DEPUTY PM WALKS OUT ON STOLEN WATER

Contentious ministerial manager of the Murray-Darling Basin, Barnaby Joyce, centre, has this afternoon announced his resignation from his leadership of the National Party and thus his deputy Prime Ministry of Australia. He will move to the back bench.

Here he is last year at Penfolds Grange winery at Magill Estate in suburban Adelaide, with conservative South Australian poliliticans from the irrigated arid Murray Mallee, Tim Whetstone, left, and Senator Anne Ruston, right. The senator was Barnaby's ministerial assistant and staunch lieutenant.

The former deputy Prime Minister's resignation comes after years of gossip and fact dared to grow like canker about his relationship with a staffer who he claims expects his baby while issues surrounding oceans of water lost from our arid inlands under his watch will haunt the Anthropocene. 

[UPDATE: Sydney Morning Herald 4th March 2018: "Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has slammed the initial reporting of his relationship with Vikki Campion, saying he was never asked if he was the father of his former staffer's unborn child and that the issue of paternity is not certain."]

Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown.

In the meantime, getting back to proper export income and thus thinking Grange, I reckon my cobber Milton Wordley's still got some copies of the second edition - black label - of our multi-international-gong-winning-whew book A year in the life of Grange available for sale. 

Before he resurrects, this may be the last chance I get in years to pull some clicks outa Barnaby's search magnet.

The big peanut owes me.

Like, forget irrigation, if you're interested in the Grange recipe or anything; not much water in there ... never has been ... Grange depends, to a great degree, on a certain lack of water. 

Contrary to common rumour that this big book was a Penfolds/Treasury enterprise, forget it. Milton, (below, my snap)  published our paean to Grange, photographed it, paid for it and asked me to write it. Barnaby didn't buy one, but he might well do now he has a bit more time.

Thankyou Milton from the Maxes and Rays and blacksmiths to the lab rats and all those who've been seriously and respectfully through that doorway in the line of good productive work of creative manufacture and employment, unlike these Australians Just Flown In from the irrigated white side of the bush specially for it. 

Whatever it was.

With our medals from the Independent Publishers' New York Book Fair ... biggest in the States ... we also won the Cointreau Best In The World award at the International Book Fair in Beijing ... Ta anyway, Barney ... 1952 Grange photographed in New York City by Milton Wordley