The drought and compassion and opportunism

from w
I am disturbed about the farming community along the Murray River, not angry at the farmers but at the government policies of taking away their water rights and planning to put in a pipeline to keep Melbourne city's gardens green! It's outrageous. Melbourne people can actually use their garden hoses still.

Okay, Australia is a dry, dry country, and droughts occur periodically but this time the Murray River is really in crisis and there just isn't water for irrigation to produce grapes and soft fruits, let alone pastures for sheep and cattle. It has been a mistake to assume that it will always rain. In my hometown in the Mallee area the annual rainfall used to be 11 inches a year, and now it's even less.

Then there's the quick fix of the government offering cash to farmers who walk off the land - which makes city people angry that they can get money so easily. Of course when the wheat crops fail, prices go up for bread, etc. When farmers chop their vines to the ground or let them die, there will be no wine. Anyway here are three cartoons from today's Age newspaper.

Murray Darling Rivers and drought

from w
I saw the TV news this morning and realize what Penny (from South Australia) was writing about in a comment. The Prime Minister has announced drastic measures about the Murray Darling basin to cut irrigation water to farmers along the Murray and Darling rivers of rain doesn't fall within six weeks. This is appalling as these areas are the food basket of Australia, producing so much fruit and vegetables. My hometown, Swan Hill, is in the middle of the situation and towns like Mildura, Robinvale, Swan Hill, Echuca and so on could lose their farms and infrastructure if irrigation water is cut. The rivers are drying up, there's no doubt about that but to cut irrigation would spell the end of food production there.

I looked up the ABC references for today on this site.

Drastic plan announced for Murray-Darling crisis

Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast: 19/04/2007
Reporter: Paul Lockyer
The Prime Minister today announced a drastic proposal to cut off vital water to crops in the drought stricken Murray-Darling Basin unless rains fall in the next six to eight weeks. The plan would lead to immense economic and social fallout and marks the first time such drastic measures have been contemplated.
Transcript
KERRY O'BRIEN: But first the latest water crisis, and the Prime Minister's revelation of the drastic proposal to cut off vital water to crops on tens of thousands of farms in the drought-stricken Murray-Darling basin unless heavy rains fall in the next six to eight weeks.

Australian of the Year Tim Flannery has called it a national disaster plan, with worse to come. He says the greenhouse nightmare has begun.

It's a plan that would lead to immense economic and social fallout. Never before have such extreme measures been contemplated.
Etc.