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

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scamanda View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote scamanda Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 2:48pm
Originally posted by crooked_gambler crooked_gambler wrote:

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.

So true. That is why towns have free camping areas.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote marble Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 2:50pm
Originally posted by scamanda scamanda wrote:

[QUOTE=Gay3]

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.
not quite right blaming one state government , we really need a federal government approach to water management- this quote below from the SMH


Yet even if the Cubbie storages were full, the tyranny of distance means the release of that water would have little effect on the lower Murray. Queensland rivers supply only about 4 per cent of the Murray's flow and Cubbie draws 0.28 per cent on average. Furthermore, the Murray Darling Basin Authority estimates as little as 20 per cent of any water released in the north would reach the Lower Lakes.
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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 3:09pm
Originally posted by Passing Through Passing Through wrote:

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.
Hahahaha! ... no CNNPT, I haven't done the cost/benefits, and I wouldn't be relying on your "back of coaster" calculations thanks!LOL  ... whatever the cost, I'm sure it will be much less than the renewable scam is costing us.

... but surely the ability to create "renewable" hydroelectric energy will ensure that every new dam will be cash flow positive, even without subsidies? ... oh that's right, the rent seekers already have their preferred subsidised renewables to invest in, and they ain't taking a pay cut for anyone.

Of course, the alternative is to simply stop giving money to stupid people who insist on farming in unsustainable areas, and just let them go bust - would that be your solution? ... or are you a "cloud seeding" kind of guy?Dead

Do you have a suggestion, other than spending everyone elses money?Confused
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 3:25pm
Originally posted by Tlazolteotl Tlazolteotl wrote:

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."


You can forget everything else, there's your answer ... weak government bending over for fcuking Greenies!Dead

I'm not giving any money to stupid people who don't learn from history, and i don't want the government giving my taxes to them either - if you want to try to graze animals or grow crops in a desert, and you will not adapt your practices to achieve that, you are stupid. We don't give money to other self employed people who have unsound business plans and practices, just to enable them to hope things will go well, if they keep on going broke doing the same thing over and over again ... let natural selection take it's course.

STOP DROUGHT RELIEF PACKAGES NOW!!!Thumbs Down
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 scamanda Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 3:51pm
this quote below from the SMH


Yet even if the Cubbie storages were full, the tyranny of distance means the release of that water would have little effect on the lower Murray. Queensland rivers supply only about 4 per cent of the Murray's flow and Cubbie draws 0.28 per cent on average. Furthermore, the Murray Darling Basin Authority estimates as little as 20 per cent of any water released in the north would reach the Lower Lakes.

Firstly , any water release cannot and will not have the same effect as flood water. Floodwater is warm because it spreads across the floodplains. Between Cubbie Station and The Barwon River where the floodplain would once become inundated and soak the soil, well it would be impossible to replicate that with cold water which is released from the bottom of a dam. The only answer is to stop the water being dammed and kept in surplus so that it can be sold to the federal government.

Stories from aboriginal elders in the Brewarrina and Goodooga regions about the roar of water approaching from the Culgoa and adjacent gorges are very clear in my memory from when I was an infant. No it doesn't often make it to the Murray because it is soaked into the floodplain, but what does re-enter the river system ignites the right temperature for the river's ecosystem to thrive. You can't get that from cold water releases. There isn't enough water released anyway. What water is released is purchased from Cubbie Station for irrigation in NSW. Some is expected to make it to the Murray, but only if the other river systems in NSW are also running and joining the flow.

And I did say all politicians, but the Cubbie episode is now legendary.
I've mentioned it before more than once.

One good move for the river system but maybe not for the rural economy immediately is to ban all cotton growing unless they use dryland cropping practises like the NSW farmers and graziers have to do downstream. Cubbie Station's managers would be up in arms.
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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 4:05pm
Originally posted by Dr E Dr E wrote:

Originally posted by Tlazolteotl Tlazolteotl wrote:

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."


