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The big dry: 'See us, hear us, help us'

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Isaac soloman View Drop Down
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    Posted: 29 Jul 2018 at 11:44am
For all you latte sipping, china loving, superannuation endorsed, more concerned about american politics, i present.......

just think, when this is gone, you can buy your produce from china. quality however will be questionable. But, tables will turn; those with the money will be able to get the best, from wherever! just as china does nowLOL

Farmers across New South Wales and Queensland are calling it the worst drought in living memory. Many are facing ruin and say it is time for their city cousins to acknowledge the disaster.


Cattle and sheep farmer Bev Hicks breaks down in tears as she points out her dying trees.

"My trees, they're 100 years old and I'm losing them," she says. "Things like that really do devastate you."

Ms Hicks is based near Denman in the Upper Hunter region of NSW where many landholders are running out of water. And they are not alone.

Ninety-eight per cent of NSW and around two-thirds of Queensland is in drought or drought-affected, with pastures turned to rubble and the cost of freight and feed skyrocketing.

"People in the city need to look at what's going on and understand that if you've got constant drought, the price of food will go up and you'll lose your country towns."

John Sylvester portrait
Feeding cattle
Cattle feeding on hay

In the neighbouring New England region, farmers say the dry conditions are the worst they can remember.

"It's certainly the worst drought I've ever seen," says cattle farmer John Sylvester.

"But you've got to keep persevering, or you don't come out the other end."

An hour up the road at Currabubula, publican Kathy Smith sees firsthand the emotional toll the drought is taking.

"One farmer said to me the other day they're feeding their lambs, but the feed costs more than they can get for the lambs if they sell them," Ms Smith says.

Ms Smith says farmers' pride keeps them quiet, but their plight needs to be recognised.

"Farmers don't ask for handouts," she says. "But it's time we all looked in our backyard and supported our lifeblood."

Liverpool Plains rural property from the air
Aerial of dry land on Liverpool Plains
Drought stricken land on the Liverpool Plains

Tamworth stock and station agent Simon Bourke says the drought is unprecedented.

"Australia should be concerned because everyone is tightening their belts," he says.

"We're selling livestock we don't want to sell … down the track there's really not going to be too many cattle or sheep left."

And it is not just traditional farmers who are suffering. Tamworth beekeeper Ray Hull has run out of nectar.

"We can buy sugar syrup to feed our bees, but the trees are 100 years old and once they're gone you never get them back," Mr Hull says.

"People might say 'it's just a bee'. Well, it's just my income and it's just my living."

Ray Hull examines his bees.
Beekeeper Ray Hull in his shed

In the lower Darling region near Pooncarie, sheep farmer Phil Wakefield scratches his head when asked where he will get his next lot of feed.

"We've purchased about $100,000 worth of hay but I don't know if I can buy any more because it's too dear and it could be another $40,000 for freight on top of that," he says.

Dead sheep in foreground of brown paddock
Pooncarie farm from air

Mr Wakefield has had to significantly de-stock, while watching ewes abandon lambs.

"The poor little fellas have been trampled," he says. "But there's not much we can do about it."

He says money for bores would be handy, as the wait for rain and for the Darling River to fill drags on.

The Dry Darling Anabranch
Dried up lake in Menindee Lakes system
Aerial of waterhole surrounded by red dust

In the Central West, Western Plains and North West Slopes regions, farmers say it is the worst drought in a century.

In 2013, sheep and cattle farmers Tony and Marie Knight suffered huge losses in the Wambelong bushfire near Coonabarabran. Their last decent drop of rain was more than a year ago.

Coonabarabran farmer Marie Knight feeding cattle
Cattle feeding from trough
Tony Knight feeding cattle

"It's gone on for so long, it's like back-to-back droughts … everybody is a bit shocked, horrified, because we never thought it could get as bad as this," Mr Knight says.

"In a good year we can produce enough food to feed hundreds of people, but in a bad year we have trouble feeding ourselves."

On Sydney's doorstep, the Southern Highlands region is deceptively green. But stockfeed supplier and sheep and chicken farmer Ken Walters says conditions are dire.

"We've had droughts over the years, numerous times, in the '60s, '80s, the millennial drought, but a lack of rain combined with record temperatures has just decimated everything," he says.

Mr Walters' partner Deb Murtagh says they have had to ration hay to customers.

