Dreamer in the Dry — Peter Hannaford

Australia is dying of thirst. The northern half of the continent has become an independent Islamic state. The remaining territories have amalgamated into the United States of Southern Australia, with the exception of Tasmania, which has joined the emerging economic powerhouse of New Zealand. Cattle and sheep can only be raised in the Muslim state of Capricornia. Meat production in USSA is dependent upon the farming of kangaroos, and water has become more valuable than oil. Despite a respectable history of peace and stable international relations, three school-leavers in the central Capricornian town of Whitlam form a terrorist cell. In Canberra, a disillusioned security chief plots to enhance his agency's funding. And in what was once South Australia, the half-Aboriginal descendant of an eccentric itinerant works on a kangaroo farm. He dreams. Will the future of central Australia be determined by arrogance, malice, and incompetence?