AUSSIES DIG DEEP TO HELP BALE OUT OUR BATTLING FARMERS

THERE is no hay in New South Wales.

The drought is biting so hard they need to bring hay in from Queensland and import grain from New Zealand to feed animals on farms. Yet this isn’t bad enough for anyone to say we are in the middle of a natural disaster.

State governments used to rule drought a natural disaster, triggering millions in emergency help. However, in the past decade they have refused to make these declarations and it’s time we changed this system.

It’s not news to anyone reading this in many regional areas, but sadly this drought is news to too many in the cities.

For some reason it doesn’t lead the news and, most certainly, doesn’t dominate the political debate.

However, this week there were signs of change.

The New South Wales Government came up with half a billion dollars’ worth of help. But the cost of this drought is going to be much more.

Regardless of government indifference and away from the media glare, normal people are stepping up to do their bit.

For years there have been huge charity efforts to bring hay to the farmers and in recent weeks people have discovered how they can help from their lounge rooms.

A group called Rural Aid has got a great campaign called Buy A Bale, where for as little as $20 you can send hay to people who desperately need it.

In the coming weeks Bunnings is turning over its sausage sizzles to raise money for the charity, and when we mentioned the campaign on Sky News, the flood of people donating big and small amounts to send help crashed the website.

It’s a wonderful example of how Australians react when we see our fellow people in need. We dig deep, we lend a hand and it’s something to be proud of.

Thank you to everyone doing the hard yards to get the hay to our farmers.

If you haven’t done so yet, jump on the website buyabale.com.au and do your bit to show we care.

I was disturbed to read the findings of a survey put out by Triple J this week that shows 12 per cent of young people aren’t proud to be Australian. It also shows 85 per cent think we have a problem with racism.

The latter is hardly a surprise in a survey of people who listen to a radio station that thinks even playing a countdown on Australia Day is somehow disrespectful to Aboriginal Australians.

It is, however, a disturbing insight into the messages being sent to young people about their country when they come to the conclusion that being an Australian isn’t something to be proud of.

We are far from a perfect country. But think about it: We have a universal health care system Bernie Sanders in the United States would dream of; we have a social welfare safety net that costs $150 billion a year where everyone from the unemployed to the disabled is given money from their fellow citizens via the government; we have a free press; and we live in a society where the place you are born, your gender or what your parents do are no limit to the person you can become.

It says a lot about the selfloathing rubbish fed to the coming generations via our schools, the media and the Left of politics that anyone, let alone a person with their life in front of them, would be anything but proud to be an Australian.