"No-one's talking about drought because everyone in Sydney has still got water from the big dams and they can still wash their cars and their driveways," Ms Murtagh says.

"But we've got farmers out here who are going broke because they can't afford feed."

Dairy farmer Greg Schofield
Dairy Farmer Greg Schofield with hay and cows

Greg Schofield is a fourth-generation dairy farmer at Avoca in the Southern Highlands, and says consumers don't ask questions when they can buy dollar-a-litre milk.

"It's hard to look too much into the future with the price we're getting for our milk compared to the price I have to pay for input products like hay, and there's not a great deal of hay left in NSW," he says.

"Mentally, it's quite stressful, that's why we have a thing called beer."

In Western Queensland, farmers are comparing this big dry to the famously severe drought of the 1880s.

Genevieve Hawkins runs a cattle station near Aramac in Western Queensland where 2017 was the driest year in 38 years of records.

"It's patchy — some people have had rain, some people have had close to nothing and we are in the close-to-nothing patch," she says.

Girl feeding cattle cotton seed
Boy playing in a mound of cottonseed
Genevieve Hawkins and her children sitting in a ute.

Ms Hawkins has had to sell a lot of her cattle, while feeding what's left with cotton seed.

"It's just relentless, you don't sleep because you can't stop thinking about it," she says.

"It's important to look after your own."

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Second Chance Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jul 2018 at 12:10pm
Where do you get off introducing the ABC piece about the severe drought conditions in NSW with "For all you latte sipping, china loving, superannuation endorsed, more concerned about american politics, i present......."

Do you think you're the only one who cares?  Do you think people of your political persuasion are the only ones to care?  

Ok I'm slightly left of Centre, however in another life I led a small team that developed Farm Management deposits which are now being pushed by the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources as one answer to the financial plight that farmers currently find themselves in.  And I worked with people of all persuasions who had a common goal to support Australian agriculture through a whole series of initiatives including research and development and marketing of product.

The situation has naff all to do with latte sippers, or the Chinese.  And to suggest that the people you apparently despise don't care is a totally insulting inference.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jul 2018 at 12:29pm
got your attention though didnt it.

why didnt you post this then?

when do you get off using tbv for your news only? very narrow point of view.

broaden your horizons!  attack personLOL
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VOYAGER Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jul 2018 at 6:15pm
What I got from the, admittedly unneeded first line, is the more direct version of what the farmers in the story were saying, that people who live in the city and who have no grasp of the detail, that goes into placing their meat in the meat section of Woolworths or Aldi, need to realise the dire situation.

I find it difficult to fathom how any Australian government can justify sending tax payer money overseas to foreign governments, but they can not find the money to assist these farmers and their businesses.

As was stated in the story, farmers do not want handouts, they need assistance in gaining a solution to solving the drought, and its consequences.

A irrigation network which would artificially feed the barren ground water, is needed more, than small financial handouts, because farmers want working properties, not cheques in the mail.     
Remember, it might take intelligence to be smart , but it takes experience to be wise
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote furious Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jul 2018 at 6:51pm
Yes water is the key.  We have to work at filling there dams and getting water to the outback.  This would stop the handouts.  They would have hope for the future and bees are the basic building blocks for so many industries.  This is time the pointed fingers of both sides of politics went down and heads started working together.  It will cost money but in the  long term will save money and build up Australia.  

Both sides of politics just need to put there bums down and start working for us all.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jul 2018 at 7:17pm
Ironically & as an aside, Tamworth ran 3 races today & abandoned, I'm guessing due to the 'showers' making for a slippery surface on top of parched ground.
I do stand to be corrected tho' - I did say 'guessing'.

Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jul 2018 at 7:19pm

Drought-hit farmers urged to apply for government assistance payment

By regional affairs reporter Anna Henderson, Sunday July 29, 2018 - 00:17 EST

Some drought-hit farmers have said they cannot afford basic items and food. - ABC
Up to 15,000 farmers who are eligible for a Federal Government drought assistance payment have not applied for it, according to new figures.

Drought-ravaged farmers can apply for the Farm Household Allowance (FHA), a payment equivalent to the unemployment benefit.

Since 2014 about 8,000 people have accessed it.

But about almost double that number may be eligible and have not made an application, according to the Agriculture Department.



Farmers in stress have told the ABC they are unable to afford school excursions, new clothes or some basic items including red meat and vegetables because the majority of their money is being channelled into the spiralling cost of paying for stock feed and transport.

