Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced Tuesday that outgoing Victoria state police chief Christine Nixon will be responsible for coordinating all local, state and Commonwealth agencies to help rebuild fire-affected communities, local media reported.

She will begin in March, ABC News reported.

A veteran police officer for 30 years, Nixon is the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police and will resign from the position in April, 2009.

Nixon will report to Victorian Premier John Brumby, who will be assisted by a federal ministerial advisory group including Family and Community Services Minister, Jenny Macklin, the report said.

Rudd also announced that the Australian government will provide another 5 million Australian dollars (3.36 million U.S. dollars) to help those affected by the fires and flooding in north Queensland.

The Prime Minister reiterated his vehement condemnation against the arsonists, saying that dealing with arsonists was a matter of "grave urgency" and there was no excuse for it.

"This as I said yesterday is simply murder on a grand scale," he said. "Let us attend to this unfinished business of the nation and come to grips with this evil thing."

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2009)