You can forget everything else, there's your answer ... weak government bending over for fcuking Greenies!Dead

I'm not giving any money to stupid people who don't learn from history, and i don't want the government giving my taxes to them either - if you want to try to graze animals or grow crops in a desert, and you will not adapt your practices to achieve that, you are stupid. We don't give money to other self employed people who have unsound business plans and practices, just to enable them to hope things will go well, if they keep on going broke doing the same thing over and over again ... let natural selection take it's course.

STOP DROUGHT RELIEF PACKAGES NOW!!!Thumbs Down


Was anyone in favour of that dam except the Hunter Water Corporation and Dr E?

Of course E was all in favour of it because the main justification for the dam was climate change.Wink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Tlazolteotl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 4:44pm
It seems to me, knowing nothing about dams but relying on my vast pool of common sense, that building dams where droughts are common is stupid. You should build dams where there is reliable rainfall. DurGeek Am I right? I will check.

"Dams need reliable water inflows, suitable landscapes to create a reservoir, and water users either near the dam or downstream. Australia has plenty of potential water users, but has typically fallen down on the first two considerations."

"Building dams in areas with marginal water inflow risks even greater storage variability than experienced by the current water storage network. Extending into areas with less-than-ideal landscapes increases the risk of construction cost blowouts or excessive water loss through evaporation.

It is probably no coincidence then that of the six dams to be considered for capital investment in the next 12 months, five are in Tasmania, a state rich in the essential physical (but not necessarily economic) characteristics."



https://theconversation.com/dam-hard-water-storage-is-a-historic-headache-for-australia-33397




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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 5:09pm
There's one location in Qld that is perfect.

Dams need reliable water inflows, suitable landscapes to create a reservoir,

The Mary River.
But it was knocked on the head because someone found a turtle lives there and that turtle would become extinct if the dam was built.
Whoever, that turtle also lives in and upstream from Borumba Dam which runs into the Mary River.
No no no they say. It's a distant cousin.

So the criteria needs to be upgraded to suit the ever increasing Green population in the cities.

And again the funny thing about the droughts. The Traviston Dam on the Mary was to be built to supply water to the city. Brisbane.

So then follows the other criteria. It has to be a policy that will get the existing gov re-elected.

The electorate of Gympie where the Traveston Dam was to be built changed from party to party because of the proposed dam.

No win situation.
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We all love turtles and frogs, but we are prepared to sacrifice pensioners in winter for expensive, unreliable renewable energy virtue signaling ... it is well and truly past the point where we tell the Greenies to fcuk off.

I don't think I have, at any point, suggested where dams (and I'm not talking holes in the ground with yabbies in them) should be built, but it wouldn't make much sense to build them in a desert Tlaz.

I'm no expert either, but we do seem to have plenty of rainfall along the east coast, much of which just runs off into the ocean - some may even damage the reef!!!Shocked - so it would make sense that the dams be built there, and then pipe water as far as is practical ... and farm THAT land ... simples! ... we might even be able to take control of our immigration problem, and fast track some White South African refugee FARMERS to populate those areas ... but that's another story.

If it is not possible to pipe sufficient water to areas that have mostly been in drought for the past 200+ years, that we are aware of, then people who have farmed those areas in the past should be given concessional options and assistance, to take up land holdings in the newly irrigated, sustainable areas. Should they decline, and wish to continue to farm those drought stricken areas, they do so at their own peril ... and they are not allowed to complain when their stock is dying and the crops are failing, and they have yet again, not taken steps to mitigate the inevitable cyclical problem.

... or we just keep doing what we have done in the past, put bad aids on broken bones, and nothing changes.

 
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 acacia alba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2018 at 10:56pm
Originally posted by Tlazolteotl Tlazolteotl wrote:

It seems to me, knowing nothing about dams but relying on my vast pool of common sense, that building dams where droughts are common is stupid. You should build dams where there is reliable rainfall. DurGeek Am I right? I will check.

"Dams need reliable water inflows, suitable landscapes to create a reservoir, and water users either near the dam or downstream. Australia has plenty of potential water users, but has typically fallen down on the first two considerations."

"Building dams in areas with marginal water inflow risks even greater storage variability than experienced by the current water storage network. Extending into areas with less-than-ideal landscapes increases the risk of construction cost blowouts or excessive water loss through evaporation.

