andrew forrest donates 1000 homes

Magnate donates homes to fire town. Julie-Anne Davies | February 28, 2009

Article from: The Australian

MINING magnate Andrew Forrest has donated up to 1000 mobile homes to help establish the temporary town planned for Marysville.

Only a handful of houses have been left standing after the Victorian bushfires virtually wiped the small township off the map on February 7.

The first 40 "dongers" - normally used to accommodate workers in Mr Forrest's mining operations in Western Australia - arrive in Victoria today after being fast-tracked across the Nullarbor Plain by train.

The Fortescue Metals founder was spurred into action after visiting Victoria's fire-ravaged region twice since Black Saturday. After visiting Marysville a week ago and meeting the small group of locals still living inside the restricted zone of the town, he pledged to help the rebuilding effort.

Bruce Ackerman, a Marysville plumber who saved his own home and is a member of the group, said: "I had one of Australia's richest men help carry the groceries into our kitchen a week ago and then sit down and have a coffee and actually listen to what it is we need to get the place back up on its feet.

"Andrew said, 'you guys are the heroes and we're here to help you rebuild Marysville', and that's what is happening."

The substantial assistance Mr Forrest is giving bushfire-affected communities is being done outside the normal bureaucratic and government channels.

Mal James, the head of The Australian Children's Trust, the private $100 million philanthropic fund run by Mr Forrest and his wife Nicola, said: "We find that if we cut through the red tape and instead use our own corporate contacts we can get practical things done quickly to help get these communities up and running again."

A phone hotline has been set up for people whose business has been affected by the fires in an effort to get help to them immediately.

"We've already arranged for a number of tradesmen who've lost their tools and maybe their vehicle to get new ones so they can get back to work," Mr James said.

"The message Andrew has given these communities is that they have every right to live in their rural areas but they have to rebuild their towns smarter. This could mean placing power lines underground. That's logical and hopefully the Royal Commission and the Government will look at that seriously."

Mr Forrest has also donated two industrial laundries to Kinglake and Flowerdale.

Firefighters, meanwhile, acted quickly to control blazes in the state's southwest and south of Melbourne yesterday.