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

I move:

That the House, at its rising, adjourn until Tuesday, 6 February, at 2.00 pm, unless the Speaker or, in the event of the Speaker being unavailable, the Deputy Speaker fixes an alternative day or hour for the meeting.

The House is coming to the end of this session and will rise this evening for the Christmas break. As is traditional in this place at this moment, we pause to engage in what are called the valedictories—they are sometimes given a less reverent title outside of this place. But it is an occasion to look back on the year. It is an opportunity for me and, I know, an opportunity for the Leader of the Opposition to express our gratitude to those people who have made such a contribution to the working of this parliament and made our political and public lives possible.

First and foremost, I want to say a couple of things about the state of our country and what has happened to Australia over the last year. Leaving politics aside, I think it cannot be gainsaid that we go to Christmas as a remarkably fortunate group of 20 million people. This remains an incredibly blest and lucky country, a lot of it due to our own effort, a lot of it due to the blessing of providence. It is a year that has seen Australia continue to prosper; and whilst there remains legitimate debate about whether it could be more or might be less if anything else had been done, that is not really my purpose in this speech.

But it has been a year of particular adversity for one section of the Australian community, and I commence my assessment of the year by acknowledging the enormous strain, difficulty and pain of the severe drought on rural Australia. When you think of our country you automatically think of the bush. It is something that is a very special part of our nation and it is something that has helped to define Australia for generations. The suffering of people in rural Australia due to the drought has been absolutely incalculable. I want all Australians who live in country areas to know that the thoughts of their fellow Australians are with them as they grapple with the adversity that the drought has brought them and, despite that adversity, they endeavour to celebrate Christmas as much as possible.

It has been a year in which, as well as drought, other natural disasters have hit different parts of the country: cyclones Larry and Monica; the Victorian bushfires, which rage as we speak; and the flooding in Katherine in April. The cooperation of the Commonwealth and Queensland governments in responding to the cyclone in Far North Queensland was remarkable and I pay tribute to the leadership of General Peter Cosgrove, who was put in charge of the relief operation by the Queensland government. He has once again demonstrated his remarkable leadership skills and his remarkable capacity to connect with the ordinary Australian.

I am sure, as an inspirational story of human survival, the survival of Grant Webb and Todd Russell in the Beaconsfield mine disaster was undoubtedly the highlight of the year. It was a survival against every conceivable odd. The remarkable story went around the world. It gripped all of us. It saw the very best of the Australian spirit. It saw everybody cooperating—the company, the union, the workers, the local community, the local churches and the local mayor. Everybody did their job. It was an inspirational example of the capacity of this country when it is required to put aside differences and work together. I think all of us were touched in a profound way by what occurred. I guess the final demonstration of Australian mateship in that great drama was the decision of the family of Larry Knight to postpone the funeral of their loved one so that the rescued miners could attend that funeral. It was tinged, of course, with sadness but, all in all, it was a remarkable event.

The Commonwealth Games were an extraordinary tribute to the capacity of the city of Melbourne, which worked together in a cohesive way that I think no other city of Australia could have done.

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