On grounds of the profound…..by Nigel Dawe WILLIAMSON CALLS ON NSW LABOR GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE IMMEDIATE SUPPORT TO FARMERS DEEP IN DROUGHT

Clarence Nationals for the remainder of this year it is imperative the NSW Government understands the gravity of the situation and provides immediate support to primary producers.

MP Richie Williamson has moved a Notice of Motion in the NSW Legislative Assembly today calling on the NSW Labor Government to provide immediate support to farmers in his electorate with the region now deep in drought.

“NO one thinks in statistics;” once said the Nobel Prize-winning Elias Canetti, “for the profound questions, all statistical methods are worthless.” Except for one infinitely fascinating facet of our existence: that being our very existence itself. The figures that ‘explain’ how we came to be as a species, let alone as individuals, are so mind-bending, that they exemplify the utterly improbable.

According to science, or the Drake equation (1961) to be more precise, only one in a million million planets have the correct, albeit exact combination of temperature, chemicals, water and conditions to support life. It has since been ‘amended’ that it could well be one in a trillion trillion probability that a planet like Earth might emerge from the lifeless intergalactic soup that is the rest of the universe.

If the above paragraph pertaining to life as we know it isn’t mindboggling enough, then how are the seriously unfathomable figures that explain you and I. Apparently it is a 1 in 400 quadrillion chance that each of us are the way we are (that being the make-up of our genes) and the ‘life’ journey that precedes us – via each of our ancestors all the way back to singular celled organisms. Fascinatingly, the probability of our parents even meeting (and staying together for long enough to produce us) is about 1 in 20,000.

Which provides an apt segue, a word that simply means ‘it follows’; for the utterly profound miracle that life and each one of us poses, in the face of an abjectly non-sentient universe. Fitting then, that the word ‘profound’ stems from the Latin ‘profundus’ which means ‘from a vast, bottomless depth’. Evidently, we each float upon the flickering surface of a backstory that is so deep we can’t even remotely imagine.

The moral perhaps of all this is to always marvel instead of bemoan whatever presents on any given day. The fact any of us can think and feel, let alone make sense and communicate across the centuries thanks to such a thing as the written word, defies the otherwise meaningless manner in which everything else in the universe has unfolded. Or as Bernard Shaw once so insightfully said, “People are wise in proportion, not to their experience, but to their capacity for experience.”

And what deepens our capacity for experience is an honest appreciation of the sheer unlikelihood of our existence, an existence unprecedented in any place other than this planet – that we’ve each had the sheer fortune of finding ourselves on, and able to call home. As the wandering Parisian poet, Charles Baudelaire once reflected, “There are moments of existence when time and space are more profound, and the awareness of existence is immensely heightened.”

If only each of us lived in such a way as to be even vaguely aware that our lives and the moments that arise within them are outright exceptional, beyond all fathoming. Because at the end of the day, as Carolina Herrera once identified, “Sometimes the simplest things are [by far] the most profound.”

Mr Williamson said large parts of the Richmond and Clarence valleys have been identifed as being in ‘intense drought’ with all other areas being declared ‘in drought’ by the Department of Primary Industries’ Combined Drought Indicator (CDI).

“Many farmers still recovering from the foods are now deep in drought and the Minns Labor Government appears unprepared with no drought plan in place,” Mr Williamson said.

“With the forecast of continuing dry weather

“Its lack of a frm action plan along with its lack of compassion for those doing it particularly tough on the land right now beggars belief, and I’m left shaking my head over Labor’s silence on the matter.”

Mr Williamson added the cost of transporting fodder is more expensive in the Northern Rivers because of restrictions that are in place due to biosecurity zones that are designed to combat the spread of fre ants into NSW from Queensland.

“The cost to transport 40 tonnes of fodder from Victoria is costed at approximately $25,000 (plus GST),” Mr Williamson said.

“The added pain for beef producers is the record low cattle prices. It is the perfect storm for those on the land.

“The last drought was the worst in living memory and it is vital producers have a clear plan of what support is available to help them manage diffcult times ahead.”

The CDI is an interactive tool that provides a snapshot of current seasonal conditions for NSW, factoring in rainfall, soil moisture, and modelled pasture/ crop growth indicators. By accounting for the effectiveness of rainfall, the CDI provides a more comprehensive indicator of drought conditions.

Full details of the current CDI can be found here: Department of Primary Industries - Enhanced Drought Information Systems Web Portal (nsw.gov.au)