It is probably no coincidence then that of the six dams to be considered for capital investment in the next 12 months, five are in Tasmania, a state rich in the essential physical (but not necessarily economic) characteristics."



https://theconversation.com/dam-hard-water-storage-is-a-historic-headache-for-australia-33397






Derrr,,,Tillegra was to catch some of that water flowing out to sea in Newcastle Harbour.  There is a much more reliable rainfall in that area than west of the great divide.
animals before people.
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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 11:42pm
Tasmania?!

Surely over Bob Browns bodyLOL

even if they catch it in Tasmania how was iit going to get to the mainland? bottled? piped?under the sea? plane tankers i suppose.....

doesnt seem like a lot of common sense applied there.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Aug 2018 at 7:41pm
a latte sipper in action/words


NSW farmers don't deserve $1b in drought aid

Aug 1 2018 at 11:00 PM
by Aaron Patrick

Call it redistribution, Nationals style.

Sydney's property boom has left the NSW government flush with so much cash that $1 billion in subsidised transport, free government services and other financial aid being handed out to farmers isn't seen as a big deal.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, under pressure from the National Party, on Monday said that $500 million would be added to a $284 million package promised just seven weeks earlier. The money is in addition to about $220 million previously spent helping farms prepare for drought.

Berejiklian portrayed the policy as necessary charity for an industry that can no longer be able to sustain itself in the face of extreme weather. Egged on by the popular press, she played up to the romance of the great Australian farmer: solitary, resourceful, decent and always, always praying for rain."When 99 per cent of the state is in drought, sometimes nothing you do will make a difference, and that's why governments have to step in and help," Berejiklian cooed on morning TV this week. "If there is more to do, we will."But the policy undercuts decades of work by experts and a few principled politicians to encourage farms on the world's driest continent to prepare for and expect droughts. 

Myths and exaggerations

Before it started to break down under the 2010-13 Gillard government, national drought policy treated the failure of rainfall as a common, natural phenomenon.

Droughts weren't natural disasters, the policy said. Farmers were encouraged to treat access to water like any other business risk, including livestock and crop prices, currency fluctuations and interest rates.Still, farmers received major concessions. The tax system was structured to smooth out their income. A class of bank accounts known as farm management deposits was created to allow farmers to avoid income tax until they chose to withdraw their money, a privilege unavailable to other workers.

About $6.6 billion sits in those tax shelters, benefiting an industry that employs just 200,000 people, including shearers, packers and bookkeepers in a national labour market of 12.5 million, according to the Department of Jobs and Small Business.

Farmer-victim narrative 

Policymakers know the worst time to decide drought policy is during one. The political temptation is too great; the farmer-victim narrative too powerful.

Under the catchy headline "Silence of the Lambs", one report last weekend described 100 lambs likely to be shot because feed was too expensive, as though the innocent animals would otherwise be destined for lush green fields where they could frolic for the rest of their lives.

When it comes to rural rainfall, definitions have always been fraught. A dairy farmer in Victoria's Western Districts will have a different perspective on what constitutes a dry season than a wheat farmer outside Kalgoorlie.

Drought hyperbole exhibit A: Berejiklian. Even her own public servants don't believe that 99 per cent of NSW is in drought, one of the stated reasons for the $1 billion urban-rural wealth transfer.

"There isn't a single community that isn't feeling the pinch when it comes to the drought," according to Berejiklian. "It's all-pervading all across the state."The NSW Department of Primary Industries estimates that 51.7 per cent of NSW is in drought. A further 48.1 per cent is what it calls "drought affected", an intermediate stage marked by deteriorating conditions where "production is beginning to get tighter".

"Drought affected" farmers are encouraged by the department to sell animals they don't need, "fine tune" their drought plans, and "monitor conditions". Maybe the bureaucrats should have added to the list: "lobby your local MP for more tax breaks and subsidises".

It has been a dry winter. But the state isn't out of water. NSW's fourth-largest water reservoir, Blowering near Canberra, is at 72 per cent capacity. The Torrumbarry Weir on the Murray River is full. 

The Businessman from Snowy River

Experts oppose plans like NSW's, which will cover half the transport costs of livestock, water and feed up to $20,000. Councils will be given money to upgrade roads.

