Speech to Rotary Emergency Services Community Awards

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen – I’m grateful and honoured to be your guest as part of the presentation of the Rotary Emergency Services Community Awards.

I also acknowledge that we gather on the lands of the Ngunnawal people and pay my respects to elders past and present.

And I acknowledge a number of distinguished guests:

· Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia – and also Patron of Rotary;

· Commissioner Wayne Phillips;

· Our excellent Chair of proceedings, Dot Hennessy;

· The Honourable Richard Refshauge;

· And of course, I want to acknowledge with gratitude all the emergency service leaders, professionals and volunteers who are here today.

As I’ve said, it’s a privilege for me to be here as part of these significant awards – as the Assistant Minister for Emergency Management.

That’s a role that I’ve held since the May election, when the Prime Minister asked me to take on the responsibility of supporting Minister Kristy McBain, in addition to my existing responsibility supporting Minister Chris Bowen in his role as the Minister for Climate Change and Energy.

It’s not that long ago that such Ministerial roles didn’t exist within a federal government Ministry.

Where my responsibilities overlap – climate change, the energy transition, and emergency management – tells you a lot about the circumstance and challenges that Australia faces in the 21st century.

Of course today, people in Darwin, Tiwi Islands and the Northern Territory more broadly are waking up to deal with consequences of Tropical Cyclone Fina which in the meantime is making its way to the coast of Western Australia. We send our thoughts and best wishes to those communities and especially to all of the emergency service personnel and volunteers. My lead Minister Kristy McBain will be visiting Darwin this morning, and sends her apologies that she can’t be here with you.

One thing that is really clear about those challenges is that we need to build on our existing strengths when it comes to the expertise and extraordinary professionalism of our emergency

service personnel, and on our existing strength when it comes to our civil society and volunteer support organisations.

And today’s awards represent both of those vital elements of Australian life – and I want to thank Rotary for the work it does in supporting volunteer efforts in disaster response, and I want thank Rotary for making sure that we recognise and celebrate outstanding emergency service professionals.

There can be a tendency across many areas of life to think of our response capacity in terms of infrastructure and equipment – in terms of buildings and vehicles and gear, and those things are all very important … but, without question, the most important capacity in responding to natural disasters and other emergencies is our human capital; our people and their skills, and their spirit, and their commitment to caring for their fellow Australians in the toughest circumstances.

We see that very clearly – and it’s a focus of our work, in partnership with state and territory governments, and with civil society, as we seek to protect our existing strengths, and to improve our adaptation and resilience across the board at a time when we know that climate change is causing events that are not only more frequent and more intense, but can also occur on a convergent, cascading, and compounding basis.

But let me finish by also offering the government’s sincere thanks to the finalists and award recipients.

The Rotary motto is ‘service above self’ – and I like to think that in Australia, the strong inclination to make a contribution through community service is a feature of our national character, and an expression of our best selves. Sometimes when there’s a crisis, there can be a tendency to say that our values will come under challenge. I don’t think that’s quite right, because in my experience, whenever there’s a crisis, Australians live up to our values; we act instinctively on our sense of connection to one another and to our environment; and we run to support one another in the face of danger and in the face of risks to our shared wellbeing.

The finalists today exemplify that amazing and precious aspect of our culture – and what’s remarkable, is that in addition to the core professional service contribution of the six people recognised today as finalists, they also make a range of other varied contributions that include:

· community bus driving

· surf life saving

· environmental conservation and restoration work

· being a blood donor

· working as a local government representative

· and helping to coordinate a folk festival

That’s pretty impressive.

So again, congratulations to all the finalists; thanks to Rotary for making sure we rightly celebrate the enormous difference that each of you have made and will continue to make; and thanks for having me as your guest this morning.