Many struggling families have raised concerns about the significant paperwork required to apply for the payment.

The Scott family in Yeoval, in drought-affected New South Wales, described months spent dealing with bureaucratic red tape. They are still yet to be approved for the payment.

Federal Agriculture Minister, David Littleproud, has already asked the Department of Social Services to look at ways to simplify the process to apply.



He said the review of the FHA would investigate the reason the take-up for the benefit was so low.

"I've called again and again for farmers not to self-assess whether they qualify for the FHA," he said.

"Farmers need to use the free help we provide "” Rural Financial Counsellors "” and talk through it with them.

"Government can't make it rain, and heartbreakingly we cannot save every farmer, but we can and do provide free expert advice through Rural Financial Counsellors and I urge farmers to use it."



Large swathes of New South Wales and Queensland have been in drought for periods ranging from a year to seven years.

The record dry conditions have prompted calls for further federal and state measures.

The New South Wales Government has so far resisted pressure to reinstate freight subsidies to pay for the transport of hay, grain and other fodder.

Extra assistance for New South Wales farmers is expected to be announced by the State Government this week.

Mr Littleproud said his government would work with the National Farmers Federation on other policy measures in coming months.

Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote furious Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jul 2018 at 7:27pm
Also if they did do something like pipe water to dams in the outback there would have to be a stay in proceedings for banks foreclosing on farms.  They would do it I'm sure.  Let the farmers get back up and running and paying their way and tell the banks they will get there money and thanks for the lone but now is our time to shine.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote furious Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jul 2018 at 7:30pm
Same thing is happening to son in law trying to get assistance with his illness.  The paperwork sometimes makes no sense and no one helps you work your way through it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dr E Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jul 2018 at 9:25pm
This is a step in the right direction, but went largely unreported, because who the left leaning media wants to admit that everything that goes wrong isn't because of "Banks and Big Business"

NAB to stop charging penalty interest to farmers in drought


National Australia Bank will stop charging drought-ravaged farmers penalty interest rates even though it recently told the banking royal commission the practice, as it related to a particular Queensland customer, did not fall outside community expectations.

In response to recent pressure from federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud, NAB will also let farmers reduce interest bills by using funds held in the government's farm management deposits scheme to offset their loan amounts.

NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn announced the moves in a speech in Wagga Wagga on Monday night, in which he also recognised the bank had "lost touch" with some rural customers.

NAB, which banks one in three farmers and has loans to the agricultural, forestry and fisheries industries worth $26 billion, has also hired former deputy prime minister John Anderson to advise on a strategy for its rural footprint.

https://www.afr.com/business/banking-and-finance/financial-services/nab-to-stop-charging-penalty-interest-to-farmers-in-drought-20180723-h130mv

In reference to every post in the Trump thread ... "There may have been a tiny bit of license taken there" ... Ok, Thanks for the "heads up" PT!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JudgeHolden Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jul 2018 at 9:48pm
Direct from NAB’s PR department. We’ve “lost touch”. ROFL.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dr E Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Jul 2018 at 3:24am
I wish our politicians would admit to that.
In reference to every post in the Trump thread ... "There may have been a tiny bit of license taken there" ... Ok, Thanks for the "heads up" PT!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Second Chance Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Aug 2018 at 9:03pm
Originally posted by Second Chance Second Chance wrote:

Where do you get off introducing the ABC piece about the severe drought conditions in NSW with "For all you latte sipping, china loving, superannuation endorsed, more concerned about american politics, i present......."

Do you think you're the only one who cares?  Do you think people of your political persuasion are the only ones to care?  

Ok I'm slightly left of Centre, however in another life I led a small team that developed Farm Management Deposits which are now being pushed by the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources as one answer to the financial plight that farmers currently find themselves in.  And I worked with people of all persuasions who had a common goal to support Australian agriculture through a whole series of initiatives including research and development and marketing of product.

The situation has naff all to do with latte sippers, or the Chinese.  And to suggest that the people you apparently despise don't care is a totally insulting inference. 

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has singled out the Commonwealth Bank for not doing enough to help drought-stricken farmers.

Key points:

·         Agriculture Minister David Littleproud takes a swipe at the Commonwealth Bank over drought

·         He tells the bank it should let farmers use farm management deposit schemes to offset their interest

·         Yesterday the CBA donated $2 million to drought appeals but the Minister said it is only a fraction of the bank's annual profit

Mr Littleproud said the CBA is falling short on drought and urged farmers to dump their bank if it does not offer more support.

