Australia’s ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd offers to help expats rebuild after LA fires

Australia’s ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd has commiserated with expats caught up in the Los Angeles wildfires and offered to break through bureaucracy to help rebuild their lives.

Australia’s ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd has offered to “blow some gaskets” with Californian authorities to help expats struggling to access support in the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfire disaster.

At least 10 Australians have lost their homes in the devastating fires, leaving them scrambling to find accommodation in a housing market now infected by cruel price gouging.

In a virtual call with affected Australians, the former prime minister commiserated as several shared their personal stories, and he offered consular assistance as well as his personal support to help them navigate the Californian disaster relief system.

“I’m just really sorry for what you’ve gone through – it sounds like total sh**,” Dr Rudd told an Australian who lost her home while pregnant with twins.

Australian couple Vanessa and Devon Quinn, and their two small children, Remi (4) and Gigi (2), lost their home in Pacific Palisades. Picture: GoFundMe

The ambassador said he had been in regular text message contact with Californian Governor Gavin Newsom “with continued offers of Australian support” including firefighting assistance to tackle several blazes that could still take weeks to extinguish.

Asked about the difficulties of finding new accommodation, as landlords and real estate agents ratcheted up prices, Dr Rudd said Australia’s Consulate-General in Los Angeles would find a point of contact with local authorities as they enforced price gouging laws.

California Governor Gavin Newsom surveys damage in Pacific Palisades. Picture: Jeff Gritchen / AP

Kevin Rudd has been in regular text message contact with Californian Governor Gavin Newsom.

Speaking to another woman who feared her belongings had been damaged in an apartment building she had been unable to access, the ambassador acknowledged the difficulties of navigating government systems.

“Nothing drives me nuts more than being sent on the round-robin of press this number and speak to X who will then tell you to speak to Y who will tell you to speak to Z, and then you go through the alphabet from A again and you end up back at X. It’s just horrible,” Dr Rudd said.

He directed consular case officers to assist affected Australians and added: “We’ll see if I can blow some gaskets from the Californian state government if I need to.”

“I just want to make sure you’ve got consistency of support so that when you run into one of those brick walls on the round-robin on the telephone answering system, that we can apply where we can the appropriate gelignite to blast it open,” he said.

Firefighters inspect a burned house from the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood on January 16. Picture: Apu Gomes / Getty

Dr Rudd said the Los Angeles disaster reminded him of Black Saturday in Victoria in 2009, when he was Australia’s prime minister.

“It simply looked horrendous, felt horrendous, and I could see that it was horrendous,” he said.

“The impact on loss of human life, the impact on loss of livelihoods, the impact on the loss of people’s houses, treasured memories, photographs – it’s really rough stuff.”

“My heart goes out to you, as does [his wife] Therese’s, because this has been a kick in the guts for each and everyone one of you.”

Dr Rudd also offered to contact Qantas to seek discounted airfares for Australians wanting to return home from Los Angeles as a result of the wildfires.

Originally published as Australia’s ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd offers to help expats rebuild after LA fires