There was  a big, expensive, ad in today’s The Australian. Funded by a who’s who of Queensland’s big business, its message is simple: in a time of need, Queenslanders have risen and united and for that we salute and thank you.

It falls way short, however, by including this little beauty: “We have quite simply shown that our human nature will always be far more powerful than mother nature.”

Prior to white man’s occupation of Australia 223 years ago, this land saw tsunamis surge down its east coast, a fire that burned from coast to coast, a drought that lasted 400 years and floods powerful enough to change the face of the land.

‘Mother nature’ – or natural science, or geography, or God, for that matter – will be here a long, long time after we have left.