EDWINA BARTHOLOMEW'S DROUGHT DIARY
How do you describe drought? What is it? How do you cope? How can we help? This is what I’ve been asking farmers all week on Sunrise and everyone has a different answer. There is no one-sizefits-all solution to the drought, except for rain, and there is none of that forecast.
Here are the facts. It’s been the driest autumn since the Federation drought in 1902. One hundred per cent of NSW is now in drought and 60 per cent of Queensland. Some parts of the country haven’t seen decent rainfall for six years.
The statistics are stark but seeing the devastation first-hand is a lot more confronting. As we leave Sydney and travel through the Upper Hunter, the ground gets drier and drier.
We come across a farmer droving cattle along the roadside. Murray Coe was hit by the Sir Ivan bushfires in February 2017. He lost property and some of his best animals to the inferno. Now, he is facing drought and is running out of feed. Like his neighbours, he has shifted cattle from his paddock, to find some sustenance by the road. Soon, that won’t be an option either.
We continue to the town of Coonabarabran, which is down to 22 per cent water in their dam. On level-six water restrictions, it’s not just farmers who are struggling in this drought crisis. If farmers aren’t making any money, they have nothing to spend on supplies or luxuries. They are going without to feed their animals, and in the most extreme cases, are struggling to feed themselves.
Further out west at Come By Chance, there is not a cloud in the sky. When the going is good out here, it’s very good. But when drought hits, it hits very hard. They have only had one good year in the past six.
But if we have learnt anything in the past week, it’s that Australians truly care. We have seen an outpouring of donations to drought charities, and schools and communities in the city are rallying to help where they can.
The farmers we have met are thankful that someone is actually paying attention now. They don’t want to whinge, they don’t want welfare, they don’t even want to watch it on television anymore, because they can look out the window and see for themselves. But they are so appreciative people in the cities are thinking about them and are doing what they can.
This will continue for months and years for some families. Keep them in your thoughts. Keep Aussie products in your supermarket trolley. Keep doing what you can. There’s a saying in the country that ‘every day is one day closer to rain’. Let’s hope that day comes soon.