Wagga Wagga councillor Vanessa Keenan posted a letter to the deputy
prime minister, her local MP, on Facebook after surviving the NSW
bushfires. It is reproduced here in full, by permission
Dear Michael McCormack MP
Did you have a nice Christmas break? I spent mine on the farm with family. Thankfully, most of them left though. The kids, ranging in age from 15 to just 18 months, were safer elsewhere. You may find it odd but I thought of you a lot but I wanted to let you know.
When I heard from family working in the RFS command centre that the Dunns Road fire was coming straight for us, I thought of you. As I gathered what I could of my mum’s precious belongings, I thought of you.
When I first saw the flames on the neighbour’s property and raced back to let the others know it had arrived, I thought of you. I thought of you again when I rang Triple 0, both times, to tell them there were people here and we had no way out.
When we sheltered in the fire bunker and desperately listened to hear if the fire sprinklers were still running, I thought of you. As we held our hands against the wall to feel the heat, again, you entered my thoughts.
After the first front passed and we went out and took the chance to
refuel the pump that was supplying the fire sprinklers, I once again
thought about you.Did you have a nice Christmas break? I spent mine on the farm with family. Thankfully, most of them left though. The kids, ranging in age from 15 to just 18 months, were safer elsewhere. You may find it odd but I thought of you a lot but I wanted to let you know.
When I heard from family working in the RFS command centre that the Dunns Road fire was coming straight for us, I thought of you. As I gathered what I could of my mum’s precious belongings, I thought of you.
When I first saw the flames on the neighbour’s property and raced back to let the others know it had arrived, I thought of you. I thought of you again when I rang Triple 0, both times, to tell them there were people here and we had no way out.
When we sheltered in the fire bunker and desperately listened to hear if the fire sprinklers were still running, I thought of you. As we held our hands against the wall to feel the heat, again, you entered my thoughts.
As we raced back to the door of the bunker and watched the firestorm approach from a different direction, crowning 150 feet above the trees, I thought about you.
When we emerged after three hours to an incinerated landscape dotted with injured and dead animals, I thought of you.
Now as we scramble to organise emergency fodder and brace for the weekend’s weather, I think of you.
When I keep filling my water bottle to ease my sore throat and lungs, I think of you. When I hugged my family today, who for over 24 hours thought we were lost, I’m thinking of you.
Did you think of us?
Did you think about all the devastated communities that will be impacted by your lack of action or even acknowledgement of climate change?
Will you think of us now? What will it take to get your attention? I have tears in my eyes writing this letter to you. I’m desperate, the whole country is desperate. Now is the time. Please.
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