HUH??? Howard's solution was to 'Pray to the Rain God' for
rain?????
Sure or not?????
Pinky, here's the article from THe Age :
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Prime Minister John Howard has urged Australians to pray for
rain as hard-hit agricultural regions face zero water allocations
due to drought.
Mr Howard warned last week that farmers in the Murray-Darling
Basin faced having no water for the coming irrigation year unless
heavy rain fell in the next six to eight weeks.
On Sunday he said he intended to meet irrigators over coming
weeks to discuss the grim situation.
Meanwhile, he encouraged people to seek divine intervention.
"It's very serious, it's unprecedented in my lifetime and I
really feel very deeply for the people affected," Mr Howard told
ABC Television.
"So we should all, literally and without any irony, pray for
rain over the next six to eight weeks."
Mr Howard urged state governments to waive water allocation
charges for farmers who would not receive any irrigation water.
He said the federal government would continue to provide
exceptional circumstances assistance to farmers and would consider
"reasonable extra help" for irrigators.
"We can't underwrite people's incomes ... but we can provide
some extra help, and we would also like to see the states kick in a
bit," he said.
Final decisions on water allocations will depend on rainfall
during the next few weeks.
