Well thank you very much Councillor Treloar, Barry Wakelin, my colleague and the Federal Member for Grey, and my State Parliamentary colleagues, members of local councils, ladies and gentlemen. I'm very conscious that I'm today visiting an area and addressing a group of people who in recent months have suffered great tragedy and great loss and there are a number of people here today who have been directly, in a very painful way, affected by that loss. And I want to say on behalf of all of your fellow Australians that although some months have now passed since that terrible fire and the loss that you suffered, the natural thoughts and sympathy of Australians towards you remains very strong.
Australians are a very generous people. We have a strong instinct of helping our own when they need assistance and we have a strong desire to gather around those of our own who are affected in times of trouble. And that of course was the case earlier this year. And I want to say on behalf of the Federal Government, and I certainly acknowledge the role and the contribution of the state government and local government, that we will continue to provide the assistance that we should in accordance with all of the arrangements we have with State Governments. And I don't want to go to any of the technicalities of that, this isn't the occasion, but simply to say disaster relief arrangements that are in place all over Australia involve, after a certain level of loss, a very significant financial contribution from the Federal Government, and that was available on this occasion as it has been on all other occasions. Could I also say what a magnificent job that Barry Wakelin did in keeping his Federal colleagues informed, and in representing to me and to so many others, the impact of the terrible tragedy on the Eyre Peninsular.
This gathering, and indeed the response of your community, is a celebration of one of the great strengths of Australian society, and that is the volunteer spirit. People who observe Australians, and people who make commentary upon the Australian character, talk about how laconic and undemonstrative we can be. But what they sometimes overlook is that we have a practical compassion which is second to none of any communities around the world. And when people really need help, be it Australians or be it people in other countries who have suffered great loss, there is an enormous capacity on the part of the Australian people to respond and respond generously. And I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all of the magnificent community services that are represented here today. They really are the backbone of the survival of communities when they are touched by disaster and touched by tragedy. Firefighters are admired around Australia, whether it's here in South Australia, or in New South Wales, or Western Australia. All parts of our country, in different ways, have been affected. And their response is quite magnificent. And never forgetting of course the emergency services, the police, the ambulance services, the religious leaders and figures, the wonderful work of bodies such as the Salvation Army, the Country Women's Association and so the list goes on; all come together in a marvellous, spontaneous way to respond to disaster and respond to tragedy.
And in the few moments that I've had already to talk to people, and after this short speech I want to meet as many of you as I can, I have been touched and impressed by the spirit of hope and optimism by people who lost so much earlier this year but are now looking in a bright and optimistic way to the future. Can I simply say that I admire the spirit of this community. I respect enormously its resilience. I understand its loss. And I pay great tribute to the men and women of this part of Australia, who have responded in such a wonderful, effective and resilient way to the great tragedy that overcame your community.
I said to a few people that driving towards this meeting this morning, I had seen, ironically enough, greener fields than I've seen in any part of Australia over the last six or nine months. It's amazing the recuperative capacity of nature. It is extraordinary how green it is compared with other parts of Australia, and yet ironically it comes only a few months after the devastation of the fires at the beginning of this year.
My friends thank you very much for having me. I wish this community well. I thank you for coming along in such numbers and allowing me an opportunity to say a few simple words of tribute to a community that has demonstrated a great backbone and has been an exemplar of the Australian spirit of resilience and recovery, which has been a characteristic of our nation and a characteristic of our people over so many years. I admire you and I pay tribute to you, and I thank you very warmly for having me in your home area and greeting me in that normal, friendly, open, Australian way.
Thank you.
[ends]