The ABC this morning said there was ‘a fifty per cent chance of rain’. That is unusual. We are used to a ’10 per cent chance’ or a ’90 (maybe 70) per cent chance’ or sometimes just a ‘chance of rain’ – which suggests to me rain is less likely than likely. I can remember ‘a probability of rain’. I find a fifty per cent chance of rain an uncomfortable idea. It seems to me very close to saying ‘we haven’t got any idea whether it’s going to rain or not’. Has the ABC, weighed down by the pressure of budget cuts, lost heart, given up, retreated into a state of confused indecision. What happened to the Aussie tradition of having a go?
