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The 100 Year Drought

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 7:24 pm
by ALANM
The 100 year Drought
(By Alan McCosker 1983 revised 2019)
In a hundred years how far we’ve come
we no longer have to walk and run
there’s motor cars and big jet planes
but drought still prevails on australia’s plains

The cocky stands there in the dust his eyes raised to the sky
if it don’t rain then he’ll go bust and all his crops will die

his grandfather stood on this very plain one hundred years ago
and prayed to his god to make it rain to make his poor crops grow

And when rain came as of course it would
it turned the bull dust into mud
drowned his cattle and his sheep
too weak to escape the swollen creek

And then the seasons would be kind and thoughts of drought were never mind
until the wheel full turned again and drought prevailed out on the land

Factories spring up overnight from where the grass grew green and bright
tall chimneys blot the sun from sight and turn the daylight into night

we have the skills to build great dams to make electricity

but never a thought for our inland rivers what a tragedy
the pollies talk and talk and talk but in the end don’t walk the talk
they wisely nod their heads and squawk,if you can’t make it,take a walk 


So,forced to by the mortgage man the cockys’ left his droughted land
he’s moved his family into town and turned into a factory hand

never will his son stand in the dust with eyes raised to the sky

and pray to his god to make it rain so australia will not die

In a hundred years how far we’ve come
we no longer have to walk and run
there’s motor cars and big jet planes
but drought still prevails on australia’s plains

Re: Drought

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2019 6:13 am
by Shelley Hansen
Yes, a constant feature of Australia ... "drought and flooding rains".

Re: Drought

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2019 7:19 am
by r.magnay
its a problem alright Alan, but the pollies can't make it rain, whenever there is a drought everyone starts calling for dams and water infrastructure...the problem is, whenever someone decides to build a dam or reroute a watercourse, the green factor jump up and down about some plant or creature that will be adversely affected, there is tons of money spent on courts and investigations, the project gets canned and the money spent leaves another hole in the water infrastructure budget....

Re: Drought

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2019 1:38 pm
by Maureen K Clifford
Good one Alan and sadly both you and Ross are right. Hard to believe that in a country as dry as Australia we are still mismanaging our life giving water. It always amazes me that due to men of vision, who had the courage of their convictions, we were able to build the Snowy Mountains hydro scheme and yet thanks to the ineffective pollies we have today we can't build a system of water pipes and/or new dams.

Re: Drought

Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2019 11:25 am
by ALANM
G'day Ross,
I fully endorse anything you might say about the green factor.
I believe,however, that while pollies can't make it rain, they can be nation builders and over the last hundred years could have done so much more
to keep our water infrastructure on par with population growth by being pro-active and ignoring the green factor's votes.
Water is life, the conservation of water in this continent, if not the driest on the planet is near the top of the list, is the most important task
we all have.
The Suez and Panama canals were constructed all those years ago with no-where near the expertise, technology or machinery that is available now.
As Maureen has said, as leaders, we used to have men of vision who had the courage of their convictions, where are they now ?
Cheers
Alan

Re: Drought

Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2019 11:39 am
by ALANM
Thanks Maureen,
Your comment about men of vision in our past is one I agree with entirely.
The disregard for people and the environment downstream in the Murray/Darling basin by those commercial interests upstream is astonishing and
governments both state and federal turn a blind eye because of the dollars they reap.
Your suggestion of a system of water pipes and dams could have been done years ago, long before the rise of the green factor.
Cheers
Alan