By Bill Mason

BRISBANE -- Anger has exploded against the major banks in the past two weeks here as the Australian Bankers Association director Allan Cullen called for farmers to leave the land now or face eviction later on.

The Queensland outback is facing its worst drought in a century. More than a third of the state is drought-stricken.

Six consecutive crops have failed in some places. Unless heavy rain falls soon, many farmers will not even bother planting winter crops next month.

The big dry has combined with falling commodity prices, tariff reductions and a national and worldwide recession to create the biggest crisis for the bush in the history of this state.

Last summer's grain crop was 20% below normal. Grain is now being imported from southern states to feed cattle. Beef prices have plummeted to a six-year low. Graziers are simply unable to find food for their stock.

Around 20% of rural producers are on the brink of collapse.

According to Queensland Local Government Association executive director Greg Hallam, speaking on April 15, outback towns such as Charleville are “in absolute decline and facing ruin”.

Farmers have been unable to pay their rates, slashing the financial base of many councils. Some shires could be abolished because of the crisis.

Federal primary industries minister Simon Crean was accused of being unable to grasp the social consequences of a collapsing infrastructure in the west.

Crean promised to take a submission on further drought aid measures to federal cabinet within a fortnight, but refused to nominate a figure for increased funding to be proposed.

Meanwhile, Coral Wynter, the Democratic Socialist candidate for Griffith in the recent federal elections, called on the government to declare a moratorium on farm debts to the banks, to introduce large-scale interest-free loans to allow farmers to survive the present crisis, to legislate to halt all mortgage foreclosures and to introduce a systematic program of income support for farmers and their families. n

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