Telegraph and 2GB launch ‘We’re for the Bush’ drought appeal for NSW farmers

Shame the ABC is too busy raising money for Syria to worry about Aussies doing it tough. Good on the Telie and 2GB.

The Salvation Army had better get out there with all the milllions they are sitting on and for one use them along with the Red Cross and St Vincents De Paul.

Great initiative, but should have been 6 months ago

please stop sending money overseas our farmers need our help now we have friends that the farm has been in family 3 generations they are doing it tough We will be going to the commbank tomorrow and donatiing money We also shop a lot at our local IGA if possible we will donate money there if possible miles family cromer

Please add a Paypal option for people who cannot get into a bank to donate.

Maybe the Tele and Rupert Murdoch could pay back the $1 billion that Aussie taxpayers have been forced to hand over to News Corp? That would help the budget and the government could provide more assistance to farmers.

Despite experiencing varying degrees of depopulation, debt, challenging environmental conditions and unemployment our producers of both food and fibre are among the most productive and cost-efficient in the world (Australian Productivity Commission). Australian agriculture benefits from a paltry 3% of subsidies and yet we compete aggressively on the world stage against countries that are the beneficiaries of up to five times that percentage.
And we should be competitive, hungry for success, eager to stream-line our businesses and improve on the generation that went before us and be examples for the next. We are a proud people in a young country and we want the best for our families, our children, our communities.
One of the joys of being a citizen of this country is seeing the out-pouring of generosity that attends every natural disaster that affects our fair land. The Australian people are quick to lend a helping hand during catastrophe and many of us have had first-hand experience of Mother Nature’s turbulent nature. We know she can be a bitch. We know livelihoods can be destroyed and lives taken and often we watch these horrific events unfold before our very eyes in a matter of hours.
No so with drought. Droughts can be deceptive. Rainfall can lessen gradually until ‘normal’ annual precipitation is a dream. Dry spells can be broken by the odd mini-break in the weather pattern. A freak rain storm may carry a producer into the next phase of the drought, giving them a few weeks of respite before the weather gods return to their slumber. Droughts by their very nature are long, drawn out affairs. They linger with a deadening, soul-destroying monotony that is punctuated by destocking for minimal prices, by the endless quest of sourcing fodder and/or water to be trucked on-farm and the feeding of hungry stock who look at you with a sad longing as you tip silage, shovel cottonseed, unload hay, auger grain, drop off molasses lick blocks… and all the while the earth cracks beneath your feet and crumbles in the wind.
How do we help those affected in such a vast land where the tyranny of distance makes it difficult for many of us to comprehend the extent of the disaster, the number of families affected, the emotional toil or the losses… both animal and human? It can be done. Fodder drives, food drives, labour drives. Feed has been trucked to Bourke. Women across QLD are baking Anzac biscuits and other goods and sending these care parcels to affected areas for distribution. Men and women from all walks of life are trying to help so why do state and federal governments wait until the situation becomes so critical that the unspeakable begins to happen; families struggle, depression sets in, crops wither, livestock die or are shot, businesses are destroyed, people lose hope, and in the very worst of situations, eventually someone lifts a gun to their head.
Droughts are not media fodder, if you’ll excuse the pun, there is no dramatic shot to be had here and quite frankly I wouldn’t be taking pictures of it either. I’ve seen enough decaying carcasses, shot enough malnourished cows myself and hit their suffering calves over the head with a hammer to last eternity, I certainly don’t want to watch it on television or see pictures of it; but someone needs to see it; the masses need to see it, the Australian people need to see it.
Where I live its bad, as bad as it gets. It’s six months since we had a fall of rain that exceeded 50 points; it’s now over two years since we had a decent rainfall event that exceeded 250 points in a single month. There are people far worse off than us. They suffer silently. They exist on food coupons. They pray for liquid gold. Their children pray for it.
When the rains do come it will be six to twelve months before any income can be expected. Pastures need follow-up rain to grow, cattle and or sheep may need to be purchased to compensate for the losses suffered while those livestock that do survive need time to recover before fattening can occur with a view to sale. Crops such as wheat, barley and canola need a full profile of soil moisture before planting can begin and then good in-crop falls of rain to be assured of a crop worth harvesting.
When the heavens finally open it will be a long road to recovery. Droughts don’t end with the first fall of decent rain, this is just the beginning. Australia and Australians have always been defined by crucial moments in our history. This is one of them.

what is the bsb acc no.for donations?

McDonald’s …WHY are you not getting behing this appeal…….this morning i went into McDonald’s for my usual coffee and asked if McDonald’s is supporting the Drought Appeal… I was met with blank looks.

here is an opportunity for a company , supposedly using Australian meat and yet WHY is it not doing something to help ???
Somebody please get tweets going about this …get on to McDonalds …let’
s get it started..

You can donate via com bank web https://www.commbank.com.au/personal/support/crisis-support/drought-appeal.html

Amazing the total lack of donation from Woolworths and Coles. They are happy to screw farmers on price but unwilling to help in these disastrous situations.
Absolute disgrace!

Why doesn’t the government add $1 tax to everyone for this need or raise every Australia product by 50c again this country is rich in mining so use some of there money why should these people like 2GB run these campaigns when the government does zilch

Why is Rupert Murdoch not using his 800 million to help out?

The gross incompetence and intellectual relativism of those blaming the ABC is utterly pathetic and demonstrates how backward thinking in this country really is.

When did aussies become droning corporate puppets instead of using their own minds to question the motives and tactics of the media?

Children of the government schools give money to the poor, yet the hypocritical banks continue to foreclose on farmers, continue to squeeze all of the equity out of their farms. Please see through the banks false image. They are a lot of the problem, starving farmers for finance, charging excessive interest rates, taking money that otherwise could be used to buy feed for livestock and better drought proof properties. If the Big Banks were genuine, then they would stop foreclosing on farmers and work with them and charge fair interest rates with fair repayment terms.

what is your b-pay biller code

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May be the goverment should stop giving our hard earned tax dollars away to other countries that will help out a lot .I have a butcher shop in Sydney and lambs have gone up over a dollar in the past week and we don’t seem to be able to get the msg threw that the drought has a big in pack on the market .it is very sad to see our fellow Australians struggle with this I hope we get rain soon so they can live a wealthy pde they deserve