The Therapeutic Goods and Other Legislation Amendment (Vaping Reforms) Bill 2024 is set to be debated and voted on in the Senate on June 24. If the Senate bill is passed, Australia’s eight state and territory parliaments will each have to pass corresponding legislation. If they don’t, the survival of Australia’s restrictive approach to vaping is doubtful.

The federal Health Minister, Mark Butler, is leading these de facto prohibition changes.

Australia began restricting nicotine vaping, a much safer way of taking nicotine than deadly smoking, in 2011.

Since then governments have intensified the …

‘Waggy Bill’ (William Norman Kerrigan) funeral service,10.30am Tuesday 28 May, 2024 at  St Mary’s Church, Manly.

   As a  long-time member of Alcoholics Anonymous, I would like to pay tribute to ‘Waggy Bill’ (William Norman Kerrigan) who was a great help to me and to so many other alcoholics, especially to newcomers.

Although he took some time to stop drinking, Bill was one of a kind. 

As a  member who would have been 60 years sober on 28 May, the day of his funeral, he was a fine example of AA in action.

In …

Jailing of whistleblower a travesty

As Wilcox’s fine cartoon makes clear (Editorial cartoon, May 15),  the sentencing in the ACT Supreme Court of military whistleblower David McBride to 5 years and 8 months imprisonment is an utter travesty.

   It is not only a serious blow to justice and democracy,  but  such a punitive prison sentence sends a powerful message of deterrence to  any potential whistleblowers in the future.

   Surely it is well and truly time for federal Attorney General, Mark Dreyfus, to intervene? I  can testify that Mr McBride is a person of good …

The #MeToo predictor: How Grafton Everest is always one step ahead

Who knew when Prof Ross Fitzgerald created his fictional character Grafton Everest to satirise Queensland politics and academia that Grafton would go on to conquer the world in novels that predict waves of key events.

We find it fascinating that however fanciful the satire, it so often gazumped by political and academic reality.

The first Grafton novel, Pushed From The Wings (1986) predicted the rise of the Me-Too movement in academia and the growing dependency of universities on full fee-paying foreign students.

In Busy in the …

Fred Paterson & the St Patrick’s Day Bash

When the ‘people’s champion’ got walloped 

Fred Paterson… on March 17 1948, Australia’s only Communist Party MP Fred Paterson was smashed from behind by a Queensland policeman.

 By Ross Fitzgerald

As we approach St Patrick’s Day, politically aware readers should know that in Brisbane on March 17 1948, Australia’s only Communist Party MP Fred Paterson was savagely smashed from behind by a Queensland policeman. 

Prof Ross Fitzgerald.

Some time after it occurred, this attack on Paterson became known as The Great St Patrick’s Day Bash. 

Yet most Australians, including a …

Friends  FYI the first review of Rowan Dean’s bio of Barry H. cheers Roscoe 0419 661869

The last laugh: The unforgettable and irreplaceable Barry Humphries

Rowan Dean’s book about the late great Barry Humphries is as edifying as it is entertaining

Written by Phil Brown

Barry Humphries and Ross Fitzgerald lunching in Sydney – a photo from The Many Lives of Barry Humphries by Rowan Dean

Phil Brown

It’s still hard to believe that Barry Humphries has left the building (a euphemism for the planet) for good. Mind you, he had a pretty good innings. An …

Politicians at every level need to lose their booze
Ross Fitzgerald
Last week on Brisbane radio I briefly canvassed a proposal that all our state & federal parliamentary buildings should be alcohol-free zones. 
At first glance, this might seem to be either outlandishly radical or an example of wowserism.
But it’s important to note that in 2024 many workplaces involved in critical decision-making processes are now required to be alcohol-free zones.
For example, health professionals throughout Australia are required to be alcohol and drug free at work. 
Indeed a senior nurse at a major hospital informs …

Where there’s smoke, there’s a failed vaping policy
Ross Fitzgerald
Why has the ALP deserted its key constituency?
In the last decade, Australia has witnessed slow wage growth, higher inflation, mortgage stress, prohibitive energy prices and a rising cost of living. Yet the Albanese government has done little to alleviate economic and social pressures that especially bite in Labor electorates.
The revision of the stage three tax cuts may have somewhat improved Labor’s standing following the rejection of the Voice referendum in 2023. But the Albanese government remains under huge pressure, and not just about …

Days of drunken pollies and urinating in the chamber

ROSS FITZGERALD

Like many people, I have been following the Barnaby Joyce story with interest. Perhaps more interest than some, for a number of reasons.

I must say that I find it disgusting that whoever filmed the video of a well-known federal MP collapsed on a main street in Canberra did not have the decency to offer him some assistance. Is this how people behave in the age of social media?
Joyce was candid about his situation and admitted that alcohol was a factor in …

Help is there if it is needed
ROSS FITZGERALD
   Like many readers I have been following the Barnaby Joyce story with interest. Perhaps more interest than some, for a number of reasons.
I must say that I find it disgusting that whoever filmed this video of a well-known Federal MP collapsed on a main street in Canberra did not have the decency to offer him some assistance. Is this how people behave in the age of social media?
Barnaby Joyce was candid about his situation and admitted that alcohol was a factor in his …

Foreign tongues: can dogs tell the difference?by ROSS FITZGERALDDogs… “Surely people and their dogs can communicate with each other, not merely by gestures, but by speech as well,” wonders Ross Fitzgerald. As an ardent owner of two West Highland white terriers ROSS FITZGERALD wonders if dogs can understand different languages and distinguish between them.   I TAUGHT my West Highland terriers Belle and Maddie in English to “sit”, “fetch”, “stay”, “roll over” and “come back”, but what would happen if we went to live in Russia and I spoke to them …