AFTER THE FIRES

We have all been moved by the recent devastating bushfires and weather events that have destroyed homes, forests, farms, townships and infrastructure, and taken the lives of people and animals across Australia.

We have been especially moved by the extraordinary efforts of our firefighters and emergency services personnel to keep us safe and protect property, as well as the efforts of volunteers and the defence force to provide victims and firefighters with sustenance and sanctuary in the face of these threats.

The scale of this disaster is immense — more than eight million hectares, an area bigger than Texas, has been burnt. These are destinations where Australians holiday and adventure, particularly over the summer period. And of course, these regions are home to some of us too. For many of these areas, tourism is the backbone of their economy and the very things that attract us to holiday in these places may have been severely impacted by the bushfires.

The economic impact of the fires, coming as they did at