The Water Dreamers is the story of the settlement of Australia: of the
scarcity of water and the need to fill an imagined silence with the
sounds of civilisation. From the moment the First Fleeters stepped
ashore, water determined progress. The Tank Stream that flowed through
what is now the Sydney CBD provided fresh water until settlers and
their livestock fouled it. Then water from a nearby swamp was piped
into the growing settlement. When it ran dry sights were set further
afield.” (from the Text Publishing website)
Michael Cathcart is a well-known writer, broadcaster and theatre
director. He abridged Manning Clark’s six-volume A History of Australia
(Melbourne University Press, 1993), and currently lectures in
Australian Studies at the University of Melbourne.