But I do get more than a little riled by the lack of action from successive governments around this drought.

It's phrases like "lessons learned" in reference to what we can take away from this drought before the next one hits - and it will - that really do upset me.

Have we learned nothing from previous droughts?

Why now the rush to build dams and pipelines, when the situation for many is already dire?

Towns have already run out of water and many more are facing the same; it's just a matter of when.

A cash splash here and a cash splash there will not bring about real long term solutions, for that, our politicians need to show a little foresight - that is, beyond the cycle of the next election.

Take it from the people who live here, our communities are suffering and just talking about it won't achieve a damn thing.

Kudos this week goes to Adam Brook, who survived a close shave with stage 3 melanoma.

When reporter Chris Bath spoke to Adam, he was keen to encourage everyone to get their skin checked - and for good reason too.

Doctors removed 55 lymph nodes from Adam's neck, and three of them were cancerous.

He reckons if he'd left it just a few more weeks to get checked, he'd be might not have seen Christmas. As it is, he's back on track and fighting fit.

On that note, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Fiona Ferguson

Northern Daily Leader editor