PRIME MINISTER: It’s not a day for politics, it’s Good Friday, and I just want to wish everybody over this Easter weekend every safety. Easter is a very important time for people of Christian faith, and it’s been wonderful to join with fellow believers here this morning – a very simple Good Friday service, focussing on the real message of Easter about Jesus Christ crucified today, but risen on Sunday and looking forward to being at my home church late on Sunday with the family. Easter is a message of hope. And so that’s what I hope people can really take out of today and over the course of the weekend. If you’re travelling around, of course, please be safe, be careful, particularly if you’re on the roads. I want to thank everybody for the very kind messages that they have sent in relation to the four officers who were hurt yesterday in their terrible car accident that you would have seen. They’re, they’re doing well. One of them is still in hospital. The other is expected to be discharged today. The other two Tasmanian police officers, I understand, are doing well. I want to thank Premier Rockliff for his kind message of support and all the other messages of support we had from other leaders, as well, from around the country. It was a terrible accident and a reminder that, you know, we have got to be safe on our roads as we are moving around. But you know, I do want to thank everybody for their very kind messages. They’re making a good recovery. And after hearing, we heard the accident right behind us, it was right behind us. We obviously feared for the worst. But thankfully, thankfully everybody is okay, but obviously in good care. I want to thank everybody down there at the Launceston General Hospital. I want to thank all the first responders too. The emergency services responded incredibly quickly yesterday, getting there. And I want to thank those who were at the scene as well, who helped our officers and, and who went to support as well at that time. So thankfully everyone’s doing a lot better. But it was obviously a very concerning moment and we obviously suspended campaigning activity. Over the course of today, well it’s Easter Friday and we’ll be focussing on that. It’s not a day for politics. It’s a day for giving thanks and reflecting on the true meaning of Easter, which I was very pleased to be able to do with Gladys this morning.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how do you reflect on the Easter message? What does it mean to you, and as a political leader of Australia? What message does it send about where Australia is in 2022?
PRIME MINISTER: Well Easter’s not about politics, and my faith isn’t about politics. What happened, Good Friday and Easter Sunday means everything to me. It’s my faith. It has informed me, encouraged me, guided me, over my entire life. It’s how I was raised in my family, in a church just like this one. My brother and I, and my Mum and Dad, and Jenny and I, are seeking to do the same thing with our own family. Easter is about faith. It’s about hope. It’s about being able to look forward to the future with confidence and encouraged by your beliefs. It’s a very personal thing for me, and I really enjoyed the service this morning. It was very reflective. It was very simple and just very honest. And the pastor’s message reminded me of the days I was at a Baptist church many years ago, not long after Jenny and I were married. And yeah, it was a, it was a very pleasant time to be with a lovely church community.
PRIME MINISTER: Prime Minister, have you had a chance to speak to your security detail in hospital?
JOURNALIST: Not as yet. I’ve been able to send messages to them, and I know that they’re all very grateful. I’m hoping to be able to speak to them today. They were able to speak to their families yesterday, which I was pleased about and so we’re looking forward to their recovery, but they are doing well and they are getting great support and have had a particularly great support overnight down there at Launceston General Hospital. Thanks very much everyone.
