We're in a state of emergency.
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Look on social media or switch on a TV news channel and you cannot escape the fire front. Devastating images of families who have lost everything - their homes reduced to a twisted bungle of materials among burnt forests. The emotion, the hurt, the overwhelming grief - it's all there playing out on the screen in front of us.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison even has the army on standby to assist and state and federal governments are vowing to do what they can to help - without saying it's evidence of climate change, of course.
There is no doubt a strong response is critical in these brutal and fiery times. Nobody can imagine how devastating it would be to lose your home or someone you love.
This 'state of emergency' brings a whole other issue to the front line for me though - and that is the drought.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared a state of emergency on Monday for the next seven days as diabolical weather conditions created catastrophic and severe fire conditions across much of the state.
The drought has left most of regional NSW in a 'state of emergency' for well over a year - and while politicians have thrown a lot of words around about it, those three haven't been on the radar.
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The truth is the fire and drought situations are linked. In both circumstances there has been no rain, parched earth, dry winds, and ground fuel everywhere.
Drought is a state of emergency of a different kind. It isn't as openly dramatic as a bushfire - the impact isn't as immediate or as prominent as burnt houses or blackened communities, but it is still a 'state of emergency'.
Why? Because farmers produce our food and if we want to eat Australian produce we need them to survive and rebuild when it's over.
Right now most farms are bone dry and producing food is near impossible. Livestock are still being slaughtered because there isn't enough food or water to nourish them - and that means less supply for shoppers in the future. Crop production is down again too, and an economic downturn is hanging over regional communities that rely on the agriculture industry. Luxury spending is scarce and some shops have already closed. More will follow.
I know it's hard to imagine things are that bad when the supermarket shelves are full and prices are still reasonable.
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