There was widespread praise for firefighters, many of whom left their own properties under threat of bushfire to help others.

Riverina MP and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack told Parliament in Canberra that Australians "stand in solidarity" with those who have lost properties and loved ones.

"We acknowledge the deep economic, as well as social, consequences, the impact on the way of life of so many communities, so many families, and those personal impacts that will linger, in some cases, for lifetimes," he said.

Mr McCormack said a reoccurring theme about the response to fires across the nations was "we stand shoulder to shoulder".

"The Prime Minister has echoed it; the opposition leader said it as well. That's what Australians do. We have each other's backs.

"It means that together we will always overcome, we will always prevail."

Farrer MP Sussan Ley said the region had never seen anything like the amount of community donations in response to the fires

"A constant stream of cars, utes, small trucks and people were lugging donations of water, tonnes of non-perishable food and all sorts of goods, clothing and other essential items.

"People were dropping them off and then asking what else they could do."

Both Ms Ley and Mr McCormack paid tribute to volunteer firefighter Sam McPaul who died when his truck overturned while responding to the Green Valley bushfire at Jingellic

"The toll of these fires has simply been enormous. Sam is one of the brave volunteers who lost their lives," Mr McCormack said.

"He studied animal science at Charles Sturt University in Wagga, where he met his wife-to-be, Megan. Their child is on the way; due in May."

Ms Ley said the fire tornado that took Mr McPauls's life had a profound effect on firefighters across the region.

"[Culcairn brigade member] Rodney O'Keeffe was badly burnt during the incident and was flown to the Alfred Hospital. [Captain] Andrew Godde received burns to his hands and was treated at Holbrook hospital and released the same night," she said.

"Mr Godde later described that the crew were on the flank of the fire, which is normally the safest spot to be, and what they all thought what was not a dangerous situation became extremely serious, not in minutes but seconds, with no time to defend or respond.

"Sam McPaul died on the fire ground at the age of just 28. He'd been married to wife, Megan, for just 18 months."

Mr McCormack also spoke of the determination of Snowy Valleys communities to defend their region from the Dunns Road bushfire.

"I was privileged to address a meeting of at least 600 people in Tumut on January 3 as the community prepared to do whatever they could. They were worried. I looked out at that sea of faces and they were just racked with fear, racked with the unknown," he said.

"But, whilst the fire was looming large up in the hills at Batlow and Tumbarumba, they dug deep. Among the hundreds were Rebecca Dean and Mia Hardwick from Adelong. Two girls-just young kids, teenagers-they were simply exhausted from placing themselves on the frontline, battling the fire front in their region.

"They looked so good in their uniforms. They were tired. They were exhausted. They were fatigued. But they were ready to go out again because that's what Australians do."

In NSW Parliament, Wagga MP Joe McGirr expressed his sympathy "to those who have lost family, friends and people they know in the bushfires; those who have sustained injuries; and those who have lost homes, beloved pets, stock, property, land and livelihoods".

"The communities in my electorate include Laurel Hill, Green Hills, Yaven Creek, Wondalga, Adelong, Talbingo, Batlow, Oberne Creek, Kunama, Gilmore Valley, Tumut and surrounding areas," he said.

"I offer my sympathies, my most humble prayers and my ongoing thoughts."

Dr McGirr said the Adelong was saved with the help of a aircraft dropping retardant on the fire front at the edge of town and Talbingo was threatened by a fire tornado that sounded like a jet taking off.

He also described visiting Batlow after bushfire surge that many expected would destroy the town.

"The scene was extraordinary. We drove in through a smoke-filled horizon of burnt trees and of scorched, dying and dead stock. There was no noise. There were no birds. It was just smoke and ash," he said.

"When we arrived at the town, the service station had been burnt. The old hospital had been burnt. But people were there, people who had stayed. People had defended the town and the town was intact.

"They were pretty raw. The firefighters were absolutely dazed; they could hardly speak. And yet the people who lost houses, the people who survived the windows blowing in on them...were still helping others.

"There was a sense of hope, despite the trauma. I will never forget the courage of the people I met nor my gratitude to them."

Cootamundra MP Steph Cooke offered her condolences to the families and friends of those who died fighting fires in the Snowy Mountains including "David Harrison of Goulburn who, aged just 47, lost his life defending the property of a friend at Batlow".

Ms Cooke thanked the Junee and Cootamundra communities for their generous donations and the people who helped at evacuation centres.

"The people coming in to these centres were understandably shocked and shaken, but I was told a great story about one who had not lost his sense of humour," she said.

"A man evacuated from Batlow, who was overcome with emotion at the amount of donations on offer, stopped crying, smiled and said, 'Imagine, all this help for us hillbillies'."