This is a real test of conservative politics given that since federation they have rarely had to govern during hard times.

Today's media controlled by the Coalition's mates at News Corp and Sky spend most of their time denigrating Labor.

Unfortunately, most modern Australians are ignorant of our great history.

The conservatives have rarely been in power and had to cope with the toughest times in our history.

In the past 120 years, our greatest national crises were World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the oil crisis of the early '70s, the 1987 financial crisis and the 2007 global financial crisis .

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The conservatives were in power during the roaring twenties, yet had no answer to the Great Depression.

When World War II began the Liberal/Country party was in disarray and it took the decisive leadership of John Curtin to lead the country in our worst years.

Of course, the Liberals sent us to Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan based on lies. Robert Menzies was our longest-serving prime minister, yet he lead during years of worldwide prosperity.

When opposition to the Vietnam War began to grow, Menzies retired. In 1983, Malcolm Fraser and his treasurer, John Howard, had the great trifecta - double digit inflation, unemployment and interest rates.

With the help of their media mates and wealthy vested interests, the Coalition has attempted to rewrite our history.

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The facts are that Australia has enjoyed the benefits of social democracy, but the Coalition seems bent on destroying our history of fairness.

Only under a Coalition government would we see such exploitation of workers, the use of cheap imported labour and wage theft.

Wouldn't it be nice if Senator Perin Davey started working harder for her constituents in the southern basin, who continue to suffer from the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, rather than advocating for those in the north.

For some reason, Senator Davey has become involved in the debate about floodplain harvesting in the northern basin and the NSW government's decision to lift an embargo on FPH.

By lifting the embargo, water is prevented from flowing down the Barwon-Darling system to Menindee Lakes and more water for South Australia and downstream needs must therefore come from the Murray system, penalising those in the Murray who remain on zero allocation.

There are a couple of points here. Firstly, this is a state issue so I wonder why Senator Davey would want to get involved in an issue that can adversely affect her area.

Secondly, is supporting her National Party colleague, state Water Minister Pavey, more important than supporting farmers in her own region?

Ms Pavey might well have acted within the rules by lifting the embargo, but it doesn't pass the pub test. It is increasingly obvious that member for Murray Helen Dalton is the only local politician prepared to genuinely fight for the Murray region.

We hope the new federal Water Minister Keith Pitt remains good to his word to listen to our concerns and try to work with us on a fairer basin plan, because no-one else from the federal Coalition seems prepared to take the tough stance that is needed.