This drought is brutal. In the weeks before the fire hit us we had to shoot 3 downer cows and an old horse. What you don’t see behind that bland statement is the heartache and tears. The hours of lugging food and water, expensive vet supplies, feed, care and worry. Millie, Isis, JB and Murphy, rest in peace.
There’s a grief that has no name at times like this. A cloud settles on your soul. A weariness as the dust infiltrates every orifice, an all-pervading worry at the mounting costs and the ever-dwindling river. How will we survive when it stops? How will we pay for feed? Who will we sell? Our animals are our friends. I like them a lot more than humans. I am so deeply depressed right now.
And then the fire came. We were lucky. We prepared for a crown fire because the eucalypts are all dead, dying or shut down. There is no food for the koalas. And in our nearest town, Port Macquarie, the beautiful paperbark swampland has been burning for months. Because it’s so dry. We only lost all our beautiful bush and some dry paddock. The national park on our boundaries is still burning.
WATCH: NSW Rural Fire Service tips for making a bushfire survival plan. Post continues below.
We are exhausted. We haven’t breathed clear air for months. The wind is relentless. The sky’s apocalyptic. The Prime Minister goes to the cricket and says that it will lift the spirits of the firies and farmers.
I beg to differ. We feel abandoned, ignored, violated. We are on the frontline of a climate emergency and we hear platitudes, thoughts and prayers.
I can’t feed my animals with thoughts and prayers, I can’t fight a fire with them.
Australia is about to lose its iconic koala, we have destroyed its habitat with our endless expansion of ugly newbuilds and these fires have destroyed so much flora and fauna.
The world is watching in horror and instead of stepping up and for once leading the way, Australia lags behind, smirks and trots out lies about greenies. When were the Greens in power? When did they decimate funding for national parks, for the Rural Fire Service, for Crown Lands? Oh, that’s right, they weren’t, they didn’t.
We have an opportunity in Australia to lead the way with a Renewable Revolution but we languish on our lazy arses waiting for someone else to do more, claiming we are meeting our commitments to help the climate.
LISTEN: What is it like to be on the frontline of the bushfire emergency? Post continues after audio.
Our farm is off the grid. 12 years fully solar powered. And yet our government is touting coal mines for future power.
How much more do we need to see before we step up? The Barrier Reef dead? The koala extinct? The whole country ablaze?
What will it take for us to care more about the climate than coal, more about farmers than faux economic surplus, more about the planet and our children’s futures than appeasing polluters and poisoning our precious water supplies? Please tell me, what will it take?
How much do we have to endure before Australia wakes up and listens to its burning bush?
Top Comments
Can we stop with the lies please? We are not about to lose Koala's. This is scare monegring at it's worst. The Mid North Coast fires did not wipe out 80% of the koala population, it's totally bogus. The biggest threat to the koala population is urbanisation. Stopping the spread of cities along the eastern seaboard will do wonders for decreasing the continued decimation of the species. Surprisingly though, Koala's do exist across all of NSW and Australia.
Secondly, the greens have never been in power so can't be responsible for policy is also an epic farce. It's called preferencing and making deals. It happened and the greens are directly responsible for the locking up the National Parks over 20 years ago. They were actually rising in popularity at that time but lost alot of ground from that, they've obviously done a good job of covering their tracks and getting people back on their side.
Most farmers will tell you this drought is not a climate emergency, it's part and parcel of being on the land. It's harder to manage than in previous times because of decreasing income and increasing expenses.
Prayers and thoughts may not be helpful. But neither is hysteria. This fire was only unprecedented because it was the first since the introduction of the catastrophic fire rating and ensuing procedures. There have been far far worse fires in this country.
Let's not omit info either.
The LNP have been in power in NSW and Federally for the past 6+ years and have overseen the funding cuts to the NSW RFS, which is what people are angry about.
These fires were also unprecedented because they occurred in early November, when traditionally our Summer bushfires occur in Jan/Feb. Our bushfires are increasing in frequency and intensity, which is reducing the Winter backburning window.
Farmers are not climate scientists. Climate scientists tell us that the drought - and moreover its severity - is a part of climate change.