PM’s tears shake off ‘wooden’ response to flood deaths

AUSTRALIA’S prime minister choked back tears in parliament as she described the impact the deadly Queensland floods has had on the country.

Recalling the bravery of victims, including 13-year-old Jordan Rice — who insisted rescuers save his 10-year-old brother Blake before him — Julia Gillard said the summer of disasters would always be remembered by Australians.

Gillard’s response to the floods was described as “wooden” by critics, but she choked back tears as she recounted the nation’s horror summer, marked by huge floods that killed 35 people in Queensland state, top-strength Cyclone Yasi and wildfires still raging on the west coast.

The wildfires came just days after Cyclone Yasi ripped into Australia’s northeast coast, wiping out sugar and banana crops and devastating hundreds of homes in Queensland state, which is still reeling from record floods.

Gillard’s voice trembled as she recounted the difficulties Australia faced during the summer, a time she said would “always be remembered for the force and scale of the natural disasters the nation has endured”.

“This summer will always be remembered for the many times we turned to each other and said ‘it’s bad, but the worst is behind us now’ only to find that there was a new horror ahead,” the prime minister said, opening the first session of parliament for 2011.

“Australia has watched in horror as day after day a new chapter in natural disaster history has been written.”

Gillard wept as she presented a flag to the parliament given to her by army rescue workers who found it at Murphy’s Creek, epicentre of an “inland tsunami so powerful it swept away lives and shattered communities”.

“It spoke to them of courage; the courage it takes to keep filling sandbags even when your back is breaking, the courage it takes to hold your nerve in the dark as a cyclone races around you,” she said.

Many MPs wiped away tears as she recalled the story of Jordan Rice, 13, who urged rescuers to save his younger brother first as he was swept to his death, and a pregnant woman whose baby was wrenched from her arms just seconds before help arrived.

The prime minister had faced criticism for being too controlled and unresponsive during the height of the flooding crisis and her performance has been unfavourably compared to that of Anna Bligh, the Queensland premier, who was lauded for her compassion and sincerity.