Imam, Mr Mehboob, my fellow Australians. The terrible disaster that has struck so many nations of the Indian Ocean region on Boxing Day has claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people, rendered millions homeless, destroyed property, and caused untold chaos. Amongst the dead are people of the Islamic faith, Christian faith, the Jewish religion, Hindus, Buddhists, people of other religions, and many people professing no faith at all. The common faith of so many people reminds us of a number of things. It reminds us of the destructive force of nature; the unpredictability of nature. It also reminds us that, just as in life, sometimes more so in death, people of different religions and different beliefs can suffer a common disaster.
The world has responded in a remarkable way. The world has responded in a generous fashion to those who have suffered and lost so much. Particularly has Australia responded to so many of the victims of this terrible disaster. We have - both as a government and as a people - we have reached out to the people of Indonesia, the people of Sri Lanka, of India, of Thailand, of Malaysia, of the Maldives, of all of the countries that have been so badly affected.
You meet here today as part of your regular expression of your Islamic faith. You pray according to the values of the beliefs that you hold dear; values and beliefs that are respected and honoured within the Australian community. In different ways different people in the Australian community gather - those of the Islamic faith today, those of the Christian religion on Sunday, and those of other faiths on various occasions over the weekend. We come together in an act of mourning and reflection to express our sorrow and our sadness for those who have lost so much; to express our common belief in the humanity of people all around the world.
On an occasion like this we are reminded of the things that unite us and not of the things that divide us, that the values of the great religions of the world have so much in common, and the decency of the people who profess those religions genuinely, they have so much in common. And we have seen, over the last three weeks we have seen people of goodwill, of all religions, and indeed of no religion at all, coming together in a great act of compassion. But also, as we remember the victims of the dreadful natural disaster of Boxing Day last year, let us also pause for a moment to think of those of our fellow Australians who have lost so much in the tragic bushfire in South Australia - again a terrible reminder of the brutal force of nature and the unexpected suffering that it can inflict upon mankind.
This experience has touched the hearts of all Australians. In my lifetime I have not seen such a widespread generous response to a particular disaster, and it has come from all sections of the Australian community, but it is reaffirmation of the goodness and the decency and the great heart of the Australian people. It is a reminder to all of us, whatever our ethnic backgrounds may be, that as Australians we are united in a nation which stands for good values and doing the right thing to help the people of this world when they need help and when they are suffering.
May I conclude by again expressing for myself, my wife, and all the members of my government, the great sorrow we feel, reaffirm that the practical gestures of support be extended to the people, not only of Indonesia, but the people of so many other countries. And out of this terrible disaster let us learn again that we have so much in common, and we should count our blessings that we live in this wonderful country, Australia, and that whatever differences we have, they are minor compared to the common humanity we all share in responding to the suffering of others.
Thank you.
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