Peter Andrews is a racehorse breeder and farmer credited with remarkable success in converting degraded, salt-ravaged properties into fertile, drought-resistant pastures. His methods are so at odds with conventional scientific wisdom, that for 30 years he has been dismissed and ridiculed as a madman. He has faced bankruptcy and family break-up.
But now, at a minute to midnight, leading politicians, international scientists and businessmen are beating a path to his door as they grapple with how best to alleviate the affects of drought on the Australian landscape.
Described as a man who reads and understands the Australian landscape better than most scientists, supporters of Peter Andrews claim he has done what no scientist ever thought to do - he has restored streams and wetlands to the way they were before European settlement interfered with them. The startling results of his 'natural sequence farming' are said to have been achieved very cheaply, simply and quickly.
Retailer Gerry Harvey has become a committed backer and has recruited Andrews to work on his own horse stud in the Widden Valley. Businessman Richard Pratt is also getting involved.
Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson has become a convert. And now a number of leading national and international scientists hail Andrews as a 'prophet' who should be listened to.
