Bushfire heroes to march in parade

Bushfire heroes to march in parade

A tribute group to Victoria’s bushfire heroes and victims will march in this year’s Mardi Gras parade wearing black clothing and yellow ribbons.

Felicity Brinschwitz, a volunteer coordinator at the refugee centre in Healesville, has arranged for volunteers and those devastated by the bushfire tragedy to still have an opportunity to participate under the banner -˜Australia Unites’.

We want to have a presence to remind people that even though we’re having an amazing time at Mardi Gras, this relief effort is going to go on for a lot longer and the number of deaths will increase, not just from the bushfires but unfortunately from suicide, she said.

The group will welcome people from around the country, and will have no participation fee.
Anyone who wants to show their support with us, they can. We’ll supply the yellow ribbons on the day, Brinschwitz said.

It’s not going to be a razzle dazzle float with music and lighting. It’s simply a group of people who want to march together and make a silent statement.

It’s not going to be downbeat, it will be a happy affair, but just to let people know that it is still going on.

The multi-award-winning Vic Presence float, which included Brinschwitz and a number of those volunteers, was cancelled at the weekend due to the economic downturn and low turn-out. Unfortunately none of those funds, including a Mardi Gras grant, could be used for -˜Australia Unites’.

[Mardi Gras audiences] will know how deeply the bushfires have affected us, especially those who have been up there assisting firsthand, with the victims who’ve lost friends, loved ones, houses, everything but the clothes on their back, Brinschwitz said.

You ask them what they need, and they say, -˜I need anything, because I have nothing’. It’s such a gut-wrenching feeling. But it’s been amazing helping them. We want to try to show everyone that during those horrible times it’s still important to celebrate the amazing things in life and to keep going.

info: Anyone wanting to take part can call Felicity on (03) 9847 0349.

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25 responses to “Bushfire heroes to march in parade”

  1. I can’t remember the exact percentage but apparently a shockingly high number of bushfires are deliberately lit. So there’s no point in blaming “greenies” as some people do because arsonists will find a a way of starting a bushfire no matter what – and ideal conditions are of course in Summer which is out of human control. Bushfires also tend to be spread from tree to tree meaning that back-burning has limited value – unless you want to back-burn entire national parks.

  2. Hmmmm. Some nutbag decides to light a fire in the middle of summer so he can get his rocks off watching things burn, hundreds of people die and thousands of homes are destroyed, and it’s “all part of the natural cycle”. oh Oliver, have you even ever left the North Shore?

  3. Oliver, do you work for acon? A high intensity fire will bake the soil, remove any ash debris (fertiliser) and will almost certainly ensure that none of the released seeds stand a chance – hence further reducing biodiversity. Water catchment is reduced, since the rains won’t come and existing dams are polluted. Many species of wildlife face endangerment and exinction and some species of native trees will take generations to recover. Sheesh.

  4. Josh, after a Bushfire, the trees re grow. Its natures cycle, not something lefties should stress about.

  5. I think you might have made a little typo with your “$10million raised by charity,” josh. The Red Cross Appeal is up to $140 mill., and the insurance payouts will probably be about the same. (If it was me, I’d probably remember I owned several mink coats, the receipts for which were burned in the fires.) :) Then there’s the government payouts, the class action law suit…

    Dono, indeed, Mr. Rudd’s hyperbolic, “We have stood at the Gates of Hell, we have walked in the Shadow of the Valley of Death,” speeches are a poor substitute for addressing the causes of extreme bushfire conditions. I read Penny Wong talking up the Oz govt’s pathetic carbon emission targets this morning and wondered again why some of us jump up and down because a gay man or lesbian attains a political position (even ‘head of state’ of Iceland).

  6. I have donated money, and while I may support the idea in concept, I am confused as to the connection between a tribute group for bushfire victims and MG – what exactly does this have to do with gay and lesbian rights/issues? Hasn’t this issue already reached saturation point thanks to over an over-zealous media?

    Then again, a lot of floats that have nothing to do with gay and lesbian rights/issues anymore, but that seems to be the politically and intellectually diluted direction MG has taken over the years. Like we need another group of pink short wearing dancers flapping around to a Kylie megamix. Is it 2009 or 1989?

  7. Thank you to Shayne Chester for his contributions to these comments. Those of us who are a bit older and who have lived in the bush for most of our lives, know too well climate change is real by the simple observation of every day bush life. For me the people who are still in denial are just too lazy or selfish to think beyond the superficiality of modern consumer life. As far the animal suffering goes, we all need to think about that one. I only hope these last few weeks of flooding in the north and fires to the south will be a big wake up call to us all. But then pigs can fly can’t they ?

