ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
A local grazier has cast his eye over a mob of wethers this morning and seen nothing but past failures and bad luck staring back at him.
“Look at these fucken things,” he said to himself.
“Flyblown cunnsathings.”
Darcy Rutlock, of the ‘Astoria’ Rutlock’s via Windorah, has been spreading round bales this morning because the last few downpours here in the Diamantina basin have been quite scuddy and he’s missed out on getting a recent enough drop to bring the country back to life.
That’s also a source of frustration for the 60-year-old.
However, his offsider and middle child, Ben Rutlock, has told The Advocate that the wethers are actually looking pretty good at the moment and last year’s lambs are some of the best he remembers seeing.
“Aw, yeah, nah, everything’s fucked according to Dad,” he said.
“The sheep are fucked, the oats are fucked. Wheat’s fucked. First cross lambs are fucked. Border Leister, as a breed, is fucked. No fucking money in wool anymore. Merinos are fucked. Cost of diesel is fucked. Price of power is fucked. Weather’s fucked, rain’s fucked. Drought’s fucked. He’s fucked. His back’s fucked, his hands are all fucked, he reckons,”
“My older brother’s lifestyle is Sydney’s fucked. Paying too much tax is fucked. Capital gain on NAB shares are fucked. Government’s fucked. Albo’s fucked. Dutton’s fucked. Fuck the Greens. Fuck that Pauline, too. Shoes are fucked. Fucken Chinese-made fucken boots falling apart, have to go to town to buy a pair of fucken Redbacks because they don’t fucken fall apart for at least a year in the dry,”
“So I wouldn’t say that the sheep are fucked. I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m fucked as well. If Souths lose on Friday, they’ll be fucked, too. It’s just how they are, these antique Australians.”
More to come.
