Bram Smit-Poona

THERE’S hardly a newspaper that doesn’t carry at least one article touching on the hardships caused (and more expected) by the so-called climate change and the continuing drought.

Federal, State and local govern­ments are mostly at odds, and gener­ally we’re treated to diatribes about what amounts to the effect of using self-adhesive stamps and envelopes.

When will the powers that be get their bottoms off their hands?

What has happened to the Aus­tralian inventiveness and can-do spi­rit?

Nearly 60 years ago, a scheme was under discussion to create a permna­nent inland sea by piping massive  quantities of seawater from Port Au­gusta via Lake Torrens to Lake Eyre.

Lennox Walker based many of his - predictions, of weather conditions and rainfall in other parts of the country, on the state of this lake.

Present day technology would make this project a doddle.

Basically, it would be like an enor­mous solar desalination plant, and the resulting rainfall could be as­sessed with some accuracy by com­puter modelling.

About one third of the of the 70 million litres of perfectly clean fresh water that runs off every day from Fraser Island, could be piped to the mainland from carefully selected po­sitions, without impacting on its ecology and with significantly less interference than timber getting, sandmining and, currently, tourism.

Let the squirming greenies look at Stradbroke Island, which has been supplying Redland Bay Council for years.

There are still vast sources of fresh water in northern parts of this continent.

If gas can be piped from New Gui­nea to Melbourne, surely there’s an alternative to building dams in areas where it’s not likely to rain for a long, long time.

This Government is not short of money.

It can afford the best Australia has to offer in scientific and engineering expertise.

Closing our eyes, folding our hands and praying for rain are not the answer.