1. Robert Haupt, “Dr Cass: ‘Flood plains are for floods’,” The Australian Financial Review, January 21, 1974, pp. 1, 10.
2. A Modest Member of Parliament [Bert Kelly], “Dr Cass sets a dam(ned) precedent,” The Australian Financial Review, February 1, 1974, p. 3.

1.
Robert Haupt, “Dr Cass: ‘Flood plains are for floods’,”
The Australian Financial Review, January 21, 1974, pp. 1, 10.

In a typically low-key act of political courage, Dr Moss Cass yesterday took on the criers of despair, doom and government subsidy over the NSW and Queensland floods.

In his capacity as the Minister responsible for water resources, the Minister for the Environment and Conservation issued a statement which directly, and flatly, contradicts all the soothing noises traditionally made by politicians in times of fire, flood and drought.

It is no coincidence that Dr Cass regards his duty as one of preventing the building of further superfluous water conservation projects.

Typically, he states as much at the beginning of yesterday’s press release:

“Dams can have little alleviating effect on the types of floods recently experienced,” he said.

Dr Cass then warmed to his theme, and provided the justification for his statement (suitably late in the piece) in terms of the need for longterm assessments of the value of flood-zone land.

He said: “We will have to accept as most farmers do, that areas on flood plains occasionally may lose all their production.

“Flood plains are for floods although this is not to say that there is nothing we can do to minimise the damage which flooding can cause.

“Australians should remember that floods and droughts are in many areas the norm: it is good years which are the exception.

“Assistance to relieve suffering should certainly be provided in times of crisis but the inevitability of nature’s fluctuations should not lead to endless subsidisation of areas where the land use management does not recognise the inevitability of floods and droughts.

“Now that the flood waters in some of the worst hit areas are subsiding, it may be an appropriate time for us, both city and country dwellers, to take stock of the situation.

“As a city dweller I admire the courage and perseverance of those affected by the recent floods and similar floods in the past.

“Serious floods have occurred in these areas not only in 1974 but also in 1971, 1961, 1956, 1955 and 1950 — six serious floods in half a working lifetime.

“In addition to flooding there is also the ravage of drought, and I am thinking now of 1965-66, 1956-57 and 1952-53 in the north wheat belt area.

“In fact the cycle of existence in most rural areas of Australia is often one of ‘droughts and flooding rains’ interspersed with what one might call normal good years.

“In our short history Australians have learned to live with this variable environment and to appreciate its uniqueness.

“Many rural communities have learned to plan their activities to minimise the effect of recurring floods and droughts by making provision in years of plenty to offset losses in bad years.

“In saying this I am very conscious that even this planning involves almost superhuman efforts in times of crisis.

“Nevertheless I feel we should not lose sight of the longer term picture.”

Dr Cass said that the water resources study he had presented to Parliament last year called for the establishment of flood-prone zones, so that land could be managed in an orderly way.

“Except in relation to small areas there is simply nothing that man can do to prevent widespread flooding and drought,” he said.

“It is simply impracticable to build dams to prevent inundation of all flood plain areas in periods of exceptionally high rainfall.

“There are often perfectly sound reasons for using land subject to flooding for agricultural or other activities.

“However it is essential that in planning such enterprises, full provision is made for foreseeable losses.

“This may require private investment to mitigate the effects of flood by providing refuge for stock and moveable objects.

“On the other hand it is necessary to accept the fact that production and profits in good years will in the long run be reduced by losses incurred during floods.

“When one considers that in addition to floods, periods of drought will most certainly occur, it becomes clear that long term planning at all levels is essential.

“At the level of the individual, the building of a house on a convenient part of a farm or a cheap block in a town in flood-prone areas in a private decision which needs to be based on a careful assessment of the benefits and possible costs to the individual.

“Local government in particular can assist individuals in these decisions by providing information on previous floods, by local works such as level banks and by taking account of possible flooding in zoning for land use,” he said.

***
2.
A Modest Member of Parliament [Bert Kelly], “Dr Cass sets a dam(ned) precedent,” The Australian Financial Review, February 1, 1974, p. 3.

One thing a politician quickly learns is how to make sympathetic noises, even if he knows he can’t really help.

There are many variations on this theme; you can have a small sob in the voice, or a bit of extra eloquence, but all leading nowhere much.

You know in your heart that you can’t do anything to help your constituents but it would never do to say that so you hide behind phrases like “express my sincere sympathy” or “will use my best endeavours on your behalf” and so on.

It doesn’t mean much, of course, but it sounds good. And it often disguises to your constituent that you can’t do anything, however much you want to.

On broader national issues of a similar nature you can use a longer rein and longer winds.

For instance, if your district is getting clobbered by drought, you can speak eloquently of “my earnest expectation of doing something fruitful to mitigate the effects of this dread scourge that stalks our fair land” and that kind of thing.

It isn’t that you don’t want to help but there is not much you can do, except talk. So talk you do, and how!

So many of us were resentful of the statement by the Minister for the Environment (Dr Cass) who came out quite bluntly and said that there was nothing much that could be done by the Government to prevent the devastating floods that were ravaging New South Wales and Queensland.

“Flood plains are for floods,” he said, and went on to say that farmers must recognise that periodic floods are inevitable on flood plains and droughts also, and farmers must learn to live with them by taking all possible precautions.

Mavis got quite excited when she heard this statement. “Get stuck into him, dear,” she cooed.

“He can’t go around saying nasty, truthful things like that. Abuse him for being cold-blooded and lacking the milk of human kindness and that kind of thing. If he gets away with it, the next thing your own constituents will be expecting you to tell them unpleasant truths and I wouldn’t like that.”

But it isn’t going to be easy to castigate Dr Cass. I recently had the opportunity of flying over a great area of flooded country in Queensland and was startled to see the immense size of the swollen rivers.

I had previously harboured the delusion that the construction of large dams like Chowilla would be an effective barrier against floods in the Murray system.

But ten Chowillas could have sunk without trace in one of the minor tributaries which I saw.

To talk hopefully about effective flood control in the Murray and Darling system by building dams is to kid ourselves and worse, deceive the people in the area.

So I find it hard to be rude to Dr Cass for having nerve to tell us this unpalatable truth.

Eccles has always been scathing about the lack of economic justification for many of our dams and I know that he, too, is glad that Dr Cass has been as brave as he has.

But it is about time the Australian community in general and city people in particular, realised that farming in Australia is a risky business.

Dr Cass is right to tell us that farmers are the best people to handle the ever-present threats of fire, flood and drought and the mother pestilences that Australian farming is heir to.

That is fair enough, but it is hard for us to do this when the taxman clobbers us as he does when things are going well.

“You should arm yourselves against inevitable drought,” they tell us. “You should conserve fodder, you should erect fences and windmills and hay sheds, sink bores and so on.”

We should too, we know we should. And most of us would if the Treasurer would let us or encourage us to do so.

It is not true to say that the tax averaging plan gives us the elbow room we need to effectively counter natural disaster.

City people, whose incomes are comparatively steady, think we get a considerable advantage from averaging.

But in truth, averaging is not enough to give us the ability to make effective provision against the certain approach of some disaster or other.

If we could keep more of our income in good years, we would be better able to deal with the bad years.

So full marks to Dr Cass for telling us where our duty and best interests lie. We knew before he told us, but it is refreshing to be told so frankly and courageously.

But it wouldn’t be a bad idea if he now told the Treasurer.