Thank you very much Mr Mayor, my parliamentary colleagues, Guy Barnett, Michael Ferguson and I know Guy has hosted today's gathering and John Watson and Stephen Parry and Richard Colbeck, the Speaker of the Tasmanian Parliament, ladies and gentlemen.
It's true that not everyday it's possible for a Prime Minister to visit every small community in this country, although in the years I've been Prime Minister I've chalked up a few visits to a lot of small communities.
But this is no ordinary small community, this is a remarkable community. And what makes it remarkable is that in the events that followed the collapse in the 25th of April of this year, the Beaconsfield community has displayed to the whole nation and indeed around the world, the true spirit of Australia. And that is the capacity of Australians, of all walks of life, of different views on different issues, to work together for a common goal.
And the thing that inspired me, and I can say inspired millions of your fellow Australians, was the way in which every part of this wonderful community came together; the Mayor, the union, the mine, the community leaders, the wonderful leadership given by religious leaders; the way in which everybody worked together to bring about a result. And I can't speak too highly of that and when we welcomed so many of you to the reception in the Great Hall of Parliament House a few weeks ago, the common feeling of all of us was of admiration for the way in which Australians work together to achieve our great objectives.
I particularly, of course, acknowledge here today the presence of Todd and Brant and Jacqui Knight. We think in sadness of Larry's death, we remember his contribution to this community, we pay tribute to the stoicism of all of the families. In the case of the Russell and Webb families, the culmination was the exhilaration of their rescue, in the case of Larry's family, it was the sadness of his parting. And nothing touched the rest of the community quite like the gesture of the Knight family in deferring his funeral until the rescue of his two mates from the mine. It's something that really said it all and had a deep impression on the Australian community.
A lot has been said about this event and a lot will be said about it, and rightly so, and there's not a great deal more that I can say on behalf of the nation other than to again pay tribute to all of the community. And I pay tribute to you Mr Mayor, you were the voice of middle Beaconsfield, if I can put it that way. You were the man who spoke for the local community. And to Matthew Gill, I pay tribute to you. You had the ultimate responsibility for the whole exercise, and it wasn't easy, and you did it with calm and you did it with flair. I pay tribute to the contribution, to the whole effort of the Australian Workers' Union. They displayed mateship towards their members, their fellow workers and they deserve praise for that.
And I've already mentioned the wonderful contribution of the church leaders. I don't think we'll ever quite forget the image of that wonderful bell in the Uniting Church and all of these things just really touched us in special way. It was the simple commitment of people to bring about a result that touched people.
Now Mr Mayor you did mention the $8 million fund that we established and I'm pleased to announce today the first grant out of that fund, and it will be a grant of $4.873 million to the mine. And the assistance will support the mine, the miners and their families over the next few months, to support care and maintenance activities while the inquiries being conducted under the aegis of the Tasmanian Government are underway. And subject to the outcome of those inquiries and in the event that the mine may be allowed to reopen later this year, the assistance will also allow the mine to undertake a number of critical investment activities over the next 12 months to help secure its longer term future.
And I know it is the desire of the great bulk of the people in this community that the mine go on, that it not be lost to the community and not be lost to the economy of this local district. Because we all know that communities need to be sustained by economic activity and it's always been important to the economy of this part of Australia, this mine, and if we can help in a sensible way to keep it going then we are more than happy to do so. And that is the first amount, a very large amount, I think about 60 per cent, the $8 million fund. There are a number of other projects and they're being assessed, and announcements will be made shortly in relation to them.
I think you're also aware that we established a $1 million scholarship fund to establish the Larry Knight equity scholarship at the University of Tasmania in order to provide a scholarship on a yearly basis for somebody in mine management. And I was talking to Jacqui earlier and the terms and conditions of that have been discussed by the family with the Dean and they're satisfactory, and I think that is a very practical way and a way that I know people in the mining community would want to remember Larry. It's a way of saluting the importance of mining and mine management to the economy of this region and also to the economy of Australia.
And finally I did indicate that at the time I made those announcements that we would examine the tax deductibility of the fund established by the Australian Workers' Union and I'm pleased to say the tax deductibility has been granted and it's also the intentions, as I also foreshadowed at that time, of the Commonwealth Government to make a contribution to that fund in recognition of the role, not only of the union, but also of the work that it has done to assist people associated with the exercise.
So finally my friends, I can only say that Australia is proud of all of you. Australia is saddened that Larry lost his life and we grieve with his family. We pay special tribute to the astonishing stoicism and the astonishing endurance and feat of Todd and Brant, they've become renowned not only around the country but around the world for what they achieved. We admire the faith of their families. I enjoyed Todd's mother's scones as I said at the reception that I would, and the images of that period of time will live with the rest of the country for many years.
But it's an achievement that belongs to all of you. You all played a role, you are a wonderful community and you put on display better than I have seen in many years, you put on display all those wonderful Australian characteristics, of strength, of compassion, of working together, of forgetting differences, of putting aside different attitudes towards this, that and the other, you are all Australians working together to get these blokes out and that's what really matters and that's what moved us and touched us in such an impressive way.
Thank you.
[ends]