Farmer Marshall Rodda (left) and farmhand Gilbert Fryatt (right) stand on the parched earth of an empty dam northwest of Melbourne on November 14, 2006.

La Niña conditions in the Pacific, often associated with heavy rain in Australia, failed to fill water catchments in the Murray-Darling River Basin this year.

Though some hope several consecutive La Niña seasons can break the drought, the prospect of long-term climate change is spawning other ideas.

For instance, the government has created a task force to help move farmers from the dry south to the wet and tropical north.

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