E&OE..................
Ladies and gentlemen. It is of course a great pleasure to be back in Gunnedah, it';s not, as the Mayor indicated, the first time I';ve been here. I remember very well Ralph Hunt and that sheep, extremely well, I think everybody enjoyed that experience and it';s one of my vivid recollections of (inaudible) Gunnedah in the 1980';s. Of course two years ago I came as you said on Saturday and we went out to a property owned by the Hoadal's and we were knee deep in mud. And two years later this afternoon we went there again and experienced the parched, dusty, unforgiving and relentlessly hot conditions under which this part of Australia suffers at the present time.
I';m very conscious of the hardship of the bush, of country people in many parts of Australia right at the moment. This is one of the worst droughts that Australia has had since Federation and when you get to the dimension of disaster and distress that Australia is experiencing at the present time in a way it matters not whether this is the worst or the second worst or the third worst or whatever, they';re all very bad. I don';t know when it';s going to end. The best that I can do is to listen to what the met bureau says and they';re talking about March or April of next year, which is a pretty depressing, discouraging outlook. Governments must help and respond and work with people to assist them through these adversities. I was asked this morning on a radio interview what were my first impressions in Cobar, I said the first impressions were that it was every bit as bleak and despairing as I had been told and my other equally dominant reaction was the tremendous fight and determination and spirit and stoicism of people that I encountered. And that of course is a remarkable characteristic of country Australians. It';s one of the things that gets this country sharpness of national character and special identity because that willingness and that capacity to endure something that you';re not to blame for but is hurting you is one of the great national characteristics of Australians.
We are providing a number of things to help people in relation to exceptional circumstances, in relation to the ongoing assessments of the farm management deposits and I';ll be announcing a number of other smaller measures later today which will provide some special assistance in relation to the control of feral animals, in relation to counselling, some financial assistance to the Country Women';s Association as it does such a wonderful job, a special provision in relation to the farm management deposits whereby if they';re withdrawn by a depositor who';s in an area of exceptional circumstances in under the 12 month period that won';t affect the eligibility of that depositor for the taxation benefits of those farm management deposits.
There are other things that must be looked at and addressed in the recovery phase. We all optimistically look to a recovery phase, the drought must end, it will end, as all droughts do. And what is important is that a community and a regional economy is essentially left unimpaired and has a capacity to recover. And I am aware of the moral consequences and I am aware that the real impact of a drought is often not felt until months later on the local small business and the local regional economy. And they are issues that John and I have been talking about all day and they';re issues that John and I have been talking about over past weeks.
Can I say that you have in John somebody who is so dedicated to this area and understands it and when it's needing or unhappy about something so is your local member. I';ve never met anybody in politics who empathises more spontaneously and genuinely with the concerns of the people that he is honoured to represent than does John Anderson.
So it';s not an easy time, I want you to know that I understand that, the Government understands that. Can I also say to other Australians, I heard somebody on the radio this morning say that people in Sydney don';t care about people in the bush - that could not be more wrong. My universal experience as somebody who grew up in the suburbs of Sydney, as therefore being identified with urban Australia in the personal sense all of his life, all my universal experience is that cities dwellers care very much about the country. The response to the Farmhand Appeal, people don't want the way of life of the Australian bush to be lost because they regard it as indelibly part of what makes us very distinctive as an Australian community.
So can I say that, not for the first time, I disagree with something I've heard on the radio. I occasionally do. I mean, I agree with some of the things I hear on the radio too. But I think it is wrong that anybody in country Australia to think that your fellow Australians in other parts of the country don't care about what is happening. We worry about the drought, the rest of the community hopes and prays that the drought ends and they all want to see the quality of rural life preserved and enhanced. And we are very [inaudible] that it's not just economic cost, it's also social cost. We worry about the emotional toll that it exacts on families, on marriages, on people's sense of self esteem and self achievement and all of those things are tremendously important in a holistic understanding of what a drought does as a country. According to our advice, something like 75 per cent of Australia is now deprived or seriously deprived of necessary water supplies and that is a staggering figure. As I said a moment ago, it matters not whether this is the first, or the second, or the third most severe drought, once you get to a certain point they all represent major disasters.
Can I finally say that country is, as the Mayor rightly said, going through challenging times. What happened in Bali shocked, and saddened, and I know appalled all of us and it has brought home to us just how different the world is in which we live. And we do face some challenges now that we've never faced before and we have to find our way as a community through the process of responding, of responding in anyway that meets the challenge and protects our people, but also preserves our open and free and democratic way of life. And trying to strike that balance is a very important challenge in our community. And instead of pointing fingers at people, we have to reach out to people and more than ever find a sense of national unity and a sense of purpose. The last few weeks, have in some respects, in many respects, been the most challenging I've had in the time that I've been Prime Minister since 1996. They have also been in other respects some of the most inspiring because I had seen the Australian spirit on display with all its great strength and great resilience and vitality. But the way in which Australians unite to confront a common foe, the way in which Australians forget their differences when there's a really serious challenge they've had, the way in which Australians for all our tough exterior, are very emotional and compassionate people when they see their fellow citizens hurt, particularly the young. And as the Mayor said there is nothing more tragic than to see young lives cut short - nothing ever can alter that fact, it's the tragic experience of all tragic experiences when young lives are cut short.
So it's not the happiest time our nation's had, but we're not daunted by it. I don't see any dimunition of the Australian spirit. I don't see any intention on the part of Australians to remain other than very defiant and very determined to preserve their way of life. Nor do I detect any sense of these unfortunate, these tragic events are our fault. We have nothing as a nation to apologise for for whom we are. We have made mistakes. We have blemishes. We're not perfect, but on a scale of ten we're very high up as an open, free, democratic, welcoming, generous society and we should bear that very much in mind as we work our way through these difficulties and challenges.
So can I say to all of you, thank you for the hospitality that you've extended. It's a great community. I hope that the next time I come the drought is well and truly broken and the Australian rural economy is well and truly on the road to a very strong recovery because we need you. The Australia I grew up to love would never be the same if we lost rural Australia because it's so much part of what indelibly makes us a distinctive community. And that's why we all need you and we'll all make sure that we help you to stay an integral and important part of our society.
Thank you.
[ends]