Editorial: Empathy abundant in Aussie

During a recent short trip to Australia, I was struck by two things - the weather and Australians concern for the people of Christchurch.
Travelling in Victoria with two other Kiwi journalists, everywhere we went the first question asked was where were we from.
Partly this was because many Australians have been to New Zealand or know people who live here. But when we declared Auckland, Hawke's Bay and Dunedin, it was often followed by a statement like: "Bet you're glad you're not from Christchurch".
There was nothing glib about our Anzac brothers' statements though. You could tell they had followed the coverage closely and were deeply shocked and moved.
Victoria had just been hit by January flooding when the Christchurch earthquake struck. Their problem came on top of a 12-year drought.
While it was not as destructive a weather event as it was in Queensland at the end of last year, and in no way compared with the bush fires which claimed 173 lives in 2009, it had nevertheless left a psychological scar.
In its wake, there had been multiple insect infestations, some of which had never been seen before.
At a golf club we visited in Swan Hill, a club executive explained to us how crickets had marched into the roof space of their building, only to be followed by hungry mice. The noise and the smell was so unbearable that the club had to close for a day so the ceiling could be removed and the mess cleaned up.
As we drove further north, we came across still flooded areas.
Our trip took us along the incredible Murray River into the rural heartland, where the attitude of the people was one of get up and get on.
When I mentioned the flash flooding on the East Coast in April, ears pricked up. The speed with which Hawke's Bay's situation developed was clearly understood.
Climate change worldwide was mentioned as a culprit by a local winemaker; a view that is gaining credibility in scientific circles as weather event follows weather event.
Throughout the visit, our hosts were perplexed and apologetic about the cold weather, which was cooler than New Zealand was experiencing - at least, Auckland and Hawke's Bay. "It's not normally like this," they said.
It had been a strange year, was the general consensus. The concern is that such years could become more commonplace.