Comments on: Drought Or Dry?

By: Australian Government Grants

Australian Government Grants — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:53:05 +0000

We would love to help those farmers get their grants so they can survive!

By: lightening

lightening — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:29:44 +0000

Dina - that is so true it made me laugh. Mind you, my DH will ask me how I am right after I’ve told him I’m unwell. Strange guy.

Journeyer - It’s kind of frustrating isn’t it. A bit like grants for landcare on our properties that require you employ a consultant as a condition of receiving the grant money. And guess how much grant money is left after paying the consultant? Zip. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!!!!

Bettina - yeah, kind of stupid. Although fortunately, this team came up with more than just the name change. I wish the media would portray that. In my mind, the media can be lumped in with all the other idiots!!! LOL.

River - wishful thinking perhaps. But a wonderful wish nonetheless.

Stuffy - You know me. Never could tell my left from my right, political or otherwise.

Jeanie - yep, you’ve about covered it.

Teeni - agreed!

Sharon - I wish I could have been there. Your husband cracks me up with some of his comments!!!

By: Sharon

Sharon — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:13:37 +0000

I saw that program too, as did my husband who choked on his cuppa while being told that terming the drought as “dryness” would make him less likely to get depressed. I won’t repeat what he said….I’m sure you can imagine.

By: teeni

teeni — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:11:50 +0000

That IS dumb. Changing the name isn’t going to solve anything. I’m so sick of people changing terms and words so as not to offend anyone or hurt their feelings. I think more energy should be expended on more important things, like actually solving the problem or dealing with them.

By: jeanie

jeanie — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:09:12 +0000

Oh my brave new world - so henceforth, are cyclones to be called “windy low pressurised zones”, floods “rising damp levels” and bushfires “a bit hot”.

Bureaucrats need to justify their salaries somehow, I suppose.

Hoping Hughie gives you some relief soon.

By: StillKindaStuffy

StillKindaStuffy — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:25:50 +0000

I know many farmers are nervous because past Labor governments have made it quite clear that they don’t value farmers as a vital part of our economy or community.

There is a bit of a feedback loop in that rural Australia tends to vote conservative come rain or shine - which means the right take thems for granted and the left ignores them because they figure no matter what they do, rural Australia will keep voting for the right.

Perhaps the ironic thing here is that it was the side of politics that rural Australia tends to keep voting for that dismantled a lot of the social welfare infrastructure in the first place in the name of “lowering taxes for working Australians”. Why is anyone surprised that there isn’t anything left in the pot to help people out in the hard times when we voted for tax cuts and gutted those programs during the good times?

As for consultants coming up with fancy new ways to rebrand nasty things (Torture becomes “enhanced interrogation” and so on) - we’ll never get rid of that sort of stuff, so the trick probably is to be the one who gets a fat paycheck when asked to come up with a friendlier way to describe something unfriendly that cannot be changed.

By: river

river — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 06:14:49 +0000

The only real solution I can think of is for God to send us warm sunny days and cool rainy nights. Worldwide. Till the end of time. Wishful thinking, I know.

By: Bettina

Bettina — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:27:07 +0000

I was the same - half listening to the telly while otherwise occupied (writing todays blog post lol) and heard that. Strikes me as absolute stupidity. Calling this extended period of drought the big dry or whatever they came up with is not going to change the effect it is having on farmers the same as telling someone they are ‘not yet competent’ to do something still amounts to failing on that particular attempt.

Personally I thought a much better use of any funds spent on playing with the semantics would have been much better spent on assistance packages, climate research or water options.

By: Journeyer

Journeyer — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:41:58 +0000

Perhaps the government could have more wisely spent the all money it used finding a new word on some action that would make a real difference. This type of bureaucracy is just about too dumb for words!

By: Dina

Dina — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:42:24 +0000

A few months ago, I saw an article in SMH saying that studies have shown that farmers are depressed because of the drought.

I thought that was a bit reduntant. How else should a farmer feel when there’s a drought??

I’m not sure anyone needed to waste their time trying to figure out the psychological state of farmers during a drought.

It’s like saying to someone “Hey, how are you?” when they’re barfing up their guts.

I think a drought (or extended drought) would be hard on everyone–but especially farmers.

It all sounds a bit condescending to me–change the name and no one will notice the difference!