Carol Hopkins from MADRA confirmed as keynote speaker at February Resilient Villages Conference

Few people in Australia or around the world will ever forget the nightmarish images that were beamed from the coastal holiday town of Mallacoota on New Years Eve during the Black Summer bushfires of 2019/20.

Carol Hopkins, long-time Mallacoota resident and current Chairperson of MADRA (Mallacoota and Districts Recovery Association), the town's recovery association describes it as “Armageddon.” As the fires tore through the region, the town and thousands of summer holiday tourists were forced to seek shelter on the beaches, in boats or wherever they could. The fire closed the only road out of the town which remained closed for 39 days. Helicopters and ships carried in food, water, fuel medical supplies and other necessities while it evacuated as many people as possible.

In the remote community of only 1,000 permanent residents, 123 homes were lost. 78 of those homes were lived in by Mallacoota's permanent residents.

The fires continued to burn around the town for months afterwards, retraumatising people frequently.

Then COVID came and forced people into isolation in their homes (if they still had one). Now nearly three years on, less than 20 of the lost homes have been rebuilt.

As Carol states; “the journey has been long and difficult - but it has also seen the town advocating very successfully for their recovery needs and shared priorities”.

Carol will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming Resilient Villages Conference which will be held at the Fairmont Resort in Leura on the weekend of February 11 and 12, 2023. Carol will talk about how community led recovery - and all its trials and tribulations have become an intrinsic part of Mallacoota’s story as the town negotiates its third year after the fires.

Click here for more information and to register for the Resilient Villages Conference on either February 11 or February 12, 2023.