I am not sure if it is coincidental, but there is a lot of similarity between the views of National Irrigators Council, NSW Irrigators Council, National Farmers Federation and the National Party, which is to deliver the Basin Plan on time and in full, regardless of the consequences. We were told the Basin Plan would be flexible and adaptive, yet there seems to be little to no willingness from any government or implementation body to be either adaptive or flexible with the Basin Plan despite the disastrous impacts socially, economically and environmentally to the Murray Valley. And none of the organisations listed above seem to give a damn.

Personally, I would like to know more about the involvement of National Party supporters in these peak groups, because it would appear they are happy for the Murray Valley to be collateral damage.

Before spending millions diverting treated water to the lake why not try the relative inexpensive option of a test bore at the eastern end of the lake? I know a bore was sunk at the western end of the lake but the topography there gave no indication of likely success.

A group of retired farmers discussing this bore all shook their heads and asked,"Why sink a bore there?"

In November, 1944 a long period of drought and strong winds brought the dust bellowing all day and at night the windows and doors were left open and in the morning the air was full of dust and then a shower of rain came at 3pm and cleared the air and it brought the temperature down. Anna Cunial (nee Ceccato) tells the story the dust storm came in wave after wave, it lasted one week.

We had to light a lamp in the house during the day to see and it was hard to breathe. The dust storm would die off and then come back some days later.

Anna said during her school days the plague of grasshoppers that came through Griffith and Yoogali and Ward's orange farm that was situated on corner of McCormack Road and Yenda Road at everything in their path.

The orange trees were stripped of their leaves then left and went onto Yenda and Binya hills and found nothing to eat so came back to Yoogali and ate the rest of the orange stems and we did not go to school for a week. October 2011 Anna celebrated her 90th birthday. Anna had a little green frog on her birthday cake and Anna thanks the year she was born.

The irrigation water came to the MIA and also the frogs. Without water we would not have our frogs today (water and frogs go hand in hand together).

We should all learn from our past history and thank those who made Griffith what it is today.