Crocodiles

The crocodile park was devastated during the cyclone and I confess I hadn't even thought about crocodiles. I hope the people in Queensland are not having to deal with loose crocodiles as well as everything else. I heard this morning some of the people are getting accommodation elsewhere until the power is back on. With the rain the progress will be slow, but they certainly don't need to be worrying about crocodiles on the loose...By the same token I hope the animals up in Queensland will be okay because people will need to sort themselves out before they can think about anything else. As I have said before, we don't say much. We look. We listen. We wait. We are all thinking of the Queenslanders and they know where we are when they need us. To be honest, I have not thought one way nor the other about their Premier Mr. Beattie but I heard him on the news this morning and he comes from one of the devastated areas and to hear him talk was very reassuring to me. He seemed to understand his people and his land so well and that is a real Australian. They understand the heartbeat of the country and what it means and it is not something you can just learn.It's there inside of you. He knew what this all meant and what he would have to do and how it was all likely to go, but he understood and could articulate the loss in an extremely compassionate and honest way. That meant more to me than all the reports of numbers and figures and pictures. These Queenslanders are very, very special. They know their land.