By Laura Chung
The Kam family lost their house and all their belongings in the NSW bushfires that tore through the Southern Highlands in the days before Christmas two years ago. Since then, they’ve been fighting to rebuild their home, which was once surrounded by pristine bushland, possums and lyrebirds.
Justin and Helena Kam, and their son Gabriel, had been living in a tent, which got rained out in the floods earlier this year, before upgrading to a caravan. But over the weekend, they finally got the approval to rebuild. While many others in the small Balmoral town have moved, the Kams want to stay and start again.
Gabriel stands with his parents Helena and Justin in the days after their Balmoral home was destroyed by the Green Wattle Creek fire in December 2019.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Mrs Kam said while the fires were difficult, it was the trauma in the following years that was more difficult to deal with.
“There are daily reminders of everything that has happened. You can’t help it. When you are walking down the land or dig on the land you see reminders of what you had before,” she said. “It’s three steps forward, two steps back. I keep looking over my shoulder thinking that something will happen and [rebuilding] will be stopped.”
Mrs Kam is one of thousands of people still recovering from the 2019-20 blazes, which torched 10 million hectares, claimed 33 lives nationwide and destroyed more than 3000 homes. Thursday will mark one year since the National Natural Disaster Arrangements Royal Commission handed down its 80 recommendations.
The final report noted Australia needed to prepare for catastrophic natural disasters by creating stronger peak agencies, better warning systems and faster military deployments. It called for new laws to allow the federal government to declare a national emergency.
In its response, the government said it would adopt some recommendations, including a national recovery agency which was announced earlier this year.
Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience Bridget McKenzie said the 2019-20 bushfire season was one of the most devastating disasters the country had seen.
“Nothing will ever replace the damage the Black Summer bushfires had on our nation but we are committed to doing whatever is necessary to rebuild our communities,” she said in a statement.
Ms McKenzie said the Coalition government had been committed to ensuring “that our national natural disaster arrangements are as effective as possible”.
“The Commonwealth has delivered important reforms to its emergency management architecture and is working with states and territory governments to ensure that Australians see tangible improvements to crisis response and recovery activities,” she said.
As part of the government’s response, it has announced a $2 million national education campaign to provide public awareness and understanding of nationally consistent emergency warnings, and a $20 million fire danger rating system. Funding has also been made available for a national large air tanker.
The statement noted the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet would continue tracking the recommendations, while Ms McKenzie’s office would publish public updates periodically.
Former Fire and Rescue NSW commissioner and founder of Emergency Leaders for Climate Action Greg Mullins said far more needed to be done.
“Those of us that hold hoses and are in the direct firing line of climate change impacts are still waiting for the government to show that it is taking the royal commission’s report seriously,” he said.
“There will be more black summers coming at us. The government needs to get on with the job of protecting Australians.”
RFS assessors at a burnt-out home at Balmoral in 2019.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Climate Council chief executive officer Amanda McKenzie added that more could be done to better protect Australians.
“Emissions must plummet this decade to tackle the root cause of extreme fires, climate change. The royal commission showed that climate change is fuelling longer, hotter and more dangerous bushfire seasons and other extreme weather events,” she said.