He said he is disappointed the Commonwealth has not offered farmers the option to use money put aside in farm management deposits as an offset against their loan.

The farm management deposit scheme is a way for farmers to be able to put aside money when their properties are profitable to help them recover and restock after a drought.

The Minister said the Rural Bank and NAB are both letting farmers use those offsets to reduce the interest on their loans, but other banks including CBA, Westpac and Rabobank are not letting farmers do that.

But back to my latte.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dr E Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Aug 2018 at 5:43am
The Government just imposed a $6 Billion money grab on the banks for no reason other than to delay a pointless Royal Commission - if they were not spending that on public servants, bureaucrats, politicians and pointless enquiries and commissions that just tell us what we already know, they could have spent it on dams and irrigation systems that would ensure that we have water in the right places when it is needed ... of course, we would have to piss off the Greens, and that would be a massive problem for the ALP, so it won't happen.
In reference to every post in the Trump thread ... "There may have been a tiny bit of license taken there" ... Ok, Thanks for the "heads up" PT!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dr E Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 4:15am
Yes it's bad, but we have actually seen it all before.

So why apply a band-aid to a broken leg?

Spend the money NOW - build dams and irrigate.

Fcuk the Greenies.

In reference to every post in the Trump thread ... "There may have been a tiny bit of license taken there" ... Ok, Thanks for the "heads up" PT!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dr E Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 4:43am
Anyone familiar with this Allan Savory - he seems to have proven his theories - but Paris calls for reducing grazing stocks ... is he a fraud, or will this work and be at odds with the Global Warming Industry?






In reference to every post in the Trump thread ... "There may have been a tiny bit of license taken there" ... Ok, Thanks for the "heads up" PT!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maccamax Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 10:29am
I have Family born to the Land and into cattle .
Have whinged for 100 years about how tough it is and poor prices.
More recent years === TOP PRICES ...     Stashing the cash big time.
( Not giving anything to other industries struggling )

Noted ... almost NO preperation for the cyclical Dry Times .    Today with over stocking , it's climate change to blame ( which is Bull Ship )and HELP .
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tlazolteotl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 10:32am

How to profit from Australia’s current severe regional droughtThumbs Up



Most Australians live in capital cities, so many readers may not be aware that 98% of New South Wales and almost two thirds of Queensland is either in drought or is drought affected, as reported by News media.

This is already having a major impact on businesses such as Nufarm Limited (ASX: NUF) which was heavily sold off after its market update recently.

The CEO of Nufarm, Greg Hunt, said “We’re facing a perfect storm here in the Australian market, with the dry conditions leading to a poor winter crop, an over supply of products and increased competition across our sector. The whole agricultural supply chain is feeling the impact of this year’s extremely dry conditions.”

These comments were echoed by David McKeon, the CEO of Grain Growers, who said “What a season like this demonstrates is that the impact of drought isn’t just felt at the farm gate, but right through every rural community and right throughout supply chains. It impacts everything from the number of children at local schools to government funding decisions on health services once communities start to lose numbers.”

Finally, Tony Mahar, the CEO National Farmers’ Federation, said “Farmers have sown winter crops that are not up out of ground or, if they are, are not taking off. Droughts are regular and people know they are coming, but you don’t know how bad they are going to be. How bad is it at the moment? It is bad and we don’t know how much worse it is going to get.”

Sounds bad, right?

We don’t yet know which agricultural businesses are going to affected the most. Could it be Australian Agricultural Company Ltd (ASX: AAC)? Select Harvests Limited (ASX: SHV)? Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC)? Or perhaps Graincorp Ltd (ASX: GNC)? We may soon find out in reporting season.

This could turn out to be like insurance companies with a natural disaster. The initial insurance payout is a big hit to the company. But then in future years it can raise prices at a rate much faster than inflation.

How to profit in the near future

There is one company on the ASX called Duxton Water Ltd (ASX: D2O) which owns water entitlements and leases them out to agricultural businesses. It says its objective is to generate annual income through capitalising on the increasing demand for scarce water resources.

Water becomes much more valuable in a drought. Duxton Water’s net asset value (NAV) per share has risen from around $1.05 at September 2016 to $1.27 at the end of June 2018, which also doesn’t include paying 4.7 cents of dividends.

