The Farmhand Foundation has enjoyed terrific support from the people of Australia and governments – federal, state and local - throughout its appeal to raise funds to help farmers hit by this country’s second-worst drought. For that, I thank you all on behalf of the Foundation.
When we began work on the Farmhand Foundation in October 2002, we set ourselves some tough targets. Not only have we met those targets, we have exceeded ourselves in both the funds raised and in their swift and efficient allocation to farming families in need. The Foundation, in association with the Australian Red Cross, has raised and distributed $24,640,000 with more than 18,000 families receiving “helping hand” grants for the basics of day to day living. The Farmhand Appeal has now been closed.
Our second aim was to commission research to consider long-term approaches to drought mitigation. It is now time to put water management on the national agenda. To that end I am pleased to announce the launch of the two reports which have been prepared through the Foundation for public release.
Talking Water addresses the Foundation’s commitment to canvass all the schemes put forward over the past century to “solve” Australia’s water shortage. This document has been written by consultants from Hunter Water in NSW and assesses schemes on the basis of efficiency, environmental impact and cost. The report has undergone peer review. This report is the first comprehensive assessment of these schemes in Australian history.
The second report – Truth in Water Entitlements – addresses the wider policy issues regarding water management and use in Australia. Dr John Patterson was engaged by the Foundation as an experienced and forthright expert on water management to carry out an independent review of the situation. John wrote the first draft of the report after speaking to key ministers, rural leaders, scientists, environmentalists and public officials in the eastern Australian states. Following his sudden death in February, his colleague Jim Keary, the chief executive of Hunter Water, took on responsibility for the task. They have produced a wide-ranging document which calls for governments to work together to achieve a “gold standard” of water management through water entitlements.
The Foundation’s goal is to fundamentally change and improve water management in Australia for the long term and Truth in Water Entitlements outlines the decade of effort that is needed to better define and manage water entitlements. The key is providing security to water entitlements that in most states can currently be reduced at the whim of ministers and their departments.
Our aim has been to produce documents that will not just gather dust on library shelves but are people-friendly, will be read and re-read and thus will make a difference. I believe we have achieved that. Copies of Talking Water have been sent to every MP in federal parliament and every state and territory parliament as well as every secondary school library and major libraries. It is a reference book about Australia and its water for all Australians to read.
The Foundation will not be wound up. It will continue to keep a watching brief on Australia’s battle against drought.
As I write this, much of the country remains drought-effected and our farmers have to deal with lingering - and in some cases irreversible – effects. While there is no one way to “drought-proof” Australia, we continue to be reminded the hard way that we live in the driest inhabited country on the planet and that we cannot continue to use water as we have been doing these past two centuries.
I urge your support for a national vision for water management.
Thank you
Bob Mansfield
Chairman, Farmhand Foundation
The Farmhand Foundation Principals are: Foxtel Chairman, Mr Sam Chisholm; News Limited CEO, Mr John Hartigan; Mr Alan Jones, Broadcaster; Telstra Chairman, Mr Bob Mansfield (Chairman); CPH Chairman, Mr Kerry Packer; Visy Industries Chairman, Mr Richard Pratt and STW Group Director, Mr John Singleton.
