The Dawson River in central Queensland has been described as an 'oasis in the outback'. Theodore, the town built on its banks, is celebrating its centenary, and reflecting on the flood event that almost wiped out the community.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00As the afternoon light fades, Yukani Bales heads to his favourite fishing spot at the Dawson River Weir.
00:09Catching all the yellow bully out of the river into the frying pan.
00:12It's a favourite pastime that's been captured on Theodore's water tower.
00:16A little bit proud and very honoured just to drive past and see like such a, it's huge, he's huge up there.
00:22It took renowned silo artist Joel Fergie two weeks and 300 litres of paint to complete the mural to help celebrate the town's centenary.
00:32Everyone loved the river so much. The Dawson just is this, it's an oasis in the outback.
00:38In the 1920s Queensland Premier Ted Theodore wanted to dam the river and create 5,000 irrigation farms.
00:46Lorraine Hellier's great grandfather left his dairy farm in Victoria to settle at the Dawson Valley Irrigation Scheme.
00:53Yeah they promised the earth, they promised the earth it was going to be wonderful. It wasn't quite as good as that.
00:59The dam never eventuated but a small and resilient farming community sprouted.
01:04The government really wanted cotton to be grown.
01:08The industry and town was almost wiped out in 2010. The Dawson River broke its banks in the worst flood disaster on record.
01:17Keith Shewcraft helped evacuate the entire town which was a Queensland first.
01:22It was about three of us spent the whole day loading people onto a helicopter.
01:28Everybody helped everybody else and that was how we got ourselves through it.
01:33Still the community remains deeply connected to the mighty river.
01:37So whether you came 60,000 years ago or whether you arrived six weeks ago, you're probably here because of the river.
01:44I want to catch this one, by the yellow belly.