As the holidays and new year approaches, it is sobering to look back on how different a country Australia is compared to this time last year. The extraordinary change to lives of millions of Australians by the COVID-19 has characterised the year 2020. However, what mustn’t be overlooked is the remarkable transformation the Australian landscape and its communities have undergone over the past 12 months.
This time last year, much of the eastern coast was ablaze during Australia’s worst bushfire season on record. This came off the back of Australia’s worst drought on record. This was a terrible time for Australian farmers, with many not putting a crop in for years on end. The devastation is obvious; families who have lost their livelihoods, and in some cases, properties which had been in the same family for generations had to be sold for the families to survive. However, not only were farmers affected; the economies of country towns took a big hit affecting the jobs and opportunities for thousands living in these communities.
For some towns, the combination of a devastating drought, terrible bushfires and an unprecedented global pandemic halted almost all the incoming flow of visitors. This has left businesses and communities left out in the cold for no fault of their own. Although it may be challenging to believe, given the dire context, the fact is that there may be something positive that can come out of this. This is a time that Australians can come together and unite in support of their communities in several ways.
Thanks to the wet conditions brought to parts of northern and eastern Australia by the La Niña phenomenon, many parts of the country are beginning to bounce back. The feedback that we are hearing from communities is that their water tanks are starting to fill up – which is extremely exciting! Now that these rains are falling, these water tanks will be integral to vitalising the land again and mitigating the fire. The fire risk is at least expecting to be looking better than this time last year and farms across the states are harvesting. Although, it should be noted that this is not the case everywhere and there are still farmers out there who will be having a very tough summer with some locally grown produce items not expected to be on shelves for until 2021.
Nevertheless, Australian towns are open for business, water tanks around the country are starting to fill up and these communities are wholly safe to visit this summer. Very positive signs ahead!
Some of the best ways to support these communities this summer is to:
- Buy local produce – Support the farmers that feed our country!
- Visit rural towns to stimulate their economies – this pandemic has taught us to get out into our own backyards and explore the wonders our beautiful country has to offer!
- Support Australian businesses – By supporting Australian local small business, you will ensure that main street Australia continues to thrive and that we don’t lose these enterprises that communities have been built around for generations.
Bushmans have a proud tradition of supporting Australian small businesses and shops in our rural communities. We find it to be essential to supply our water tanks to these small businesses so they can continue to operate with the best products on the market.
Bushmans loves seeing our water tanks around farms. Farmers can rest easy knowing that they are making the most of Mother Nature’s resources by harvesting all the rainwater that they possibly can.
