LIEBMANN:
And John Howard joins us now, good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning Steve.
LIEBMANN:
Ever seen anything like this?
PRIME MINISTER:
Not in what you would describe as an ordinary suburban scene in Australia. This damage is by far the worst bushfire damage I have seen. The fact that up to 400 homes may have been lost or seriously damaged, the speed with which it occurred, the reality that it invaded a normal, peaceful, suburban part of Australia brings home to all of us, because we are very much an urban population as far as where people live, just how devastating an event it has been in the lives of many of our fellow Australians.
LIEBMANN:
After the briefings you received yesterday, and I'm sure you continued to receive overnight, are you surprised that more people didn't die, that more homes weren't destroyed?
PRIME MINISTER:
I always believe that in these situations the miracle is that so few people in the end are affected in a physical sense, it's a miracle that more people weren't killed, it's a miracle that more people weren't burnt, there's been a tragic loss of four lives and some people are very severely burnt but overall it is amazing that more doesn't happen because it's happened so suddenly and a firestorm is the right description and people inevitably are caught unprepared, nothing can prepare you for this, none of us have lived through something like this and therefore it's extraordinary to me that the devastation is not greater.
LIEBMANN:
I mean when you look at this scene behind us, it's like Berlin during the war.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well all of those descriptions are apt and we shouldn't underestimate the impact it's had of course on the people affected, but as always Australians rally in times of adversity. Everybody pitches in, everybody wants to help, everybody puts out a helping hand and the people who are affected in the main have that stoic Australian endurance and a determination to rebuild and to get on with their lives and that is what is so inspiring in a situation like this.
LIEBMANN:
Tell me, were you like me : when you heard reports that up to 400 homes had been destroyed I thought no, they've made a mistake, that can't be right.
PRIME MINISTER:
I couldn't believe, normally you get figures of about 40-50, the bad fires that have ringed Sydney in recent years you have numbers below 100. But it seemed extraordinary to me, but remember that this is a city that is built close to the bush, it is a city that's quite properly in my view has prided itself on having plenty of bush, plenty of trees, being environmentally a nice place to live in and I want it to continue that way because it is a very attractive city and the suburbs of Canberra are very nice places in which to live, not withstanding what has happened this weekend.
LIEBMANN:
Interesting you say that about Canberra being the bush capital and you like the bush, I mean right in front of us is Stromlo Forest, are we going to have to rethink proximity of forests to homes?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't think now is the time to even be asking whether we've got to rethink, you have to deal with the emergency, you have to let all of the various emotions people naturally feel, and reactions they have, to subside before you start making judgements about that. My hunch is that we're not going to want to give up the advantages of living cheek by jowl with the bush, there may be other decisions we make about the detail of that but I don't think Australians are going to want to do that and I don't blame them.
LIEBMANN:
Prime Minister, you're talking about focusing on the here and now, what's the story on Commonwealth aid?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we have a standing arrangement with the states and territories whereby the first little bit is carried by the state or the territory, and it's a very little bit, and then there's a 50 per cent sharing and if it goes over a certain level we pick up 75 per cent on top of that. The Chief Minister has said he's going to raise some other matters with me, well I'll see what they are but we do have some good standing arrangements and they will work well.
LIEBMANN:
Alright, I think given the circumstances we'll leave matters like Iraq and North Korea to another day.
PRIME MINISTER:
Indeed. I'm very happy to talk about them, but on another day.
LIEBMANN:
Thank you so much for joining us.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
LIEBMANN:
Thanks Prime Minister.
[ends]