Since first we ran a railway train,
Or laid a road from here to there,
Or built a bridge across a drain,
Or sought relief from many a care;
Since first she gave, this fertile land,
Her promise to the pioneer,
This slogan rose throughout the land
And grew in volume year by year:
"Aw, leave it to the Gover'ment;
The Gover'ment will pay.
The toil is tough: we've done enough;
So let's call this a day.
Let's go and ask the Gover'ment.
What do they tax us for?
An' when we've spent what they have lent
We'll go an' git some more."
'Twas easy come and easy go,
In easy days gone by,
But now, alas, the funds are low;
The old milch cow runs dry.
The bounty and the house and
The railway and the road
Have heaped their burdens on a land
That groans beneath the load.
"Aw, leave it to the Gover'ment!
They'll push the job ahead.
They got my vote. Why be a goat?
A man must use his head.
Ain't they put there to hump our care,
And plan, an' toil, an' think?
Aw, leave it to the Gover'ment;
An' come an' have a drink."
"Aw, leave it to the Gover'ment"...
The cry dies hard withal;
And still they plead, who cannot read
The writing on the wall.
And still they feign, the "rulers" vain,
On patronage to dote,
Whose feeble eyes, 'neath lowering skies,
Still see nought but "The Vote."
First published in The Herald, 13 August 1930
Author reference sites: C.J. Dennis, Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library
See also.
