Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker, 

The interim report of the Senate Inquiry into the devastating Black Summer bushfires was tabled last night.

I am in complete disbelief at the response we have seen so far from those opposite.

The black and white of this report affirms what every member of the Eden-Monaro community knows only too well – that the Morrison Government failed to prepare for the 2019-2020 bushfire season.

The report has made 13 interim recommendations.

Things like actually spending the $200 million that has been set aside for mitigation actions, last year’s funding was still with Treasury when this year’s deposit dropped.

The committee also recommends that the government allocate funding for a dedicated hazard reduction workforce.

That is music to Eden-Monaro’s ears.

Our towns and villages once had people employed to do this work – but the agencies they worked for have slowly been stripped away and centralised.

‘Care of country’ is not only critical to our bushfire resilience but also our economic recovery – the pay packets that come with those jobs are an important part of our local economies.

Unbelievably the Coalition Senators who took part in this review have tabled a dissenting report around the review of disaster recovery payments.

These are the $1000 payments you get when you are left with nothing but the clothes on your back.

Senators Paterson and Scarr instead believe these payments are a disincentive to take out insurance.

How dare they suggest that for the sake of $1000 someone might willingly skip out on protecting their family and property.

Once again, the Coalition has shown its hand – out of touch, cold hearted, and clueless about the real hardship being felt in bushfire impacted communities.