Tara residents still rebuilding homes as delays slow bushfire recovery
Bernie lives with her dog Simba at a Tara property. (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)
Bernie Millar is used to waiting.
She waited, submerged in her dam with her dog, as a bushfire ripped through her Tara property in February 2023.
It killed many of her beloved goats, all her chickens and completely destroyed her home and belongings.
She has since waited for disaster assistance assessments, soil reports, visits from tradies, and on hold with government departments for longer than she can remember.
The only thing that won't wait is her animals.
In the months after the fire her dog had puppies, she has taken in the neighbours' chickens, and she has rebuilt her herd of goats.
"I never say no," she said.
And somewhere along the way a family of turkeys moved in.
"The animals are where I find my joy," she said.
Three hours from Brisbane, and half an hour from Tara in Queensland's Western Downs, Bernie's property may be in the middle of nowhere but it's never quiet.
"You could easily become very, very depressed," she said, looking at reminders of the fire that lingered nearby.
"The animals don't care, they just get up and keep going, and I think we've got a lot to learn from them.
"You just keep looking at the bright side of things."
Build back better
Bernie has always been determined to rebuild.
But not wanting to "leave my animals" she remained on her property despite temporary accommodation being made available in Tara for bushfire victims.
She lived in a tent and then a borrowed caravan, but when that got too hot during the summer months she improvised.
"Right now my living arrangement is behind some temporary fencing with a bit of heavy duty shade cloth over the top," she said.
"The other night I had to move into the car for the night because of the rain and move electrical appliances and everything with me."
Bernie's shed materials arrived earlier this year. (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)
Hardship grants were made available to impacted families after the bushfires.
They included structural assistance grants of up to $50,000 for eligible, uninsured dwellings.
Another $30,000 was offered to eligible residents to pay for plumbing costs.
The money was intended to return residents to build a home in a "safe, habitable, and secure condition".
The local council waived planning and plumbing fees for the rebuilds but the region's mayor said most of the building codes fell under state jurisdiction.
"Council is doing what we can, and staying in our lane, to help local residents get their lives back together as quickly as possible," said Western Downs Regional Council mayor Andrew Smith.
Bernie completed an owner builders course to construct a liveable shed but said it was unlikely she would be able to erect it all by herself.
She said she wanted to build it as close to her dam as possible with a small verandah facing the water that saved her life.
The materials arrived on the back of a truck months ago but she said she was still waiting for the concrete slab to be laid.
She said she would also need plumber to visit to install a septic system.
Bernie Millar has a new fence at her Tara property. (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)
"In the beginning it was go go go because you're running on adrenaline," she said.
"And then, if you hit a brick wall, or you try to make a telephone call and nobody gets back to you … all of a sudden you just begin to collapse.
"But I prefer to be a survivor, not a victim."
Her pride and joy is a new fence BlazeAid volunteers recently helped build.
It keeps the animals in.
Before that, Bernie was moving temporary fencing around by hand every day.
She said she dreamt of waking up with a sturdy roof over her head.
"It's just the simple things like being able to cook out of the wind and rain, and sun," she said.
No one-size-fits-all solution
Bernie is not the only resident still waiting to move into a post-bushfire home near Tara.
Property around Tara became popular in the 1980s with people seeking an off-grid lifestyle away from the hustle, bustle, and cost of the city.
Tara has a population of about 2,000 people. (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)
The people are proudly resourceful and self-sufficient.
But the collision of that independence with government assistance — and the regulations and red tape that comes with securing that outside help — has meant the rebuild has taken time.
"It can get very frustrating," said Tara Neighbourhood Centre manager Ros Wade.
The centre has morphed into the small town's hub for everything from photocopying to Centrelink business.
"At the beginning we all thought 'well, you can just rebuild where you want to rebuild'," Ms Wade said.
"But I think with so many bushfires around Australia … there was the thought that we need to have regulations, there has to be a standard, which has impacted on how we rebuild."
Ros Wade is the manager of the Tara Neighbourhood Centre. (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)
She said there was no one-size-fits-all solution.
"Some people live on a ridge, some people live in a sandy soil," she said.
Ms Wade said the past year had been Tara's "annus horribilis".
"Just like the Queen once said, but it's a very resilient community," she said.
"We've been through floods, and droughts, and fires.
"A drought is like a cancer, it starts slowly and spreads. But a fire is like a heart attack, it is sudden. It needs to be responded to immediately. But then there is that recovery."
Bernie Millar and her puppy Simba survey the charred ruins of their home last year. (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)
Tara's recovery, or at least the finalisation of the new homes, is expected to be complete by mid-2025.
Bernie has already planned the first meal she will cook in her waterfront home.
"Salmon and fresh organic veggies," she said.
"It sounds simple, but it's the simple things you're not getting that you crave."