Prince William meets Australia fire victims

Prince William on Thursday met survivors of horrific firestorms that killed 173 people in rural Australia last year, during an emotional tour of flattened towns.

William, 27, took a particular interest in February's so-called Black Saturday wildfires and had requested that a tour of the worst-hit areas and meeting survivors form a key part of his visit Down Under.

He travelled from Sydney to the town of Whittlesea to receive an official briefing with Victoria state premier John Brumby about the firefighting operation and reconstruction efforts, before touring devastated areas.

"It's terrifying what it can do isn't it?" he remarked, leafing through photographs of the damage.

Brumby said the young prince was "staggered" by the scale of the destruction.

Hundreds of homeless and traumatised victims took refuge in Whittlesea following last February's blazes and many turned out Thursday to greet William, whose visit comes just two weeks ahead of the tragedy's first anniversary.

His convoy made a stop at the Humevale property of Richard and Diane Fox so that he could speak with them about their ordeal.

"It's an honour, it's not every day that royalty comes to walk on your lovely block of land," said Diane, adding that the visit would lift spirits and help the healing process.

"There's been a lot of heartache, a lot of mud," she said.

"It's not just about an area, it's about the people, and there's been so many people affected, not just us who lost our houses."

"It's something for everybody now that the anniversary's just around the corner to be thinking, 'well, we're all able to move on and start getting our lives back together again'."

The casually dressed royal, who wore a yellow ribbon on his shirt in memory of the dead, mixed easily with survivors during a barbecue lunch, inquiring after the welfare of families and whether they intended to rebuild.

Delighted local children queued for a chance to bat against the high-profile visitor during a lunchtime cricket game with Australian stars Matthew Hayden and Brett Lee.

"For those who lost family or lost property to have Prince William here and to be able to talk to him, to see that support, it's a great comfort to them... it's part of that rebuilding process," said Brumby.

William is due to return to Melbourne to deliver his only official speech of the visit, at an evening reception to mark Australia Day, the January 26 national holiday that commemorates the arrival of white settlers in 1788.

Media reports suggest he will briefly drop in at the Australian Open tennis tournament before taking a late-night commercial flight back to Britain by the end of the week.

Several thousand well-wishers gathered in Sydney's harbour district Wednesday hoping to catch a glimpse of the young prince on his way to a barbecue lunch on the waterfront.

In a brief speech William thanked the Australian public for embracing him with such enthusiasm, and joked he had been so thrilled with his reception he was thinking about buying a house in the harbour city.

The young royal requested the trip to Australia as a way to get to know the country and its people, following official duties in New Zealand, where he represented his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II for the first time.

William last visited Australia in the arms of his popular late mother, Princess Diana, when he was just nine months old in 1983, and commentators say his ready humour and laid-back manner gave him the "Diana touch" with the public.

His popular tour has revived debate over whether Australia should become a republic, with some opinion-formers suggesting he had boosted the monarchist cause.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said there were "no present plans" to have a referendum on becoming a republic, a move the Australian people voted against in 1999.