Wilcannia

Barkindji woman Leah Ebsworth has been charged with not moving off a bridge when ordered and assaulting a public officer with water, reports Paul Oboohov.

Brendan Adams from Radio Wilcannia

“We have to rely on bottled water to bathe our babies. There is no fresh water to drink,” explained local Wilcannia Aboriginal elder Brendan Adams. "We are all living in Third World conditions.”

“It seems that towns in western New South Wales are being shut down and nobody is listening,” local resident Mark Merritt told Green Left Weekly on the banks of a non-existent river.

Bruce Shillingsworth, the Yaama Ngunna Baaka Corroboree Festival tour organiser, said on October 1 that First Nations people need to be given back the power to make key decisions about water flow and the rivers.