of the fires. By the next day after the fires started (there were about 400 fires raging on one day.) the service organisations were inundated with clothes and food, bedding, tents etc. It has all been very distressing but we are very proud of the generous response of the Australian people. Many corporates have also been very helpful in practical ways as well as donating money. The government at the State and Federal level seems to be mobilising sensibly. Besides also donating a lot of money, every family is being assigned a case worker to ensure that they have all that they need, and they will stay with them until the homes are rebuilt, or the family is resettled somewhere else, as they wish. Inevitably it is expect that a small number of union members will have been affected. The Australian Council of Trade Unions has announced that the Union Movement is contributing $250,000 to the Australian Red Cross to assist the victims of the fire. Individual unions are making their donations in support of this total, and the SDA, an UNI affiliate in Australia will be participating in this as part of our response. UNI Apro affiliates will also extend their solidarity support. As Joe De Bruyn, President of SDA said “Bush fires are an inevitable part of the Australian life, but this has been by far the worst disaster in recorded history in this country.” No doubt problems will arise, but at the moment there is a very united determination to address any issues which arise in an organised way and with a positive spirit. There is still a long way to go, and many lessons to be learnt, but it has been a good start.