Warnings today from Treasurer Peter Costello that the drought that’s devastating large areas of Australia is set to worsen this year bringing with it further deterioration in the earning power of our farmers. In fact he is predicting that without rain soon Australian farming is set to enter a severe recession.
Coupled with this is a warning from Christopher Pyne (Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing) about the dangers of the economic stress the drought is causing.
Sadly, not only are the warnings of impending doom doing nothing to reduce the suicide rate but are likely to cause further loss of life as farmers see whatever hope they had of improvement disappearing like the waters in ther dams.
In addition even the young are seeing suicide as the only way out of the utter desperation they see as their futures. Farms are closing down production, farmers are laying off employees – both permanent and seasonal, and businesses in the local towns are also closing down or laying off staff in an effort to keep themselves going.
The situation is rapidly becoming desperate. What the government can do to help I don’t know. Even giving grants can only be a stop gap measure.
Maybe what is really needed is some forward thinking. Maybe we need a desalination plants built *now* and putting into full production. What water isn;t pumped into Warragamba to keep it at peak capacity should be pumped out into the bush to be used for irrigation etc or just to supply water to desperate towns. It isn;t a complete answer but with enough willpower we could see farmers being supplied with brackish water, maybe unsuitable for drinking, but adequate for use on crops.
Didn’t say it was an answer… but it would be a start towards an answer maybe?
The Eclectic Interweb 