Port Elliot "Let the River Murray Flow": Ron Kandelaars visits the Fleurieu Peninsula region of South Australia

The children of the Port Elliot Primary School are doing their bit to save the Murray. They've joined forces with Shane Howard, the one-time driving force behind the band, Goanna to record a song 'Let the Murray Flow' and release it on CD.

The kids at know first hand just how crook Australia's most important waterway really is. In class they test water quality checking the number of bugs to be found in samples taken from the Murray and from local stormwater drains.

Sadly, they've uncovered an alarming fact. Their local stormwater is in a healthier State than the river upon which we all so desperately depend. For music teacher, Anne Todd, who grew up on the banks of the Murray it confirms what she's known for years.

"It is extremely sad," said Anne. "I grew up on the river and my parents still live there. I can see with my own eyes without any testing that things have changed. We need to do something to reverse that and see what we can do."

From such concerns a unique partnership has grown involving this music teacher, a songwriter and a bunch of Port Elliot primary school students.

For students in Years Two and Three, music and science have met as the children adapt a tune once made famous by Shane Howard in the early eighties. Back then it was called Let the Franklin Flow and it played it's part in stopping the damming of a great Tasmanian River.

Now Shane, Anne and the group of kids known as the 'Port Elliot Flyers' have joined forces to raise awareness of the plight of the Murray.

The song is available on CD and later in the year will be out on DVD. It has some of the touches of an international airline advertisement with none of the budget. For the children it's a heartfelt plea with a simple message - save The Murray.

"The reality is we've had our time," explained Shane Howard. "It's for them and for their children and for their children's children. So it's important for us grown ups to put our petty differences aside. And maybe put our economic and political agendas to one side.

"You can hide behind facts and figures but you only have to look at the river to see that there is a lot of work that needs to be done. And we can do it."

The CD Let the Murray Flow by the Port Elliot Flyers is on sale at various outlets in Adelaide and on the South Coast. The DVD will be available later in 2005. Part proceeds will go to a Save the Murray Project. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au

Let the Murray Flow CD
$5 each available from John Reynolds Music, 181 Waymouth St Adelaide, Port Elliot Primary School, Whale Centre Victor Harbor
Part proceeds to a Save the Murray Project