MEDIA RELEASE
14 February 2008
For Immediate Release
AUSTRALIA SAYS THANK YOU
Australian High Commissioner Chris Moraitis has warmly thanked Papua New Guinea for its friendship and assistance in Australia’s time of need.
“I know I can speak not only for the Australian Government but for all Australians in thanking our close friend and neighbour, Papua New Guinea, for the extraordinary support it has offered us during this difficult time,” Mr Moraitis said.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd spoke in Parliament on Thursday about the actions of Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare and the Papua New Guinea Government in coming to Australia’s aid with a $2 million contribution to bushfire and flood relief.
Commenting on his earlier telephone call from the Grand Chief, Prime Minister Rudd said, “It is good to have, at times like this, neighbours who are indeed friends.”
Mr Moraitis echoed these sentiments: “The lives and properties lost in Victoria during the bushfire disaster can never be recovered, and many North Queenslanders will have many difficult months of reconstruction ahead after the current floods. At a time like this it is heart-warming to know that our friends here are thinking of us and helping in whatever ways they can,” he said.
The High Commissioner said that the PNG Government’s gift of $2 million to help in disaster recovery was an extremely generous gesture and one that Australia would remember for a long time.
Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare personally presented Mr Moraitis with the cheque on Saturday 14 February.
Equally important, Mr Moraitis said, was the outpouring of sympathy and the messages of support from ordinary Papua New Guineans. This would not be forgotten.
The High Commissioner also thanked the Papua New Guinea Red Cross Society for its work to raise funds to help the victims of the fire. Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane launched the Red Cross Society’s Australia Disaster Appeal Fund on Thursday. Mr Moraitis also expressed appreciation for a donation pledged by President of the Autonomous Bougainville Government James Tanis and Sir Julius Chan’s kind offer of support.
“The personal links between Australia and Papua New Guinea are so strong that many Papua New Guineans themselves have been touched by the bushfire tragedy, having friends or family in Victoria who are affected,” the High Commissioner said.
“I’d like to say thank you to everyone in Papua New Guinea who has kept Australia in their thoughts and prayers in recent days.”
“Australia will always be there for Papua New Guinea when it faces disasters or other situations where we can help. And it’s touching to know that Papua New Guinea is there for us, too.”
The following is an excerpt from the Hansard record of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s address to the Australian Parliament on 12 February, 2009:
“I also, just before coming to parliament this morning, received a phone call from the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Sir Michael Somare, informing me that the government of Papua New Guinea has decided to donate A$2 million to assist disaster victims in the bushfires in Victoria and those who have been affected by flooding in North Queensland. Sir Michael asked me to make one point to all members assembled, and that was again to say that, whenever natural calamities have hit Papua New Guinea in the past, Australia, through the Australian Defence Force and through other Australian aid agencies, has always been first into the fray and that, in this small way, he too wishes to reflect to the Australian people that they are not just a neighbour but a friend. It is good to have, at times like this, neighbours who are indeed friends.”
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