King Charles III shares a message regarding Tropical Cyclone Alfred

His Majesty The King has sent a message of support to Queenslanders affected by recent severe weather, praising their resilience, kindness, and community spirit.

In the message, His Majesty says: "Following our visit to Australia at the end of last year, my wife and I particularly wanted to say how much our thoughts are with all those who have been so severely affected by the destructive weather events along Australia’s East coast over the past two months – from the flooding in North Queensland to the devastating effects of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred on communities in Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales.

The Queen and I have been monitoring these weather events with mounting concern. Australians are, of course, only too accustomed to these calamities but, as always, we are hugely inspired by everyone’s indomitable good humour and community spirit. Nevertheless, the impact is still utterly devastating, and especially so for those people who have just recovered, or are indeed still recovering, from yet another recent natural disaster.

Straightforward kindness and courage are the virtues that have always so impressed me ever since I first came to Australia, very nearly sixty years ago – and, yet again, they have underpinned how Australians are supporting one another through these crises.

Above all, we wanted to express our particular gratitude to the police, emergency services and military personnel, government and local authorities, and the large number of volunteers from across the nation for their preparedness, response and ongoing recovery efforts. We greatly admire their extraordinary commitment and selfless service to their fellow Australians, to whom we send our warmest thoughts and fond good wishes.

CHARLES R