Ah Harry ... I mean Kevin ...
Jan. 12th, 2011 08:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blamebramptonI can't help it, I still love Kevin Rudd. Australia's former prime minister, now foreign minister, was out on the streets of Brisbane today, trousers rolled up to his pasty white knees and tide marks to his thighs, carrying stuff to help evacuate people in his region. He evac-ed the belongings of a bunch of Korean students who are all on holidays and were going to lose everything. Bless him. A group of journos and stickybeaks started paying attention to him, so he roped them into helping.
Meanwhile, in his official capacity, Kevin announced today that offers of international help had been pouring in. Some from Australia's traditional friends, the US and UK (Thanks, Barack and Clameron!), some from European nations that have strong links with this country (most of them -- did you know Australia has the third largest Greek city in the world after Athens and Thessaloniki?).
And there are also significant offers from Indonesia, our giant northern neighbour that is not hugely rich. There were frosty relations between Australia and Indonesia for about thirty years over East Timor and events relating to it, which eased dramatically in the aftermath of the Pacific Tsunami and earthquakes that followed. It's strange that natural disasters can sometimes accelerate diplomacy in a way that nothing else can.
African nations are also offering support, even though many are currently stretched supporting countries in their own region. It's very heartwarming.
The good news is that Australia is comparatively wealthy, and even though these floods will take billions off the GDP for the next two years (agriculture and mining will be slow to recover), we have not had a recession during the GFC and are better positioned to weather the blow, as it were, than most of our G20 colleagues. So while we may require aid in terms of experts, equipment and maybe even manpower depending on how bad things get, from a money perspective, we'll cope as a country.
It is individuals who are going to have problems, with many underinsured or not insured at all. Millions of dollars have been pouring into the government fund, but thousands are affected, and whole homes are being lost. If you have spare funds, there are sites for donation. Many don't, good thoughts are just as valuable, and if you have Queenslanders on your flists, so is taking the time to comment to them and let them talk about what's going on. Having a good yarn, as they say in Oz, is thoroughly therapeutic.
Meanwhile, in his official capacity, Kevin announced today that offers of international help had been pouring in. Some from Australia's traditional friends, the US and UK (Thanks, Barack and Clameron!), some from European nations that have strong links with this country (most of them -- did you know Australia has the third largest Greek city in the world after Athens and Thessaloniki?).
And there are also significant offers from Indonesia, our giant northern neighbour that is not hugely rich. There were frosty relations between Australia and Indonesia for about thirty years over East Timor and events relating to it, which eased dramatically in the aftermath of the Pacific Tsunami and earthquakes that followed. It's strange that natural disasters can sometimes accelerate diplomacy in a way that nothing else can.
African nations are also offering support, even though many are currently stretched supporting countries in their own region. It's very heartwarming.
The good news is that Australia is comparatively wealthy, and even though these floods will take billions off the GDP for the next two years (agriculture and mining will be slow to recover), we have not had a recession during the GFC and are better positioned to weather the blow, as it were, than most of our G20 colleagues. So while we may require aid in terms of experts, equipment and maybe even manpower depending on how bad things get, from a money perspective, we'll cope as a country.
It is individuals who are going to have problems, with many underinsured or not insured at all. Millions of dollars have been pouring into the government fund, but thousands are affected, and whole homes are being lost. If you have spare funds, there are sites for donation. Many don't, good thoughts are just as valuable, and if you have Queenslanders on your flists, so is taking the time to comment to them and let them talk about what's going on. Having a good yarn, as they say in Oz, is thoroughly therapeutic.
