Australian farmers commit suicide as hope evaporates.

It must be terrible to see your land dry up and leave you without hope.
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Australian farmers commit suicide as hope evaporates.
20 October 2006
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SYDNEY: One Australian farmer commits suicide every four days, defeated by the country's worst drought in 100 years which has left them with dust-bowl paddocks and a mountain of debt, says a national mental health body.
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As drought rolls into a sixth year, stoic farmers are reduced to tears under the stress of trying to produce a crop and hold on to land sometimes farmed by the same family for generations.

"One male farmer every four days is committing suicide," Jeff Kennett, chairman of beyondblue, said.
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"My fear is that when under prolonged stress and when they see their assets totally denuded of value, that we will see an increase (in suicides)," Kennett told local radio.
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The rate among male farmers and farm workers is more than twice the national average, the NSW Farmers Association says.
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The figure is all the more worrying because only about 10 per cent of Australia's 20 million population live in rural areas and the number has been declining for years as the rural economy struggles. The vast majority of Australians live in cities.
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The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics suicide report says 2,098 Australians took their lives in 2004.
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