After the floods

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33447, 31 January 1974, Page 16

After the floods

Extremes of climate are an unwelcome, but accepted part of the lives of those who choose to live in the vast Australian hinterland. When, after years of drought, floods swept thousands of square miles of inland Queensland and New South Wales earlier this month the sparse population there set about ensuring its own survival with the grim self-reliance for which it is famous. The floods which have swept through Brisbane and other coastal Queensland towns and cities in the last few days, however, have brought quite different problems. Surprisingly few lives have been lost, but thousands of people are homeless; supplies of food and essential services are breaking down; repairing the damage might cost as much as $2OO million. Once again, Australians are reluctant to ask for help. All the more reason why assistance should be readily forthcoming from Australia’s closest friends in New Zealand. An appeal is under way in Auckland; Christchurch, which is host to many Australian visitors this month, should follow, especially once Brisbane’s most pressing needs have been determined.