What is it about something as simple as rainfall that gets our leaders and politicians talking nonsense ?
Remember in 2007 (during May that had average rainfall) the then WA Premier Alan Carpenter said – “It has stopped raining in the south west of Western Australia……”.
And it is not just WA Premiers, NSW too has the virus.
Anyway – it has happened again.
The Perth Arena which is under construction is afflicted by mould – which is causing those involved some angst and the WA Premier Colin Barnett opines that it is due to a wet winter. How does the media not call him out over such nonsense. A quick check of BoM data shows Perth has had a winter (Jun-Jul-Aug) with 448mm rain compared to a long term average of 479mm.
So it has NOT been a wet winter.
I wonder if the Premier has been brainwashed by a decade of WA Govt Water bureaucracies propaganda about “Our drying climate”.
Does he believe now that Perth normal winters now are dry ?
Dry enough to build the arena without safeguarding against rain ?
I do not know.
But surely it is obvious to anybody with the brains to check Perth’s rain history, that the winter months are very likely to see a fair bit of rain.
What will this cost WA taxpayers ?
The biggest IPCC scandal till today is emerging:
ecotretas.blogspot.com/2011/09/horngate.html
Ecotretas
It is official, La Nina is back. Doesn’t that mean Australia is wetter than average?
wattsupwiththat.com/2011/09/08/its-official-noaa%e2%80%99s-climate-prediction-center-says-la-nina-is-back/
The SOI data says it is a bit premature yet to be calling a La Nina. July was only 9.1 and August back to 2.6. Time is yet to tell if we get to a full blown La Nina. Winter rain was mostly average over vast areas but NSW was mostly dryer than normal.
The Premier needs education as to the difference between streamflow and rainfall.
Maybe then a little light will come on and he may realize that the “water problem” is one that’s due to changes in catchment management. And that management is a lot cheaper to fix than the construction of even more energy-sucking desalination plants.
Families, when a child is born,
want it to be intelligent.
I, through intelligence,
having wrecked my whole life.
Only hope the baby will prove
ignorant and stupid.
Then he will crown a tranquil life
by becoming a Cabinet Minister.
Su Dong-Po as translated by Arthur Waley.