John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I seek the indulgence of the House to briefly mention three matters. I know that all Australians would have been particularly touched and saddened by the tragic level crossing accident at Kerang in Victoria. As a nation we are used to traffic accidents. They are a daily occurrence, sadly enough, but this was a particularly devastating one. The personal stories of those whose lives were suddenly taken from their loved ones did touch the hearts of a nation and particularly the community surrounding Kerang in Victoria. Our love and our sympathy go out to those left bereaved by this terrible accident. The Commonwealth government has offered all the assistance it can provide in relation to investigations to establish the cause of the accident. Officers of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau are already assisting their Victorian colleagues. As always, the grimmest tasks in terrible accidents fall to the police and the ambulance officers. Those in the community who take it upon themselves on far too regular a basis to attack police and to call them all sorts of things should remember how terrible the job of police is in dragging mangled bodies from cars and, in this case, from a train. To them, to the ambulance officers and to all the other community services I express my personal admiration and thanks and those, I know, of the entire parliament.

Whilst I am in this vein, I know I speak on behalf of the House in paying tribute to the remarkable stoicism and courage of the people of the Hunter region of New South Wales and of the Central Coast. We are all aware of the severe flooding and violent storms that sadly have claimed nine lives—including, in an absolutely heartbreaking accident on the old Pacific Highway, five members of one family in the most brutal and sudden of all accidents with the subsidence of that road. I had the opportunity yesterday of visiting the Hunter region in company with my colleague the member for Paterson. I met the member for Hunter, the Mayor of Newcastle, Mr John Tate, and the Mayor of Maitland, Mr Peter Blackmore. Again I can only say how tremendously impressed I was, as I know everybody has been, with the work of the SES, the police, the ambulance services and the other local civic officials. Teams of SES people had come from all over Australia, including some teams from Victoria and one from Broken Hill. Once again, the great Australian spirit of cooperation in adversity to get things done and achieve a common purpose was very much in evidence.

I know that part of New South Wales extremely well. They are great people—the people of the Hunter and the people of the Central Coast of New South Wales—and I pay tribute to their stoicism, their matter-of-fact way of dealing with adversity, and the calm way in which they accepted the requests of the authorities. Mercifully, the damage to property and the loss of life was less than was feared at one stage, and that is a great tribute to the calmness of the people and the wonderful advice that they had received from the SES.

This has been an occasion when all levels of government have worked together very closely. I spoke to the New South Wales Premier at length on Saturday and offered him any additional assistance of which New South Wales might stand in need over the disaster relief arrangements that are in operation. I also announced, as is the case in all like circumstances, additional Commonwealth assistance where serious injury is sustained or a residence is rendered uninhabitable or unliveable for a period of 48 hours. This has been a great example of cooperation in adversity and I pay tribute to those involved.

There is one other matter I want to mention. Perhaps the Acting Leader of the Opposition might respond to the first two issues and then I could address the other.

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