Bushfires: Scott Morrison hails resilience, courage and sacrifice

Scott Morrison has praised the resilience, courage and sacrifice of those caught up in the bushfire crisis.

Scott Morrison speaks during the bushfires condolences motion in the House of Representatives. Picture: AAP.

Scott Morrison has praised the ­resilience, courage and sacrifice of those caught up in the bushfire crisis, which he labelled the “black summer”.

After moving a motion of condolence in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, the Prime Minister vowed to deliver a royal commission into the disaster and revealed he had asked state and territory leaders for their input in formulating draft terms of reference.

The first day of the parliament­ary sitting fortnight of the year was suspended out of respect for the 33 people who lost their lives to fires that have raged across the nation since September, and to praise those who helped keep their communities safe.

“This year we have faced and are still facing a terrible season of fires that reached our highest mountain range and our longest beaches,” Mr Morrison said, looking up at the public gallery where members of the victims’ families watched on.

“These fires are yet to end and the danger is still before us, but today we come together to mourn, honour, reflect and begin to learn from the black summer that continues, and to give thanks for the selflessness, the courage, and the sacrifice and generosity that met these fires time and again, and continue to.”

He expressed his condolences to family members left ­behind, including Charlotte O’Dwyer, 2, who tugged at the heartstrings of the nation when she was pictured at her firefighter father’s funeral wearing his helmet.

Her father, Andrew O’Dwyer, 36, was killed alongside colleague Geoffrey Keaton, 32, at the Green Wattle Creek fire near Buxton, southwest of Sydney.

Mr Morrison said all nine of the firefighters who lost their lives would be posthumously awarded the National Emergency Medal.

The chamber erupted in a solemn­ cheer when Mr Morrison praised the work of NSW Rural Fire Service chief Shane Fitzsimmons, who also sat in the gallery.

The Prime Minister courted con­troversy last month when Mr Fitzsimmons spoke out after being blindsided by the government’s announcement that it was committing 3000 army reservists to help fight blazes across the nation­.

Mr Morrison also paid tribute to the tens of thousands of volunteers, as well as the “25 million acts of kindness” from their fellow Australians, who had “cheered them on”.

Anthony Albanese also ­offered his condolences, saying parliament would provide any ­assistance necessary to those who had lost loved ones and those who were still suffering.

He said the nation had reached a “turning point” when it came to environmental management and bushfires could no longer be ­considered “business as usual”.

“This is not even fire as usual. We can no longer fall back on the poetry of Dorothea Mackellar and comfort ourselves with the thought that it’s always been like this,” the Opposition Leader said. “Nor can we soften reality with the fiction that we had no way of predicting this. We have no choice but to turn to face the harsh new reality.”

Mr Morrison said while clim­ate change’s impact on the ­nation’s landscape required a new “responsiveness, resilience and reinvigorated focus on adapt­ation”, he called on Australians to not feel overwhelmed.

“Australia is not and will not be overwhelmed as we face the ­challenges that remain active,” he said. “We will overcome.”