Saturday, 10 January 2026

Topics: Bushfires in Victoria

E&OE

Jaynie Seal: Joining me now is the Shadow Industrial Relations and Employment Minister Tim Wilson in Rosebud, Victoria. Tim, thank you very much for joining us. As we've just heard, a high fire danger and a total fire ban for the whole state in Victoria. Tell us how it is where you are.

Tim Wilson MP: Well, obviously it's very windy here, but really it's quite safe where I am. What matters is, of course, the communities affected and our hearts go out to all of those who are impacted. Of course to the volunteers who are doing an amazing job, our emergency services volunteers, but also to the employers of those emergency services volunteers, who are supporting them through this time and the small businesses that are also supporting those families who are directly affected. These are the times that bring people together, that build community and trust, and it's when we need to support each other in these difficult times to show the resilience that Australians need.

Jaynie Seal: Absolutely. And Tim they also mentioned thousands of homes and businesses without power, including around 1,000 who are dependent on power. So that's a real struggle for those people as well.

Tim Wilson MP: Absolutely and of course this is people's livelihoods, their security and so this is why the role of government is to come together and to support people in these difficult times and for communities to bond and the one bit of advice is my family's had experiences with bushfires in the past and lost homes is please follow the advice of the emergency services personnel. If you don't know what to do, go to emergency.vic.gov.au because you can replace property, you cannot replace the life of yourself or your family.

Jaynie Seal: It is a time, isn't it, when politics are, you know, just not really looked at. And as you said, you're building on that community and trust, which is so important in this volatile situation. They also made mention that, you know, they're already looking at the next spike in fire days, which is only a matter of days and weeks ahead.

Tim Wilson MP: Yes, and so we've got to all be alert and understand that if we have or in an affected area to have an emergency management plan to be prepared and to be aware of the steps necessary and to look at your evacuation options, but more importantly, that if other people need assistance or support to be there because it's not just about those people directly impacted, there are of course voluntary efforts where people can donate or provide assistance or support. To boost the communities that are impacted and those will be ongoing as well.

Jaynie Seal: Again, they mentioned property, stock, significant agriculture loss. We're in the crisis phase. But that is something that we are going to be mindful of, aren't we as we move ahead from economic point of view, from an emotional point of view, there's so much to contend with but again, right now, the crisis and so many livestock and as, you know, the Premier said, so much produce as well.

Tim Wilson MP: Yeah I remember after the 2020 bushfires and we had a period where Victorians, putting aside the COVID issues, Victorians went to a huge amount of effort to support those communities after the fires to help them rebuild by going and staying at the Airbnb, by going to the local town and of course, visiting the pub because there's a massive rebuild effort after these events. Hopefully the scale of it is massively contained and we can focus that effort to back in those communities and those small businesses that need that support. But you never know how large the support effort can be. But it comes down to ordinary citizens backing each other as the pathway forward to rebuild what has been destroyed.

Jaynie Seal: Tim Wilson, really appreciate you joining us. Stay safe and thank you very much.

ENDS