sentences:  At a reception in her honour held at Parliament House in Canberra on 21 October 2011, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, described the Queen as "a vital constitutional part of Australian democracy".The Queen in her speech at the same reception stated that,
  "It has been a difficult year for this country in many ways despite the successes.The world witnessed the anguish of Australians as they lived through a summer of national disasters.