Expert says Australian drought is 'worst in 1,000 years'

The drought ravaged Gayngaru wetlands of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Australia, already the world's driest inhabited continent, is in the grip of its worst drought in 1,000 years, a leading expert told the country's political leaders at a crisis summit.(AFP/File/Torsten Blackwood)

Australia, already the world's driest inhabited continent, is in the grip of its worst drought in 1,000 years, a leading expert told the country's political leaders at a crisis summit.

Conservative Prime Minister John Howard and premiers of the three worst-hit states were presented with the bleak assessment at the meeting in Canberra by an expert on the country's most significant river system, participants said.

The drought has already been described variously as the worst in living memory, the worst in a century and the worst since white settlement more than two centuries ago.