My fellow Australians. I particularly want to welcome here today Todd Russell, Brant Webb, Lauren Kielmann, the daughter of the late Larry Knight, Larry Knight's mother Pearl and the Mayor of West Tamar, Barry Easther. We gather in this Great Hall of the Parliament of Australia as a united nation to pay tribute to people who were involved in a remarkable Australian achievement, an event which has touched the hearts and brought forth the inspiration of millions of Australians and indeed had an enormous impact around the world.
What we saw in the rescue of Brant and Todd was the Australian character at its very best. We saw all of the things that we pride ourselves on as distinctively Australian characteristics at work. We saw guts, we saw resilience, we saw courage, we saw strength and we saw enormous endurance.
We thought through those difficult days not only of the men, but we felt as the news came through, a profound sense of sympathy and condolence towards the family of Larry Knight, and I particularly honour here the presence of Larry's mother and Larry's daughter.
Their forbearance and their wonderful gesture to Todd and Brant to delay the funeral of their loved son and father was Australian mateship and it's very, very best. Through the difficult days the love and the endurance of Todd and Brant's families and then ultimately their joy and ecstasy when the news came through that their sons and husbands and fathers were alive, was something that we all tried, in different ways, to share. I don't think of the many images I will take forever from this amazing Australian saga, I don't think anything will quite exceed the sense of joyous motherly relief on the face of Todd's mother when the news came through that her son was alive.
We can't of course on an occasion like this, do justice to the other real heroes of this event, and that is the men who rescued them. The way in which they risked their lives day after day, knowing all the peril and all the difficulty of a rescue in a mine, knowing the dangers of further falls and further explosions, knowing from their long history in the industry of what might occur, their courage was absolutely outstanding. And the responsibility they carried and the responsibility carried by the mine management and Matthew Gill who every day had to give a report knowing that he carried the ultimately responsibility for the rescue. Through all of it, they displayed a tremendous professional skill, but above all enormous courage, and it was a wonderful demonstration of Australian mateship.
And I want, in that vein, to pay tribute to the fellow members of the miners of Brant and Todd, the members of the Australian Workers Union who were there in their numbers to give strength and support and solidarity to their mates and their fellow union members. And that was a very important part of the great community effort that was mounted.
But not only was there great support given by the rescuers, by their fellow workers and their fellow mates, but the wonderful response of the community. I think that had as great an impact on your fellow Australians around the country as much as anything else. Because what we saw on display in that community was everything that was good about the Australia that we love and the Australia we want to preserve and the Australia we want to make better because these dramatic events reminded us of the basics of life.
They reminded us of the importance of family. As I watched the video of Brant and Todd's interview on 60 Minutes after I got back from overseas, the many things they said, the comments that really hit home to me were the remarks they made about their families. As Todd spoke of writing messages to Carolyn on his overalls and on his arms, of how he wanted to communicate to his wife and children, his love for them, and how if it didn't go well he'd watch over his young boys...he played football and he made sure that he made a good job of playing his football. It was a reminder to me as a father that at the end of the day that no matter what else you do in life, having a close bond with your children and caring for them, is the most important thing. And in those simple words I think those two men resonated with the parents, and particularly the fathers of Australia, in a way that I don't think two men have ever quite been able to do.
I think these events also reminded us of the tremendous importance of mateship, as is broadly defined in our community. We sometime fling it around rather carelessly. But on an occasion like this it was on full display. Everybody was working together, differences of occupation and background, religious and political belief were put aside. A whole community was united in its determination to achieve a result and they did it and did it magnificently. We're reminded of course of the strength of that local community and represented here today by Barry Easther, who gave tremendous leadership as the Mayor of West Tamar.
And can I finally say in relation to the reminder of life basics that the event also reminded us of the importance of faith. Now we all varying degrees of faith, some do and some don't, some have it to varying degrees, but there was tremendous community leadership given by the churches of Beaconsfield on this occasion - great leadership - and I pay tribute to them and I know that so many of them are represented here today.
So the whole event brought together, as a reminder, those basics of our life and how important all of them are to us. And in a way brought out what I've always seen as the great duality of the Australian character. We can be as tough as tungsten, and as durable as anybody, and nobody has been tougher, and nobody has been more durable than these two men. It is an amazing achievement. It is an achievement beyond the beliefs of so many of us so long ago, let's face that. I know there are many in this gathering that never gave up hope, and God bless them for not having given up that hope, and they have had their wonderful reward as a consequence.
But it was an extraordinary act of bravery and strength and will and determination, the like of which this nation has not often seen and indeed something that preserves the honour that I hope is being transmitted by this gathering here today. But the event also brought out that other aspect of the Australian character, and that is our warmth and our softness and our compassion. We saw in the response of the community, we saw in the open candid remarks of Brant and Todd in their interview, that combined with their strength and their manliness and their toughness, is an enormous depth of compassion and softness towards those they love most and those who mean most to them in their lives. And they together summarise so much of what we believe about ourselves, about our character, about what the climate of this country means to us.
So my fellow Australians I say to our two guests of honour and their families, particularly to their wives, Carolyn, Rachel, to all of their families and again I say to Pearl and Lauren, we are so admiring of your courage in coming here today. We are so admiring of the way in which you bore your own grief, but shared the joy and the exhilaration of the community in the deliverance of Brant and Todd.
Brant and Todd my last word is to both you, you have done us proud, you've exhibited the greatness and the strength of the Australian character, we admire you, we thank God for your being rescued from that mine and wish you and your loved ones many years of happiness and fulfilment in the years ahead. And I now invite Kim Beazley, the Leader of the Opposition, to support my remarks.
[ends]