WE’RE all feeling the heat right now.
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It’s getting pretty draining.
Hot, restless nights followed by stifling, sweat-drenched days.
And it’s obviously draining on our environment.
The crispy landscape has returned and Chaffey Dam has drained below 40 per cent.
It has been a hard year and harder times lie ahead, but Tamworth is relatively lucky.
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There’s still water in the dam with the timing of Chaffey’s expansion proving to be particularly fortuitous.
Meanwhile, Lake Keepit hit its nadir, Walgett’s taps almost ran dry over the weekend and Murrurundi is facing the real prospect of daily water carting.
It’s dire.
And we’ll be well and truly cooked if we don’t change.
However, 2019 heralds a huge chance for change and an opportunity for the people to apply the heat.
Tamworth will vote for its state and federal governments within a matter of months.
And never before has a pencil and ballot paper been this powerful.
In Australia, we have a penchant for being policed and comfort ourselves with as much state-sanctioned safety as possible.
So much so, it’s actually a crime to leave your car unlocked in NSW.
A crime created to protect us from criminals looking for cars to break into.
Even Sisyphus would snicker at that one.
Yet when it comes to the environment, anarchy reigns.
So as the electioneering ratchets up into its usual obsequious drivel, make sure you ask more of your candidates.
Cast your gaze further than the novelty cheques and look for some meaningful commitment to the future and ensuring there will be one for the next generation.
You know, the generation which went on strike from school last year demanding climate action only to be told to go back to the classroom by the Prime Minister.
It’s going to be a lot harder to tell people to avoid going to the ballot box and voicing their protests.
There’s laws against that.