Message from the Prime Minister

On behalf of all Australians, thank you for your courage, your determination and your unbreakable spirit through one of our nation’s darkest hours.

The whole nation salutes you.

I cannot tell you how many calls, emails and letters have flooded in to my office, the Premier’s office, and the offices of MPs and ministers all around the country to express their gratitude and admiration for the dedicated CFA volunteers and career staff.

Thousands of CFA volunteers from across Victoria deployed to fight these fires and provide specialised support services at the staging grounds and incident control centres. And thousands of you were on standby to protect the rest of the state.

We suffered catastrophic losses in the fires, but the loss of life and property would have been far, far greater without your extraordinary efforts.

You each know firsthand the destructive terror of fire - its power, its speed, its capricious shifts in course and its lack of mercy. Now the whole nation has seen it. And we have a new appreciation of the dangers you confront every time you go on duty.

In the days I have spent on the ground in the fire towns, I have seen more tragedy and trauma than anyone would want to see in a lifetime.

But I have also drawn inspiration from meeting so many CFA volunteers. As I have said in recent days, the men and women of the CFA are true Australian heroes. Your acts of bravery, kindness and compassion have kept many people going when they have lost everything.

Your service to the community is so much more remarkable, when so many of you experienced tragic personal losses.

Thank you. You have made me proud to be Prime Minister of this great nation.

Kevin Rudd