Sydney
MAXWELL: Terry Alderman, It's a great pleasure to introduce the Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, welcome to Grandstand.
PM: G'day Jim. G'day Terry.
MAXWELL: How are you going?
PM: I'm enjoying the day, in the sense that I'm enjoying the pink army we have here for Jane McGrath and I've just been at the high tea, where women in pink are gathered. They're fundraising, they're focussed on making sure we've got more breast care nurses available for women with breast cancer and it's a grand delight to see so many people including young men and boys and girls and old men, women, right throughout the ground all got their pink on.
MAXWELL: And Australia, I think they're going from pink to red actually, on the field. They're struggling a bit, red faced about this strong England batting. I know you're going to talk to us about this flood relief, there is a lovely story from one of our many SMSs who stranded by the floods, had a few problems. One - the water had risen so much his wife couldn't get back to the house, two - he'd run out of beer, three - he was listening to the cricket on the radio, so that was keeping him happy.
PM: Well I'm glad the cricket is there being a backdrop and past time and entertainment for people in such stressful circumstances. Cricket's going to play its fair share in helping people through with the one day match on the 30th at the Gabba and of course we're very focussed on the people of Queensland today. I've asked one of my Parliamentary colleagues, Joseph Ludwig, to be a Special Minister working on Queensland flood recovery. We want to help communities through this really difficult time. Australians are digging deep to help people and we know we're going to have some more opportunities through the cricket to do that.
MAXWELL: And in the background here the cheer is going up because young Steven Smith at last is getting an opportunity to bowl, but England in a very strong position. So, how much resource is being pumped into this by the Federal Government?
PM: Well the expenditure is going to be in the hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars, that's the reality. We're making relief payments available to people now in Queensland, we're supporting small businesses and primary producers in Queensland and in New South Wales and we announced a new assistance for New South Wales overnight, because they've got flood problems as well. We're only going to be able to assess the true dimensions of the damage when the flood waters recede and people are going to need a lot of support and communities are going to need a lot of rebuilding. So we'll be working together with the Queensland government on that, but it's always wonderful to see individual community members digging deep too and that's what's happening in the great Australian way.
MAXWELL: It's the country of extremes, isn't it? That we've got floods, but probably in Western Australia we've probably got drought.
PM: South West, the bottom of Western Australia, if I can use that terminology, is still facing severe drought, that's right. And of course at this time of year in many parts of the country we worry about bush fire, so all of the extremes on display.
MAXWELL: So it needs a fair bit of commitment continually though, doesn't it, from the federal government, to be able to support the range of, the diversity of natural disasters that take place. You'll need a big bank for all of this?
PM: We're going to have to make resources available, we're doing that now and we will make sure that we're keeping the budget going back to surplus in 2012/13 as we promised and we're making the right decisions to get there, but we do want to be supporting the people of Queensland particularly as this time and those in New South Wales, small businesses, primary producers, who need a bit of a helping hand.
MAXWELL: I mean federal government's can do so much, but what influence do you have on the man upstairs to stop the rain from coming?
PM: I'll have to perhaps defer to you on that degree of influence, but I suspect if we all had that degree of influence we might be doing something about the score.
MAXWELL: Yes, well, at the moment Australia might look forward to a bit of rain falling here at the moment, but Smith is bowling and there's the premeditated paddle from Bell as he laps it around the corner and collects another run.
So have you been up there travelling around, are you about to go back there at some point and see the nature of this ongoing flood and crisis?
PM: I have been to communities in Queensland and I will be there again on the weekend and the thing that really strikes when you're into communities is the stoic, courageous attitude that Queenslanders are bringing to this, they really are facing it together and making sure that they are working together to deal with the consequences of flood. It's a great spirit.
MAXWELL: So there's a bit commitment from the Federal Government, what about State Government in a situation like this? Are they holding out their hand to you or are they making a similar sort of commitment to do what they can?
PM: We're working hand in hand, we worked through something called the natural disaster relief and recovery arrangements, so Queensland too, the state government, the Premier Anna Bligh, providing funds and assistance and logistical support to communities at this time. And our Australian Defence Force is doing a wonderful job making Defence assets available, whether it's planes, whether its helicopters, to help with flood relief. They're doing tremendous work.
MAXWELL: It's very encouraging that this is all occurring. And now this match is during the one day series isn't it that they're going to do all this. There will be a lot of people in Queensland who can go down to the Gabba and offer their support. 30th of January at the Gabba, that match is dedicated to this flood relief campaign, so we're hoping for a full house there and lots of people making their donations.
ALDERMAN: I was up there about eight weeks ago, my daughter lives in Rockhampton, she's in Perth for the Christmas holiday, so luckily, but yeah, you feel so far away from it. She's thinking that maybe her business is going to go under water and all those sorts of things, but when we're so far away from it and you don't have a loved one that's involved in that, I think we forget about it a bit. It's great that we can all pull together in this time, I think.
PM: It's a beautiful place Rockhampton, with that wonderful old architecture still on display and I've been up there a bit and I've gone for morning walks along the river and its been, you know, a bit of a creek, the truth be told. Now it's a raging torrent of water, so much changE.
ALDERMAN: Yes, I got the tilt train from Gympie actually, to there and that was an experience in itself, but no doubt that most people there, that area, use that train a hell of a lot to get around so they must be cut off from everywhere, not being able to get round.
PM: We do have people cut off, in Rockhampton there's still a way of getting supplies though by rail from the north, but, you know, the airport's out and there's a lot of floodwater around and many other towns in Queensland are in similar circumstances.
MAXWELL: So at the moment what is the extent of that flood up in Queensland and how many hundreds of square miles are we talking about being inundated in such as way as to make life impossible for people?
PM: Well I think the best way of thinking about it is we've got 20 towns that are battling flood waters at various stages, between waiting for the worst to still come, to being in recovery already, but that's a lot of people over a very widespread area and it's obviously going to be a lot of damage. People have pulled together and we're going to come through this, but I know Australians will want to show their generosity at the one day match at the Gabba. I think we'll see at lot of the people of Brisbane out there making sure that they're showing their support.
MAXWELL: Will you be there?
PM: I would be hoping to be there, being Prime Minister means you've got to get that time allocation right, but I'm certainly going to be in Queensland in the coming days and staying in very good touch with those that are battling floodwaters. I've been speaking to some of the people on the ground by phone as well as seeing them when I've been up there are they're just doing a tremendous job. Fire fighters, Police, Emergency Services personnel, Defence personnel, local government, all pulling together to make it work.
MAXWELL: Prime Minister thank you for coming in and sharing your time with us today and we hope that the help goes where it's most needed in the next few weeks.
PM: Thank you.