PM: Hell in all its fury has visited the good people of Victoria in the last 24 hours and many good people now lie dead, many others lie injured. This is an appalling tragedy for Victoria but because of that, it's an appalling tragedy for the nation. And Australia, the country stands behind Victoria at this awful time.
To echo what the Premier said before our first response as human beings is one of just the deepest empathy for people whose lives have now been devastated. This loss of life, the numbers of injured and horrific injuries, our thoughts and our prayers go out to each and everyone of them as they now try and deal with this tragedy and recover from the damage which has occurred.
Also as human beings we salute the extraordinary courage of all the emergency services workers. And, the Premier and I've heard just some small stories of this today, they'll be others larger told later on. And this is a great testament to all of our emergency services personnel right across the spectrum - Police, Fire, Country Fire Authority, those who work in our hospitals, those in the SES.
Can I also say that at times like this, the nation stands behind states like Victoria when the Australian Defence Force is needed. And all of the resources as required by the Victorian authorities from the Australian Defence Force will be provided. Wherever that is, whichever community it is, whatever the defence force can do, we will do. Some of these communities don't have anything left much. And so it may mean that we've got military logisticians working their way through together with the state disaster relief coordinators to work out what can be done in each community, simply to make them immediately as functional as possible. This is very large scale stuff.
Secondly, on the question of the automatic desire across the nation to give and to give generously, the Premier and I've agreed on this community recovery plan this morning. We kick it off with $10 million between us. And my appeal to all Australians is to dig deep as people's lives have been shattered. And the details of that relief fund will be made public a little later in the day.
The Commonwealth itself through the normal Centrelink payments, emergency Centrelink payments has kicked into gear. I'll ask the Minister Jenny Macklin to detail those in a minute, for those who are in immediate need of financial help now. That's what we do through Commonwealth, through Centrelink, immediate need financial help now through emergency payments.
There's a long road ahead. But again I conclude with where I began, the national Government will be with the Victorian Government through the awful and ugly days that lie ahead, and in along the path of recovery.
MACKLIN: Thanks very much. Well Centrelink have established a Victorian Fires Hotline and the number is 180 2211, 180 2211. People can now call that hotline number and the emergency assistance will be made available as quickly as possible. It's $1000 for each adult affected and $400 per child. So these immediate payments are there for people who find themselves in very very difficult circumstances right now.
PREMIER BRUMBY: Alright, thanks Jenny.
MACKLIN: Sorry I might just add the other important service that Centrelink will be providing in conjunction with the state department is the critical role of counsellors. We know that in the relief centres that have been established, there are many people who are suffering not only the loss of their property, but also they know members of their families, members of their communities who've passed away. So we'll be providing Centrelink social workers and counsellors into the relief centres and to the communities where people have been so devastated, to provide that personal support and that will be done as quickly as possible.
PREMIER BRUMBY: And can I just say in relation to that. This is one of the big areas of need that we've got, and the support from the Federal Government in this regard is just so important. There are so many families, there are many firefighters and many that I spoke to last night in Bendigo, they've been out there in their own area, many have been out outing fires, they've lost their own home. We've had cases where firefighters were out fighting fires when they've lost members of their families, and the need for support and counselling services is very significant. And to get the support from the Federal Government, the South Australian Premier today also offered his support in this regard, this is going to be, as I said the top priority is to provide that support.
Can I also just say, just to reiterate a message we've been getting out all day that the fires aren't over. You know, they're a long long way from over. We've still got ten or twelve fires, ten to twelve which are serious. We've got 26 that are still out of control. This morning in Wondong, the fire flared there, and a fire that was believed to be contained in that area's again quite active. So this is not over. The message has been going out about sightseers, we don't need sightseers out there, we've got active fires around right across the state. We've got strong wind over the next few days and this, this isn't over yet.
Can I also say the Leader of the Opposition is here today. I spoke to Mr Baillieu and to Peter Ryan, the Leader of the National party this morning. Peter Ryan is with Bob Cameron in Gippsland and I know Ted's available to make some comments later on. If you wish but, this is an occasion obviously where there is a bipartisan approach to making sure whatever steps are necessary to put in place, to do the things that need to be done, will be done.