During droughts – ideally before they begin – farmers should reduce their herds and flocks "because prices will be low because animals will be in poor condition," says Canberra University drought-policy specialist Linda Botterill.

Subsidising transport encourages farmers to increase stock at the very time they should be bunkering down and trying to ride out the dry spell. Grazing during droughts is terrible for the land. Hoofed animals damage dry soil, making it harder for farms to recover when the rains return.

Wealthy farmers will benefit. The NSW Rural Assistance Authority confirmed on Wednesday that primary producers who earned $10 million last year could get the money.

Voters don't care. Despite the perennial nature of the debate – scientists have tracked Australian droughts back 500 years – Australians are suckers for a farming sob story.

The empathy is almost universal, and spans all classes and political leanings, Botterill's research has established. Coal miners and journalists, not so much.

This sentiment is testament to the power of Australia's early authors and poets, including the great Banjo Paterson, who established a romantic attachment among broader society for rural life. 

The Man from Snowy River's ride is a story still told. But fewer seem to remember that his motivation was the colt from old Regret, which was worth a thousand pound.


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headline from the source above. how cynical.

Rainfall across NSW undercuts farmer-victim message


lets hope they get  a lot of follow up rain.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote stayer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Aug 2018 at 7:51pm
Why is this a new thing as something we suddenly "should" have an opinion about? It's been going on for a while. Suddenly it's a Thing.
Whatever happened to domestic violence? I reckon that if you care about domestic violence more than droughts this week you're an ignorant, unfeeling bastard.
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The embrace could have been made for TV. Perhaps it was.

On a dry-as-bones farm near the township of Trangie in Central NSW on Sunday, Malcolm Turnbull hugged a teared-up farmers' advocate overcome with emotion after another $190 million government handout.

The following day something unexpected happened: it rained. In the 24 hours after Turnbull visited, Trangie received five millimetres of rain, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

From a sprinkling in Bourke in the north-west to a touch of wet near Cooma in the southern highlands, rain fell across a large part of NSW on Monday morning. Bathurst reported a solid 10 millimetres on Sunday and Monday morning. The town received nearly twice the amount of rain on Friday as for the whole month of July, the local newspaper joyfully reported.he undrought-like weather was unfortunate timing for the farmer-victim narrative being baked into the public consciousness by farmer lobbyists, politicians and the media.

'Farm Rescue' gets wet

The Seven Network was on the first day of a week-long "Farm Rescue" to "take help to the communities that really need it most". Reporting live from Coonabarabran, about two hours' drive from Trangie, Seven's journalist said: "It's been raining for the last three hours ... so our presence here is very welcome."

A bit of rain doesn't mean the drought is over, and the state remains dry. Over the past month patches of NSW have reported their lowest rainfall ever in July.

None other than Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared last week that "99 per cent" of the state is in drought, which she used to justify subsidies that may encourage farmers to expand sheep and cattle stocks when they should be selling or slaughtering them.But experts are sceptical about an assertion by the Prime Minister, himself a cattle and sheep farmer in NSW's Hunter Valley, that "this is one of the worst droughts on record".

A run-of-the-mill drought

Over the past three years only one-third of NSW has reported below-average rainfall, according to weather bureau data, which doesn't qualify as a major drought for most experts. In Queensland the figure is about the same. Areas of both states have had above-average rainfalls too, driving up property prices.

"What it really takes to make a drought go from run-of-the-mill to extraordinary is if it persists for eight or nine years," says Anthony Kiem, a hydrologist at the University of Newcastle.Climate scientists say Australia has suffered three severe droughts since written records began: the Federation drought in the late 1800s and early 1990s, the World War II drought from 1935 to 1945, and the Millennium drought in the late 1990s to 2010.

In climatology, 100 years is not such a long period. By analysing ice cores and tree rings, scientists believe that Australian droughts going back to AD1100 may have lasted as long as 39 years – a modern person's entire working life.

Short-term memories

The short-term focus on weather frustrates experts, who see the political system reacting to a perennial problem with short-term and sometimes counterproductive policies."When there is a drought people say we should do this but as soon as it rains everyone forgets about it," Dr Kiem says.

