SYDNEY -- Weird is the only word for it. In the midst of its biggest-ever economic boom, Australia is drying up. Underground, minerals are being dug up and shipped to Asia at record rates for record prices. Above ground, a drought is so bad that this food-exporting country may not be able to feed itself.
Veteran Prime Minister John Howard hardly knows whether to laugh or cry. Apart from agonizing over whether to send more peacekeeping troops into Iraq and Afghanistan, he should be looking forward to enjoying a shoo-in at a national election later this year. Instead, he is praying for rain.
A young whipper-snapper from Queensland has grabbed leadership of the opposition Labor Party, ousting nice but ineffective Kim Beazley, of Western Australia. Kevin Rudd is making all the right noises, determined to end 10 years of conservative rule in Canberra. Who would have thought a drought could help Rudd turn electors' minds from buying luxury homes to fears that the country can't even guarantee basic supplies such as water and food?