Australia bans the word drought

"Words like drought ... have negative connotations for farm families," a report by the Drought Policy Review Expert Social Panel found. "There needs to be a new national approach to living with dryness, as we prefer to call it, rather than dealing with drought."

The country is currently in the grip of "the big dry" - a drought which has lasted seven years so far and is crippling the farming sector.

The report into the social effects of the drought found it had eroded farming communities and forced families apart. The weather conditions were also a major cause of depression among farmers, it found.

Panel member Lesley Young said the the research revealed the drought did not just affect men. Women had been forced off farms to earn extra income, and often took the children with them, breaking up families, she said. More.

Your Name  Required
Your E-mail  Required (never published)
Your Website  Optional (Do-Follow on Approval)
Your Comment
What is 2 + 1?  Required