According to Duxton, the Murray Darling Basin had one of the driest January to June periods on record and the driest since 1986. The drier conditions resulted in increased irrigation requirements in a number of regions.

Many irrigators ran short or overused their available allocations, meaning they had to balance their water accounts by 30 June, which saw prices rise.

The 2019 water season is beginning with lower storage volumes and drier forecast conditions, leading to lower water availability.

I hope for all stakeholders involved that it does rain a bit more, no-one wishes suffering on farmers, communities or animals. I can understand some people not wishing to profit from the situation, I respect that line of thinking.

However, I think Duxton Water could be the best way to invest to get exposure to this current trend that may only get worse in the future as demand for food continues to rise.

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https://www.fool.com.au/2018/07/31/how-to-profit-from-australias-current-severe-regional-drought/

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 10:39am
Originally posted by Dr E Dr E wrote:

Yes it's bad, but we have actually seen it all before.

So why apply a band-aid to a broken leg?

Spend the money NOW - build dams and irrigate.

Fcuk the Greenies.

 

Do you need a hand with your cost/benefit of all these new dams Doc?

There are already nearly 150 in NSW. How many do you reckon we will need and where? 

Maybe we should spend that $50 billion bank gift on them instead.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maccamax Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 11:13am
They built the Harbour Bridge , The Opera House etc, years ago but today, can't harvest the abundance of water for use in the South.
Great job for the unemployed and the guests of Australia's best real estate = ( Long Bay Gaol ).
They can pipe fuel across Europe so why not water in Australia.

   Now that the abnormal have been appeased.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TIGER Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 11:27am
This is always swept under the carpet, let's just worry about plastic bags and plastic straws
EAD
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote acacia alba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 12:36pm
Tillegra Dam was stopped by the greenies.
animals before people.
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Australians are if not the world heavyweight champs of water use, then certainly title contenders. Much of it wasted. In the driest continent on Earth. Massive gains available simply in efficiency.

And that’s not even considering food wastage. It takes an awful lot of water to grow our food (especially things like beef, sugar and rice) and we throw around a third of it away, at the added cost of 20 billion a year to the economy.



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tlazolteotl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 12:42pm
Originally posted by acacia alba acacia alba wrote:

Tillegra Dam was stopped by the greenies.



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No Tillegra Dam Group (NTDG) is a community-based, grass roots organisation that was formed by concerned citizens in protest at the sudden announcement by the NSW Government that a dam is proposed that would flood prime farmland and disrupt a farming community with a history spanning up to six generations.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote acacia alba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 12:46pm
Yeah, we know all that.   They didnt mind selling their land to Hunter Water at about 3 times its real value tho.
animals before people.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tlazolteotl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 12:46pm
Originally posted by Tlazolteotl Tlazolteotl wrote:

Originally posted by acacia alba acacia alba wrote:

Tillegra Dam was stopped by the greenies.



About

No Tillegra Dam Group (NTDG) is a community-based, grass roots organisation that was formed by concerned citizens in protest at the sudden announcement by the NSW Government that a dam is proposed that would flood prime farmland and disrupt a farming community with a history spanning up to six generations.



Hunter Water spokesman Jeremy Bath said he is pleased the land sale has been finalised.

" Hunter Water, I think it is fair to say, is very relieved," he said.

"The reality is that both sides of politics are strongly opposed to the dam.

" The science never supported it and I think overwhelmingly the community have come to understand that there is no point building a dam that was going to cost in the vicinity of half a billion dollars if it was going to cause environmental damage."

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 1:00pm
Originally posted by Second Chance Second Chance wrote:

Where do you get off introducing the ABC piece about the severe drought conditions in NSW with "For all you latte sipping, china loving, superannuation endorsed, more concerned about american politics, i present......."

Do you think you're the only one who cares?  Do you think people of your political persuasion are the only ones to care?  

Ok I'm slightly left of Centre, however in another life I led a small team that developed Farm Management deposits which are now being pushed by the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources as one answer to the financial plight that farmers currently find themselves in.  And I worked with people of all persuasions who had a common goal to support Australian agriculture through a whole series of initiatives including research and development and marketing of product.

The situation has naff all to do with latte sippers, or the Chinese.  And to suggest that the people you apparently despise don't care is a totally insulting inference.



