The default argument from wannabe socialists is, “But without government who will…” provide X or Y utility? As Aboriginal leaders in a remote Australian town are finding out, the people are quite capable of doing what we’re told only the government can.
Aboriginal elders in western New South Wales say they will provide free filtered drinking water for their remote community after repeated failures by the state and local government to do so.
Naturally, the taxpayer-funded ABC frames this as a tragedy. After all, if people realise that they don’t need government to supply water, they might start getting ideas about media, too.
Seen through another lens, this is an inspiring story of Aboriginal Australians using their nous and resources to better their community, rather than relying on the government.
Dharriwaa Elders Group treasurer Ricky Townsend said they would take matters into their own hands and install a reverse osmosis machine in the main street to provide free chilled and filtered water for locals.
“We all know the drinking water isn’t safe – and the survey we did in our community confirmed that people are having to buy drinking water,” Mr Townsend said […]
The machine is being paid for out of the group’s existing funds, with a plumbing company from Newcastle donating its services to install it.
Congratulations all round to those who got off their bums and made it happen.
Because the government certainly wasn’t going to.
NSW Water Minister Rose Jackson visited Walgett in April to announce a return to water from the Namoi River by May 3, as part of a “short-term” solution to fix the town’s long-term water quality issues.
Less than four days afterward it switched back to high-sodium bore water after the water treatment plant again failed to process the poor-quality river water.
Additionally, council was forced to turn off its reverse osmosis machine as it could not handle the sheer volume of salty brine water it was producing as a waste by-product […]
Walgett Shire Council did not respond to questions from the ABC about what caused the problems.
In a statement, acting general manager Hugh Percy said they were working hard to get the town back on river water.
Part of the problem is that the river itself is being over-exploited.
The Dharriwaa Elders Group has sent Ms Jackson a list of demands to stop the river from being drained and to improve the health of the system.
“Flood plain harvesting has to stop – we want to see enforcement of extraction limits, bigger fines for water theft, and our rivers returned to proper health,” Mr Townsend.
“Our rivers are dying. We need governments to act.”
ABC Australia
Or maybe you don’t.
Perhaps this might be a wake-up call that government is too often the problem, not the solution. After all, Aboriginal Australians ought to know better than most just what relying on the government for everything does to a community.
