Australian Bush Poetry, Verse & Music

The Barmah Forest Debate

In Barmah where the Murray flows and giant river red gums grow
In a forest that's so special, diversified and large
Where years ago the rape which was stopped in 1908
Has decimated areas when the red gum was shipped by barge
Where the old growth red gum trees have been brought crashing to their knees
From some ill conceived idea that to ring bark them was the go
So more trees could grace the place, but they just don't have the space
To reach the forest heights, their majesty to show

The trees depend on the river, for it is their life giver
When it floods across the forest floor and lies upon the ground
For it germinates the seeds of all the forest's needs
But that too has changed now through "planning" quite unsound
The seasons now reversed and this mighty watercourse
Is dammed through all the catchments to harness all its flows
So in summer the irrigation can grow food for all the nation
But in winter when the floods should come a trickle is all it shows

The debate gathers its momentum between greenies, farmers and cattlemen
All pushing their own self interest in pursuit of their own cause
While they push all their own barrows, the Murray through the Narrows
Winds on throughout the forest, oblivious to all
The greenies want the cattle out, the farmers water in times of drought
The Yorta Yorta want a say in what they claim was once their land
So sacred sites remain protected, fenced off and unmolested
And any desecration is well and truly banned

So what's the answer you might say as in your mind the options weigh
Who's really right or wrong or does the answer lie between
The farmers need the water so they may feed our sons and daughters
The cattlemen, the grass for the same reasons it would seem
The Yorta Yorta have their claim, the greenies cry the forest's pain
And the argument continues to go round and get confused
And amidst all this bickering, while the winter Murray keeps trickling
Through the mighty red gum forest which will be surely the one to lose!

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