Just a note

I see that Neil has closed off posting for a week as a mark of respect and in response to the Victorian fires. He is limiting his shared item series to bushfire posts. There are some good posts too.

I thought about doing the same. Is it right to to continue normal pre-occupations at a time of national tragedy? There is very little that I can add to discussion of Victorian issues. There have been some remarkable stories of survival, of courage, as well as tragedy and sometimes panic.

I suppose that my view on some of the issues already raised is that we need to wait until a little time has passed and the Victorian Government's Royal Commission has been held. We will learn from this event as we always do. However, we also have to accept that there are limits on the human capacity to prevent tragedy.

An episode like this brings out the best and, sometimes, the worst in the Australian character. It reminds us of how much we depend upon each other. As an Australian, I take considerable pride in the way our volunteer services have responded, in the way that individual Australians such as the Kinglake builder and his neighbours responded.

It is raining lightly as I write. That's good.