Ironically, while Liberal political leaders use the drought to close their empathy deficits (Turnbull on TV Sunday: "We are a government of compassion and practical action"), the two Nationals ministers overseeing the day-to-day response emphasise farmers' responsibility to prepare for dry spells.

"Not everyone is going to survive," federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud told the ABC on Monday morning. "You can't enjoy the fruits of the market economy without fear of failure."

"The worst time to talk about drought policy is in a drought," says his NSW counterpart Niall Blair.

Billions in tax shelters

For all the outpouring of emotion, few people realise that Australian primary producers have $6.6 billion sitting in authorised tax shelters established for droughts and other periods of low income.

Farmers haven't missed out on a land boom that has driven up city prices either. The average price of farmland grew 7.1 per cent last financial year, according to Rural Bank, a subsidiary of the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, and has risen 6.6 per cent a year since 1998.

As for the woman who tearfully hugged the Prime Minister on Sunday, making the evening news – one reporter called it "knee-buckling emotion" – Edwina Robertson is a Toowoomba wedding photographer who set up an advocacy campaign to draw attention to the drought.Ms Robertson's evocative photos of parched livestock and dusty fields have worked. Government money is flowing, and some farmers are now going to receive unemployment benefits.

Like any persistent lobbyist, she isn't satisfied though. "Our money is going to come from charitable help," she told a local newspaper after crying in front of Turnbull. "We need Aussies to get together. [It] is not going to come from the government."

Meanwhile, the national drought strategy has collapsed, and conditions for farming may become even tougher. "I think we need to assume we are going to see more droughts and rainfall that is less predictable," Turnbull predicted on Sunday.

Maybe it's time to think about farming as a business choice rather than a way of life underwritten by other Australians? Because one day it will start raining again and not stop, and almost no one is going to care about drought policy any more.

more titillating stuff from Aaron Patrick, fin review Aug 6 2018 at 11:00 PM

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Sorry - I forgot that it's all about Awareness.
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Like this response to the above articles.

Aug 6 2018 at 11:00 PM      The West Australian editorial

T

Criticising aid for farms in grip of drought is un-Australian

  • The West Australian

he devastating drought affecting almost all of rural NSW seems a long way from WA but there is no doubt most West Australians would feel the pain of Eastern States farmers.

We are well aware of the devastating consequences of drought and have faced our own such challenges in WA many times.

Aid for farmers is starting to flow and people are being mobilised across the country.

WA will be able to help in a small way by participating in Bunnings barbecues next Friday in support of Rural Aid’s Buy a Bale campaign. Funds raised will go towards livestock feed and household essentials for drought-affected families and communities in every impacted State. It’s a very Australian way to show support for fellow Aussies on the land who are doing it tough.

What West Aussies would not do is participate in the un-Australian commentary in some Eastern States media.

Australian Financial Review writer Aaron Patrick claimed this week that NSW farmers did not deserve drought aid from the NSW Government.

The thrust of Patrick’s argument was that the tax system was structured to smooth out farmers’ income in a way unavailable to others and they should expect and be prepared for droughts — but that the “farmer-victim narrative” was “too powerful” for politicians to resist.

It was an ill-judged comment piece, no doubt penned in comfort well away from the rural areas which sit on a knife edge.

Patrick initially even managed to misreference Australia’s most loved poem, The Man From Snowy River, to try to help make his case.

Where would this nation be without the rural sector? Australia’s number two TV station might be about to own the number two newspaper company, but those in charge must be concerned that one of those newspapers stands for leaving farmers to starve and stock to die. 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote acacia alba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Aug 2018 at 8:53pm
I like the bloke who thinks subsidising transport will encourage farmers to increase stock numbers Wacko  Not even aware its for the transport of fodder and water to dying stock.  Cry
And the other one who says farmers should reduce their numbers before drought begins ???? Cry
No doubt they are the people who believe milk comes from bottles and its OK to wear leather even when sprouting about being vegetarian.
animals before people.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Aug 2018 at 9:53pm
Originally posted by stayer stayer wrote:

