Jasin wrote Yesterday at 11:43am:
Ahh. Remember the Water Barons of the Riverina long ago and their Water Wars? Water ruled over Gold and still does.
I think you might Grapps.
The Murray Bean Field War?
'Joe stood on the banks of the flowing Murray, fresh and bloated from the recent rains and snow melt.. the pure water flowing past his parched land..... his father and grandfather and his father had dragged that land out of the native scrub and turned it into a thriving family owned business.... now it was all left to die ... his grapes rotting and drying on the vines.. the vines slowly dying.... his vegetable acres to feed the hungry cities all gone to scrubby grass for want of water.... while downriver the Sembadian cashew nut and rice farm poured billions of gallons into the ground, raising the salt table and letting a huge percentage of it just run off ... slowly choking everything... and not a single nut went to Australia... along with no taxes due to cunning accounting and Offshore barons running the show like spiders sensing a web while never exposing themselves to any real effort at all...
Joe was past it all...... not least past those damned politicians down from Canberra preaching a New Golden Age of Water Management Wong-style.... claiming that the water that fell from the sky or flowed from the snow melt was a State property... didn't belong to the people at all as it had always done, rain, flood or drought ..... and he could always compete with offshore vultures with bottomless pockets for a 'licence' to draw water from the overflowing Murray his family had relied on for generations .... but of course, living on annual bank loans against his crops - Joe didn't have that kind of cash to splash around.... nor did any of his neighbours.... and now he had no crops.....
He kicked the dust of his farm with his battered old work boots - can't even afford new ones..... he kicked again... and sat down on the rear deck of his battered old ute to think a while... his farm dog Jess watching him with curious eyes... wondering what The Boss was thinking..
Joe thought a while... then thought a while again...... the sun began its slow climb down the ladder of the sky towards sunset... no Sundowners any more though... he thought fleetingly... and he thought back to all his forebears who had fought the country and fought for it.. some dying..... and the women often left at home with next to nothing to get by on while the self-same politicians who were tearing the country apart sat in luxury and told everyone else what they could and couldn't do....
He jumped off the back of the ute, startling Jess who was dozing lightly in the warm afternoon sun of Spring... and pausing for just one second to think it all through again - he headed for his pump down on the river.. his pump long unused and starting to show it.....
"Come on, Jess," he said.... "let's go and turn our fu
ck
ing water back on... Fu
c
k 'em!"
Jess followed at a fast trot with a huge smile on her face.... The Boss was looking happy again.. and so began the Murray Water War .....
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