Di Natale Senate Video Conference of last speech : Let me begin by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation from whose land I am speaking today, the Ngunawal and Ngambri people on whose land our national parliament meets and the traditional owners of the lands from right across the country. Mr President, I hope you don't mind me saying that, after announcing my resignation—I'm going to share this with the rest of the world—you sent me a cheeky text message saying that you wouldn't kick me out of the Senate during my final speech. Now I'm not sure how you're going to do that from Melbourne, but I'm going to do my best to behave. I didn't expect that my final speech would take place in a virtual parliament from a locked-down city amid a global pandemic. It's a pandemic that's causing untold suffering and hardship across the world. It's a pandemic that follows a devastating summer of bushfires. And it's a pandemic that concludes m...
Putin, I extend greetings to all Christians on the day of Christ’s Resurrection
Vladimir Putin greeted Orthodox Christians and all citizens of Russia celebrating Easter Sunday. With great sincerity, I extend greetings to all Christians on the day of Christ’s Resurrection, the great holiday of Easter. I know that members of all religious denominations and followers of all traditional religions in Russia will join me in these greetings. This year celebrations are being held under mandated restrictions. They are necessary to fight the spread of the coronavirus infection, a disease that is by now known throughout the world. By joining efforts, together we are overcoming challenges as they emerge. And as I have repeatedly said, we have everything we need for this – a healthy and strong economy, scientific capabilities, the necessary material base and highly professional healthcare. We are carefully monitoring the experience of foreign countries and are engaged in active cooperation with our foreign friends and colleagues. We are aware of what is going on and see the ri...