  8. Oliver, the people are being well taken care of – over $10million raised by charity, not to mention insurance claims and government intervetion.

    So now it’s time to focus on all the other problems that have happened because of the fires. If animals and other organisms don’t survive in sufficient numbers, it can put whole ecosystems at risk of collapsing. And if that isn’t enough warning for you, then you should know that ecosystems collapsing will affect farmers, which will affect prices, which will affect you (Just because some people can only think of “how will this affect me”).

  9. Couldn’t agree more Kathy and the point I was making is that with their mega million dollar relief, I think the human survivors will be ok. But billions of animals were decimated, domestic, wild and livestock – some species like the flying fox colonies have become endangered – and that is where we should be throwing our dollars now. And maybe addressing climate change mightn’t be a bad idea for the sake of the future, too.

    Btw., doug, the Chill Out Test site doesn’t mention animal rescue, and you’ve made a typo on the url anyway.

  10. This article yesterday by Ross Gittins puts the issue in perspective:

    http://business.smh.com.au/business/the-punters-love-a-good-disaster-20090217-8a98.html

    My charity dollar goes to the so-called undeserving who, by media standards, includes gays, people with AIDS, the homeless and (unphotogenic) people with disabilities. I suggest that others do likewise because, as Shayne Chester pointed out, bushfire victims (like other victims of public disasters) will be given a fair chunk of resources.

  11. If you want to help wildlife in Victoria impacted by the bushfires, ChillOut this year is supporting the Buddies for Wildlife initiative, which among other things is raising funds for the Daylesford & Hepburn Wildlife Shelter, which is facing unprecedented demand due to several nearby wlidlife shelters being destroyed in the bushfires. Details on http://www.chilloutfesitval.com.

  12. It’s certainly true that over the past million years, there have been natural climate changes due to periodic variations in the Earth’s orbit that affected the amount of sunlight reaching the surface Oliver. However, sophisticated computer-based climate models confirm that global warming during the past 50 years are unprecedented and mainly caused by human activities that have increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, etc. Climate change science is confirmed by every relevant academic and institution in the world and it is for that reason that every developed country, except the US, has ratified the Kyoto protocol. But I’m sure you know better. :) By the way, the last Ice Age was about 20,000 years ago, ‘cavemen’ did not walk this planet more that 12,000 years ago.

  13. Shayne, over the last million years the earths weather has gone through extremes. Extreme heat. Extreme cold. We are going through yet another cycle. Our cavemen ancestors never whinged about it!!!

  14. Glad to see them marching in the Parade. It makes a change from seeing Dykes on Bikes and Asian Marching Boys for the last how many years??

  15. Wow Shayne – I am surprised you didn’t blame ACON for the bushfires … could things be changing?
    Somehow I doubt it … but there is always hope

  16. Well, maybe a charity overload is great for the national psyche, but it doesn’t seem to address the cause of the years’ long drought and extreme 40+C temperatures that created the recent firestorms in Victoria. Climate experts from around the world (and Australia) gathered in Melbourne last week for a conference. The consensus was that extreme weather will become more commonplace. There is no longer any question of the changes being a matter of ‘natural variability.’ Such bushfire conditions will comprise a third of summer days, not to mention unprecedented flash floods, etc and of course the loss of natural wonders like the Great Barrier Reef and Kakadu, the decimation of our agriculture and fishing industries, etc. etc. We can blame all that on an arsonist or a greenie. Or, we could set some realistic carbon emmission targets.

  17. SSO is aware of several bushfire victims from the GLBT community and are checking with their families.

  18. Shayne, it’s not the money…it’s recognising the worst peacetime disaster in Australia’s history. And while the SSO has not yet covered specific instances of gay and lesbian people impacted, we are everywhere.

  19. Well, I’m a bit confused. The bushfire victims will be getting $80+ million from public charity, $100 mill from insurance, $30 mill from the Fed govt plus Centrelink payouts and a couple of hundred mill. from the class action against the power company who’s felled line started some of the fires… and there’s only 7.5 thou of them. I assume they have savings in the bank, too.

    Anyway, I gave my money to the bushfire animal victims:
    http://www.thevetpractice.com.au/Community/Noticeboard/tabid/13823/Default.aspx

  20. To Felicity and all those involved – thank you. I told my mum and she was very happy that “my” community wants to show that during this time of Mardi Gras fun that we can showthat we care about all Australians and not just our own community.

    Thank you again

    mark