JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, a year since the Canberra bushfires, you';ve got a statement…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well a very strong recollection of the tremendous courage and community spirit displayed by the people of Canberra, in doing so they rallied wonderfully as a community and won a new respect and new empathy from the rest of Australia for looking after themselves and clubbing together in the face of adversity. The Commonwealth Government over the last year has provided general assistance of about $15 million for bushfires, we';re helping with the rebuilding of the Mt Stromlo Observatory, a tragic scientific loss, and generally working very closely with the ACT Government to help the Canberra community recover from the terrible bushfires of a year ago.
JOURNALIST:
Is today an occasion for Australians to remember what people went through?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh yes, in particular the Canberra community. It was the most devastating loss incurred in a suburban bushfire, if I can put it that way, in the history of the country, the number of dwellings destroyed was very high and many of the people affected by it will remember it for the rest of their lives.
JOURNALIST:
How';s the rebuilding process going?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think the rebuilding process has gone very well, largely due to the very strong sense of community and the very co-operative approach being adopted by the people of Canberra, I thought the Australians living in Canberra responded quite magnificently.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible) day yesterday…
PRIME MINISTER:
It was a great day, it was an exciting day for the Territory but also a very significant day for Australia, it shows what happens when Australians work together at different levels of government, a great tribute to the engineering skill and a reminder, both of our past, because this has been a long time coming, but also important to our future because it will provide a great bridge into Asia and further consolidate our trade links with the countries of south-east Asia.
Thank you.
[ends]