Teralba Fire and Rescue NSW

Mr GREG PIPER (Lake Macquarie)—The 2019 bushfire season was the worst New South Wales has recorded with 26 lives lost, 2,448 homes destroyed, and 5.5 million hectares of land burnt. I would like to acknowledge the crucial role fire fighters from Fire and Rescue 458 Teralba played during that time. The efforts of Captain Nathan Goodbun, Deputy Captain Justin Avery along with fire fighters Warwick Moon, Dale Walsham, Troy Hobbs, Matthew Liebregts, Peter Sullivan, Daniel Miller, Nicholas O'Brien, Dale Lanesbury, Matthew Randall, Barbara Power and Luke Leedham were all recently acknowledged when they received National Emergency Medals for their service to others. During the 2019 – 2020 bushfire season these crew members were involved in local firefighting efforts and were deployed on numerous strike teams around the Mid North Coast including Forster, Port Macquarie and Old Bar where they assisted in fighting bushfires and property protection. Some crew members were deployed in a multi-agency strike team to the Putty region where they assisted the Rural Fire Service, National Parks & Wildlife and Forestry Corporation fighting bushfires in the area. I thank them for their efforts to keep us safe, not only during that horrific bushfire season but every day.