Talk of the north: Weather and politics bring back memories of 1983

While the amounts, especially in the south, might be unusual for this time of year, western Queensland is no stranger to rain this late in the year.

In fact, for those of us who've lived long enough (note, I didn't say old!) the way this season is unfolding is reminding us of a couple of big years from years gone by.

For some it's most reminiscent of 1990, when huge rain in April resulted in devastating floods at Charleville, Augathella, Alpha, Jericho and Blackall.

For many others, myself included, the weather is reminding us of 1983.

That was the year a vicious drought was broken, starting in late April.

I'd been dropped off in town in Blackall to photograph a wedding that had been moved from the family garden to the CWA Hall because rain was starting.

That was the first time I witnessed both dancing in the street and dancing in the rain - people were so excited at the prospect of the drought ending.

A few weeks later I was in Longreach learning the ropes to work for my new newspaper job, and it rained all week.

With all the inexperience of youth i started driving back to Blackall, crossing creeks getting higher and higher.

Eventually it was Skeleton Creek about 30km from Blackall that pulled me up.

After a day and a half sitting beside it watching the floodwater slowly recede, I got back to Blackall just as a massive flood was engulfing the town. That was in early June.

I reminisced about this on social media last week and found plenty of other people who had similar memories of 1983.

One was on the family property in Injune when it began raining in May, and rained almost continuously for six weeks.

Managing stock from the air and getting trucks over roads "like jelly" were some of his memories.

Another remembers not going back to school for ages due to all the rain and flooding, and yet another spent a week on a little Fergie tractor pulling agistment cattle out of bogs because they couldn't ride a horse through the box tree flats.

A friend at Clermont was only a kid but remembers it raining for five days, having one day of sun and then six more days of rain. Sounds familiar, doesn't it.

Plus, I was reminded that in 1983, Bob Hawke became the Prime Minister and claimed that he broke the drought.

Is this feeling like 1983 for you?

- Sally Gall

Talk of the North is a weekly opinion piece written by ACM journalists. The thoughts expressed are their own.

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