![Times Past: May 19, 2007 Times Past: May 19, 2007](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Yecs3Py5qDsXRaXHGQZdPb/18a3243d-a69d-4c2a-8761-156332dc3f91.JPG/r299_0_1083_1145_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
There's no prettier site at the end of a devastating drought than a farmer sloshing around in puddles of rainwater.
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After the worst drought in a century, the front page on this day in 2007 heralded the end of the El Nino weather system that had parched the continent and caused untold heartbreak to farming communities.
Gunnedah farmer Trevor Worboys was the farmer sloshing through the rain, but the same scene was playing out closer to home as Tharwa welcomed 39mm in 48 hours, part of a much-needed soaking of the south-east of the country.
Sharing page one was a story of the ACT government pledging to be transparent about the future uses for the 23 public schools and preschools it was closing as part of a very controversial education shake-up.
Territory and Municipal Services Minister John Hargreaves was on the front line defending process around the plan, which was pilloried by the Liberal opposition and the Greens.
Among the points of contention was whether the money from the sale of schools' land would be put back into education, and whether any of the sites would be retained for future use as schools if and when demographics changed.