Category: Uncategorized

Murray Darling Basin

There is a very widely held view that we need to "restore the health of our rivers". This statement assumes that they are unhealthy, which might well be the case. However, we have just been through nearly a decade of the lowest rainfall/run-off that has ever been recorded.Whilst this is extreme, under natural conditions it … Continue reading Murray Darling Basin →

Irrigation

Letter published in The Weekend Australian on 16th October:In your front page today (Heated backlash Forces Murray inquiry) you categorically state that:"The move to reduce water usage is an attempt to address the fact that states have sold irrigators licences to extract so much water from the system that not enough water is being left … Continue reading Irrigation →

Climate Change-Carbon Demonisation

The science of climate change/global warming is most certainly not settled. In recent months we have had:-the revelations of the "climategate" emailsthe very balanced Review Committee of enquiry into the IPCC's alarmist reportingthe revealed gross exaggeration of the Himalayan glacier melting claimsthe back-off from an extreme alarmist position by the highly respected Royal Society of … Continue reading Climate Change-Carbon Demonisation →

Banjo Paterson

The Banjo is not famous for his philosophical input. However, I have long been attracted by his poem "Come-By-Chance" from which the following extract is taken-Though we work and toil and hustle in our life of haste and bustle,All that makes our life worth living comes unstriven for and free;Man may weary and importune, but … Continue reading Banjo Paterson →

Conservation v’s Preservation

I have long had problems with the "dark green" philosophy in respect to land management. I am indebted to a favourite branch of my own Church for putting some very clear words around what I have often struggled to express.The Brisbane Diocese of the Anglican Church has commissioned a report on the Queensalnd Government's Wild Rivers … Continue reading Conservation v’s Preservation →

Water and Irrigation

The recent flooding in Victoria and consistent rain in NSW has seen a great boost to storage levels in most of the major dams feeding the Murray Darling Basin. It is a timely reminder of the key feature of the Australian climate-massive rainfall variability. After some ten years of drought (on and off) and the … Continue reading Water and Irrigation →

Politics

I am deeply disappointed that two of the  "Rural Independents" have failed to support the Coalition in forming a minority Government. My perspective is that a Government shown to be incompetent, to the point they removed their own leader, has been returned to power, notwithstanding the fact that to all intents and purposes the Coalition … Continue reading Politics →

The Murray Darling Basin

Today, as I did my morning walk I listened to an old  (June) podcast of ABC Radio's "Big Ideas"-titled the Canary in the Coalmine. My pace increased as my blood pressure rose!The speakers were David Paton, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Adelaide and Richard Kingsford, Professor of Environmental Science University of NSW.I was provoked to … Continue reading The Murray Darling Basin →

Flinders Ranges/Innamincka/Birdsville/Lake Eyre Flying Visit 21st and 22nd August 2010

For many years I have wanted to see the Cooper (Cooper Creek) after a flood, visit Birdsville and have a look at Lake Eyre, particularly from the air. After the big rains of last summer and since, with good flows into Lake Eyre we decided this winter was the time to do it. I was … Continue reading Flinders Ranges/Innamincka/Birdsville/Lake Eyre Flying Visit 21st and 22nd August 2010 →