The Bureau of Meteorology now admits that its rain forecasts earlier this year were optimistic. This is because they were based on the weather of the last 100 years and did not take account of the fact that we are moving into a new climate regime.

Dr Coughlan, of the Bureau, says "we can't predict when this drought will end".

And Ross Young, of the Water Services Association of Australia says we are now moving towards "Permanent drought".

With half of Australia's land in drought and farmers under financial andwater stress, food prices are bound to rise.

And - given that we have 20 years of climate change effects built into the system - the situation is going to take an almightly effort to turn around.

Yet the federal government has not taken climate change seriously. Nor have the state Labor Governments.

"The need for moving as close as possible as soon as possible to zero emissions is apparent and compelling" says Matthew Wright of Beyond Zero Emissions.

"A competent and responsible government would be using all its influence and leading the way to build on the Kyoto Protocol with a world goal of zero emissions."

"We should also be using farming techniques such as Agri Char (aka Terra Preta) which the Mayan people used ten thousand years ago in the Amazon, to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere."

"Only by taking such an approach can we normalise the climate and secure the food and water future of Australia and the world."