The Rev Fred Nile, Leader of the Christian Democratic Party, has asked the NSW Parliament to remember those who have suffered in the recent Victorian Bushfires and continue to pray for their surviving relatives. Rev Nile paid particular tribute to the Liesfield family in the Legislative Council last night.

“I want to speak on the Victorian bushfire disaster and give a human face to the suffering of one particular family that is actually holding a memorial service this afternoon in the Syndal Baptist Church in Melbourne. I refer to the Liesfield family. In that disaster the wife, Elizabeth, and two sons, James aged 14 and Matthew aged 12, died in the Marysville blaze on Saturday 7 February 2009. By a miracle the husband, Rod Liesfield, survived even though he was burnt in the blaze”, said Rev Fred Nile.

“To give a human face to this disaster I refer to the reaction of Elizabeth Liesfield's mother when she learnt what had happened to her daughter. She lives in Little Hill, Wigston, in the United Kingdom. She said: ‘I stood there dumbstruck, I just couldn't take it in.’ Mrs Partridge is aged 67. ‘You look at these things on the news and think 'the poor people'—you never dream it could happen to you. The fire shattered everything, it is all flattened. You can't comprehend the devastation it has caused. We are all so shocked.’

The Liesfield family had moved to their new home, a bed and breakfast they had bought in Marysville, only two weeks before the fire. Elizabeth Liesfield's mother spoke to her daughter a few days before the fire. She said, "She was always fun to be with. We had some wonderful happy times together—that is what I will remember. She was a very happy girl and very clever, too." Elizabeth Liesfield's maiden name was Dewbery. She was 44. She grew up in Wigston, where she attended Waterleys Primary School and Guthlaxton College. She worked at county hall before deciding 20 years ago to spend a year in Australia studying at a Bible college. It was there she met her Australian truck driver husband, Rod Liesfield. They married in Leicester in 1991 and went to live in Australia the following year. Before giving up work to look after her children Elizabeth worked as a religious education teacher at a school in Marysville and had given Bible classes to older people at her local church. Her bereaved family, which includes her sisters Wendy and Helen, plans to hold a remembrance service in the United Kingdom at the Knighton Evangelical Church where Elizabeth was married.

As we know, Marysville, which is about 50 miles north of Melbourne, was devastated by the spread of the bushfires across Victoria. Another member of the family is Elizabeth Liesfield's sister, Helen Finch, who lives in the United Kingdom. She received a message by phone to contact the helpline. Mrs Finch had her call transferred a number of times until it was answered by Mr Liesfield, who was lying in an Australian hospital bed. "We got this urgent message to ring a number in Australia," she said. "I thought it was some kids playing around but we rang the number and were put through to the hospital. The first thing Rod says to me is, 'Elizabeth, James and Matthew are gone'. I said, 'What do you mean gone?' He said, 'Gone in the fire'. It is my sister, but he's lost his wife, his children, his house—you can't imagine what they're going through. What must he be feeling just to lie there? Why did he get saved and the others allowed to go?" The house had been hit by a fireball that completely destroyed it.

This is the human side of the disaster in Marysville, Victoria, a small town that is at the centre of the devastating wildfires. All but one building was gutted in the blaze”, Rev Nile stated.
 

For Media Interviews contact: Rev Fred Nile (02) 9230 2478 or 0418 619 731
Research Assistant: David Copeland (02) 9230 2978

 Christian Democratic Party, GPO Box 141, Sydney NSW 2001.
Email: admin@cdp.org.au Web: www.cdp.org.au  Tel: 1300 667 975