The drought was a much-raised about topic when Blacktown representatives visited its sister city of Liverpool Plains shire on the weekend.
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Liverpool Plains shire mayor Andrew Hope said Maori Wardens Australia president, Rawiri lti, had been "shocked" by the changes the drought had wrought over the three years he had attended Hangi in the Country.
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"[Mr Iti] said, 'On my way here, I was shocked to see how dry it is, and I thought to myself, "How can you as people deal with the trauma you are facing with this horrid drought?" The only thing we can do is to come here and hug you and spread some hope and raise some awareness back in the city of your situation and continue to raise funds to donate to assist you. The symbolic thing about a hangi is that it means we are no longer strangers; we are at one with each other, and as sister cities, we are'," councillor Hope said.
The weekend activities focused on youth and drought assistance and highlights included free workshops with Rap 4 Change, the hangi dinner, World Cafe youth forum and a trip to Windy Station Woolshed.
"[It] allowed them to see first-hand how the drought is ongoing and impacting the region and they enjoyed their experience at the Windy Woolshed learning a little about life on the land and how agritourism is being developed in the shire," Cr Hope said.
He said the annual sister city weekend brought youth, council representatives, business owners, farmers and locals together to renew bonds with the Blacktown community which "shared their friendship and generosity with us, lifting local morale during the current drought crisis".
Cr Hope said the event was a "resounding success" and they had "shared something very special".