After this reveal, do you think you made a difference? Has it improved, stayed the same, or gone backwards?
Ps caring is one thing, doing something practical about it, is another. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote scamanda Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 2:25pm
Originally posted by Gay3 Gay3 wrote:

Drought-hit farmers urged to apply for government assistance payment

By regional affairs reporter Anna Henderson, Sunday July 29, 2018 - 00:17 EST

Some drought-hit farmers have said they cannot afford basic items and food. - ABC
Up to 15,000 farmers who are eligible for a Federal Government drought assistance payment have not applied for it, according to new figures.

Drought-ravaged farmers can apply for the Farm Household Allowance (FHA), a payment equivalent to the unemployment benefit.

Since 2014 about 8,000 people have accessed it.

But about almost double that number may be eligible and have not made an application, according to the Agriculture Department.



Funny thing this drought. The city doesn't feel it until the supermarkets hit them or our media decide to show a morsel or two. Or they see it first hand.

Channel 7 news Brisbane again, they are the nearest thing we have to the pro Democrat media in the USA. Last night they reveal to Australians that the federal government has finally swallowed the bullet and decided to assist the drought effected areas.

No mention of the fact that fed gov has had assistance since 2014 according to my partly quote post from Gay3.

Qld's Labor premier stands up and grandstands to show how the fed gov has let them down.
Yet it is her beloved Labor who mostly effected the Murray Darling's floodplains by giving revolting high amounts of water run off to Qld properties. Yes including Cubbie. Lower your head in shame ALP Qld.

Grey nomads passing through here stop over at the FREE camping area.
They come from the south and bring 2 things with them according to rural Qlders.
1. A change of underpants.
2. A $10 note.
And they never change either during their travels.

That's not my description of them, just what it has been for decades. Country Qlders have some colourful descriptions of city people.

Two yesterday stopped us in the street to ask directions that would bi-pass the drought effected areas. After receiving the right directions (you'd have to go back to the city where everything is Green) they went on to try for some chit chat.
"We watched the news before we left Sydney and saw how the country is now drought effected....."
After being told how long it has been going on they were gobsmacked.
"We were headed out west but it sounds like it might be a good place to stay away from"
Although if they went there they would see first hand what is happening, and their spendings would assist the rural communities. But no, "it sounds too harsh."
"We do hope the PM gets off his ass and helps................"
They had no idea that farmers could access assistance from the fed gov.
"We read about a Green senator who said farmers should be re-educated on farming practices......."
Well.........they come from the city so they listen to anyone on the idiot box with a Green agenda.

So it's only a real drought with catastrophic effects when the media decide to say it is.
I started with nothing and still have most of it left
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote crooked_gambler Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 2:44pm
Best way to help out the farmers, is to stop off at those little towns, buy an ice cream or a drink. Sure it may cost $10 for a coffee but every little bit helps.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote scamanda Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 2:47pm
We get floods and we get droughts.
It's a pity we can't let nature take it's natural course which worked wonders for Australia before we arrived here.

Anyone who thinks building dams on the Murray/Darling is a good idea has not looked into the drought much at all.

It's these dams that hold back water that used to naturally irrigate the floodplains and fill the farmer's earth tanks. This is where the sheep and cattle graze. You cannot duplicate that type of flooding with cold water from a dam.

The Darling river has dried up in the past. But only since water allocations were introduced as a way for the Qld gov to make money. Probably back in Joh's time when it started, if not before. But it got out of control and now they can't find a way to take back those water allocations without BUYING them. Or more to the point, having the federal government BUY it.

And every politician in the past is partly to blame. Because they can't agree on a solution to the Murray/Darling crisis. State borders are the big one. Qld says it's ours because the rain fell here. NSW and Vic say it's ours because it flows through here naturally. And Sth Oz............well they've still got the Barossa Valley. And a salty Murray River.

The only water that is wasted in a flood is the water that floods through the northern waterways in torrents that southerners only see when the media decide to show them.
The water from the Herbert River when in flood is the best, most reliable and closest to the south of Qld and the rest of Australia. But it isn't always in flood. The cost scares off every politician. How could they possibly budget for such a vast system of pipelines. They would win the first election because the city people would all say "yes" to the cost because it makes them feel good inside. But once it isn't the flavour of the month that party would be under too much pressure. So, we probably won't ever see it happen , in our lifetimes.

I started with nothing and still have most of it left
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