Why is this a new thing as something we suddenly "should" have an opinion about? It's been going on for a while. Suddenly it's a Thing.
Whatever happened to domestic violence? I reckon that if you care about domestic violence more than droughts this week you're an ignorant, unfeeling bastard.

if you are so concerned start a thread.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote stayer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Aug 2018 at 10:40pm
Originally posted by Isaac soloman Isaac soloman wrote:

Originally posted by stayer stayer wrote:

Why is this a new thing as something we suddenly "should" have an opinion about? It's been going on for a while. Suddenly it's a Thing.
Whatever happened to domestic violence? I reckon that if you care about domestic violence more than droughts this week you're an ignorant, unfeeling bastard.


if you are so concerned start a thread.

Lol. I'm gonna start a thread about domestic violence. The forgotten issue. We need to raise awareness about it! Yay!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote JudgeHolden Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Aug 2018 at 10:56pm
isaac, to what extent do you think other industries should receive government assistance during times which (at no fault of their own) there is a downturn?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dr E Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Aug 2018 at 4:49am
Great point judge - the downturn in the housing market and accordingly, mortgage lending, is hurting the banks - maybe we should give them a tax cut to ensure that they survive ...
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: 11 Aug 2018 at 9:53am
I said through no fault of their own, Doc.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote furious Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Aug 2018 at 10:50am
There are the industries which the government shuts down judge when they sell wheat overseas instead of sending the mills running in Australia.  That hurt the country also as most of the mills were in little country towns!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote crooked_gambler Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Aug 2018 at 11:31am
Woolworths donating 100% of its profits on fresh fruit and veg, meat, chilled section, bakery, and deli to Buy a Bale

today only.

This space has been intentionally left blank
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Aug 2018 at 11:55am
Thought you were better than that stayer. is about what to expect from judge. Luckily your attitudes are in the minority.

i started the china thread, for those interested. if you dont want to know or read dont look! The heading is clear.

However im sure you will agree there is enough dv during times like these. Sadly.

If you want to highlight that, go ahead.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Aug 2018 at 12:37pm

Joe Hildebrand writes: The inside story of a town in drought

JOE Hildebrand travelled to some of the areas hit hardest from the drought plaguing NSW. This is the incredible story of survival.


“LOOK! Look at this!”

Farmer Sarah Edmonds is running across the road holding out her phone. “This is what I’m talking about!”

She shows me the screen. It’s a comment from some deranged animal rights activist abusing her for, well, owning animals.

I’d been talking to Sarah because a few days earlier she had written a Facebook post that had been shared by 22,000 people — which is quite a feat given that’s approximately 22 times the entire population of the nearest town.

www.news.com.au/technology/environment/joe-hildebrand-writes-the-inside-story-of-a-town-in-drought/news-story/389a583b82ebc0ba961b14dd08540ff5


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JudgeHolden Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Aug 2018 at 12:41pm
Gee Isaac, I didn’t give an opinion either way, just asked a question. Which, I note, you didn’t answer.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maccamax Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Aug 2018 at 2:48pm
Originally posted by Dr E Dr E wrote:

Great point judge - the downturn in the housing market and accordingly, mortgage lending, is hurting the banks - maybe we should give them a tax cut to ensure that they survive ...


Gees DOC your slipping ...   What about a collection for AGL energy ,

Posted a 1.5 billion profit yesterday .
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maccamax Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Aug 2018 at 3:01pm
Originally posted by stayer stayer wrote:

Originally posted by Isaac soloman Isaac soloman wrote:

Originally posted by stayer stayer wrote:

Why is this a new thing as something we suddenly "should" have an opinion about? It's been going on for a while. Suddenly it's a Thing.
Whatever happened to domestic violence? I reckon that if you care about domestic violence more than droughts this week you're an ignorant, unfeeling bastard.


if you are so concerned start a thread.

Lol. I'm gonna start a thread about domestic violence. The forgotten issue. We need to raise awareness about it! Yay!


STAYER --- Start by making deceitful infidelity a mandatory 20 years.

Get Barnaby out of our hair but he is coming back a hero.

We now have the morals of alley cats.
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