HOST: Yes a very special guest too, Prime Minister Julia Gillard is with me here in the studio, great to see you, you've been all over, not just the state of Queensland where we're focusing today, we've had this problem obviously in Victoria; in Western Australia not so long ago.
PM: Unfortunately we've had floodwaters everywhere, obviously the crisis in Queensland has been of a bigger scale than anywhere else, but people in New South Wales, in Victoria and over in WA have all had to battled floodwaters.
HOST: I was talking to Premier Anna Bligh before we got underway and she was really quite pleased with the progress and it's very difficult when a lot of money suddenly comes in to distribute it correctly and have it used quickly isn't it?
PM: Look we need to manage that and mange it well but my sense is that Mick Slater, the Defence Force Officer we made available to lead the recovery authority is doing a great job, Anna and her team are doing a great job and they're really listening to communities about what is needed for the recovery. Inevitably this isn't going to be one size fits all, we've got to get down and look at the roads, the rail, everything that needs to be fixed after the floodwaters have been through, so a lot of infrastructure to rebuild and a lot of homes and lives to help out, and of course the donations go to helping people rebuild their lives whilst the Government gets on with the job of rebuilding the infrastructure.
HOST: Today's community is the cricket community and it's come together remarkably well. The figure is around about $4.5 million already come because of today's initiative and from the cricket community already is $1 million and I know that you've got an announcement about that.
PM: I do have an announcement about that, I want to congratulate Cricket Australia and all the state cricket associations, the English Cricket Board and the players themselves for their very generous donations, as well as people who are putting their coins in the tins going round the ground. As a Government we're going to match that dollar for dollar, so there's more than a million in that bundle of money so far, Cricket Australia and the state cricket associations, the players, and the English Board, and what people have put in the tin, so we'll keep matching it dollar for dollar and I'm sure that figure is going to rise during the day as the crowd keeps getting into it.
HOST: So it's not just the cricket fraternity that have raised a million, you've matched that million, but also everything that comes out of the supporters, the audiences' pocket today you've matched?
PM: That's right, we will match what happens on the ground and we know not everybody can be here sitting waiting for a bucket to go by to put their money in, so we'll also match dollar for dollar donations made today to the Premier's Relief Appeal either by phone or through the website. So people at home, if they've put in some money, we'll match it.
HOST: OK, so you ring up now and put in ten bucks, rest assured the boss says there's ten bucks coming from her as well. Just to give you a feel, I mean Queensland cricket alone a quarter of a million dollars, you mentioned the Australian players, this is Australian cricketers around the country, $190,000 already, the English Cricket Board $50,000, the English players another $62,000. Just about everybody seems to be finding a way to contribute and that of course is the overwhelming feeling, the way that everybody in the communities of Australia, not just Queensland, are finding a way to contribute and it's a community life that works so well for Australia isn't it?
PM: It does and it makes you really very proud to see the way Australians have just got out and responded from a local barbie someone puts on in their backyard and they put the hat around, to some of our biggest companies in the country making available millions of dollars. People in their own way have gone in and responded and what better way to do than a day's cricket, drawing people together and some great fundraising happening too.
HOST: Lovely, well good to see you, thank you very much for coming in and particularly thank you for that double donation, we can call it, I think that everybody in Queensland is going to be hugely grateful.
Two for 87, with Shaun Marsh going well. I hope you have a good day and enjoy watching the play.
PM: Thank you very much. I'll go enjoy it.
HOST: Thank you Prime Minister.