![]() He made the farmers foot the bill and made them sign an agreement with the state. He justified it as target practice for the soldiers and ordered the men to bring back 100 emu skins and planned to put their feathers in the light horsemen’s hats. Pearce did what he could to make the Emu War his legacy. He was going to destroy the emus, save the farmers, and be hailed as a hero. This, he thought, would be his chance to show Australia’s rural voters than he cared. Pearce sent a camera crew out with the soldiers to film the Great Emu War. But, when they asked Pearce to send them machine guns and military trucks, it was more than just generosity that motivated him. The government had sent these farmers out west, and they needed the crops. He had a vested interest in getting rid of the emus. He couldn’t put machine guns in civilian hands, of course, but he didn’t see any reason why he couldn’t send a few soldiers out west. George Pearce was the man who approved the Great Emu War. Just get us a few machine guns, they told their premier, and they’d clear up the emu problem in no time.ĩThe Minister For Defense Thought It Would Be Good PR The emus had to go, and these ex-military men knew one surefire way to do it. And a few were so driven to despair that they ended their own lives. Some farmers gave up and moved back east. Millions of pounds were lost because the havoc these emus were raging. They tore holes in the fences, trampled and devoured the crops, and left behind open pathways for the rabbits to get in. Starving and desperate, the emus started moving toward the farmlands. Who, in this case, just happen to be emus.Īt first, the farmers were making a profit, until the area was hit by a drought. The Emu War is a story of settlers on a wild frontier, fighting against the natives of the land. When they came home, the government sent more than 5,000 servicemen out to farm Australia’s wild and untamed west. They were veterans of the First World War. The farmers who fought the emu weren’t just ordinary workers. ![]() “Those who didn’t live with the emu couldn’t understand the damage they did,” said Australia’s Minister for Defense, George Pearce.
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