Top left: Blackwoods’ Sam Pitarresi (left) and Juggie Singh in front of the remains of the Kinglake hardware store, one of the hardest hit areas of the Victorian bushfires. With the support of the store owners, Blackwoods set up an onsite container full of necessary hardware at no cost to provide immediate assistance with the rebuilding process.

Top right: Kleenheat Gas employee assessing household cylinder safety after the bushfires.

Bottom left: Team Members at Bunnings Warehouse Scoresby raising money for the Bushfire Appeal.

Bottom right: Jerome Duncan, Store Manager at Coles Healesville at the time of the fires and the face of our fundraising activities for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal.

 

While nothing can diminish the enormity of this tragedy, we recognise here the contribution of Wesfarmers and many of its employees to the relief effort. That support came from across the company and was provided in many different forms, but with the common aim of helping those in great need.

From a Group perspective, Wesfarmers contributed more than $12.5 million in direct cash and product support. This included significant donations from our businesses, but also customer donations and donations raised through the efforts of team members who organised a variety of fundraising events. It would not have been achieved without the energy and dedication of employees and the generosity of customers.

The largest cash donation (more than $4.8 million) was from Coles which had many team members and customers personally affected by the bushfires. This included donating all of its profit from one trading day – Friday, 13 February – to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal. Coles customers also provided wonderful support, with more than $4.7 million collected at checkouts. Employees from the business also contributed, raising money in their workplaces through a variety of activities, functions and payroll giving.

Bunnings also responded immediately. The next day and for the week following the fires, Victorian stores held daily fundraising sausage sizzles. Australian stores also facilitated public donations by providing official collection points for cash donations to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal. On Saturday, 14 February all stores across Australia and New Zealand worked together to hold sausage sizzles. Funds raised through these initial efforts totalled more than $1.3 million. This is in addition to more than $720,000 contributed by Bunnings and key suppliers through cash, product donations, other activities and team member time spent assisting the impacted communities and emergency services. Bunnings is now focusing on the ongoing work required to assist in the rebuilding phase of affected areas.

Office Supplies response was to provide ‘back to school’ packs for children relocated to a nearby school after their primary school was destroyed. Fundraising events were held by Officeworks and Harris Technology team members and these, along with generous contributions from their suppliers, raised funds and donated product totalling more than $65,000.

Kmart also responded immediately with a cash donation. In addition, in the initial aftermath of the event more than 490 families were given $245,000 worth of Kmart gift cards to purchase essential goods. Customers once again demonstrated their huge capacity for generosity, raising more than $438,284 through the Kmart Bushfire Wish Appeal in all Kmart and Kmart Tyre and Auto outlets. Kmart team members also contributed by donating social club funds and hosting fundraising events to assist affected families.

Employees were also instrumental in raising funds right across the Group. As well as a $135,000 cash donation from Target, team members gave more than $62,000 to the Appeal through fundraising activities. In total, with support from suppliers and team members, Target’s Bushfire Appeal contributions totalled $253,679. Employees in our Industrial and Safety businesses held morning teas, barbeques and silent auctions. In many businesses, collections were arranged or raffles and other competitions were held to raise funds. It was an impressive effort, with an estimated $181,000 contributed directly as a result of fundraising activities by our employees.

Support was provided not only through cash donations but by way of significant in-kind contributions which were organised and facilitated by team members at all levels.

Many team members were volunteers in community groups on the ground, such as the Country Fire Authority (CFA), the State Emergency Service (SES), the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

Donations of food, equipment, clothing and supplies were provided by our businesses to emergency teams and to those people affected by the tragedy.

A range of essential goods, including work boots, torches, tarpaulins, rakes, brooms, barbeques and generators were donated by Bunnings directly to relief centres and various CFA and SES command posts.

Coles gave bread, fruit and vegetables, water, toiletries and emergency supplies. Team members from the business cooked a barbeque lunch for 100 fire fighters at Healesville.

Kleenheat Gas was a key energy provider in the affected areas and had team members at the frontline of the response. It also supplied, in consultation with authorities, emergency gas supplies for relief activity and evacuation centres. Qualified Kleenheat employees were involved in the thorough investigation and retrieval of volatile gas cylinders on properties affected by the fire. Crucially, this task was completed before property owners returned or demolition started on any of the houses.

Team members from our insurance businesses – WFI and Lumley Insurance – immediately activated disaster response plans, including reallocating employees to relief centres to assist with claims and enquiries regardless of the insurer involved. The teams boosted their claims-processing capacity, organised and promoted claims hotline numbers and actively contacted clients where appropriate. Emergency cash payments were made directly where needed and other measures, such as expedited cash settlements, were also put in place. OAMPS Insurance brokers also worked closely with their affected clients to help them with the claims process. In all, more than $86 million in claims are likely to be paid out to bushfire victims.

The diversity of our businesses in communities across Australia and New Zealand – depending on how involved they were – facilitated the large public outpouring of support. As the examples above illustrate, the generosity from our customers and employees was widespread and significant. That generosity, coupled with cash and equipment donations from many of our businesses, meant we were able to deliver a united response that provided assistance to those who needed it most.