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 …
Working with Barry Humphries
ROSS FITZGERALD
Barry Humphries and I were friends for more than 60 years.
We drank together, got sober together, and also worked with each other.
In 1972, when we were two years sober, I played a small role in Barry’s raucous Australian comedy, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie. In this path-breaking Australian film (or “fillum” as my father used to say), Barry not only played Edna Everage but a number of other characters as well, including the mad psychiatrist, Dr Humphrey de Lamphrey. I was one of Bazza’s mates farewelling him …
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 …
Anti-hero Everest reaches for dizzying heightsAcademic and author ROSS FITZGERALD reflects on the journey to his latest political satire “Pandemonium” and the series’ anti-hero Dr Professor Grafton Everest. As some avid “CityNews” readers may know, my latest Grafton Everest political satire “Pandemonium”, co-authored with Ian McFadyen, of “Comedy Company” fame, has recently been published. In it, my anti-hero, Dr Professor Grafton Everest, is the first Australian Secretary-General of the shambolic United Nations. In its prequel, “The Lowest Depths”, published last year, Russia’s dictatorial president-for-life, Vladimir Putrid, is assassinated. Will …
Sober Days with Barry HumphriesROSS FITZGERALDBarry Humphries and I were friends for sixty-one years. We drank together, got sober together, and worked together.In late 1969 we were both admitted to a suburban Melbourne alcoholic and drug addiction hospital, Delmont. The wonderful lead psychiatrist there, Dr John Moon, who happened to be a Christadelphian, was a strong supporter of Alcoholics Anonymous. Delmont was the last mental hospital either Barry or I were admitted to as a patient.The night before we were due to be discharged, we got taken to a large …
It’s flooding in North Queensland. More than two metres of water has fallen in a week. Crocodiles are swimming through the streets. People are warned not to wear thongs in the clean-up. The Australian Defence Force has been brought in, and the days-old premier, Steven Miles, is on the ground making the regular flood speeches about mateship, bravery, the Queensland spirit and why the weather bureau didn’t predict the rain event.ueensland politicians can be made or unmade by disasters: as if the cyclones, storms, heatwaves, pandemics and bushfires might be …
The case for vaping as a least-worst optionby ROSS FITZGERALDMany Australians with a severe alcohol problem will die from smoking-related causes rather than from the effects of alcohol. “ACT citizens can have in their possession personal quantities of heroin, cocaine, amphetamine or home-grown cannabis without legal repercussions, but carrying mango-flavoured nicotine juice for vaping risks up to a two-year prison sentence and a $32,000 fine,” writes academic and author ROSS FITZGERALD. HUMAN beings have always used psychoactive drugs. Some animals and birds, such as elephants and parrots, occasionally indulge in …
AUSTRALIAN WOMEN HEROES OF THE PACIFIC WAR
SISTERS IN CAPTIVITY:
SISTER BETTY JEFFREY OAM AND THE COURAGEOUS STORY OF AUSTRALIAN ARMY NURSES IN SUMATRA, 1942-1945
by Colin Burgess
Simon & Schuster Australia, 2023
ISBN 9781761109089
RRP $34.99
Reviewed by ROSS FITZGERALD
This fine book, Sisters in Captivity, is dedicated to “the heroic nurses who lived this story but never made it home”.
Most educated Australians know of Sister Vivian Bullwinkel. But until the release of this lengthy and scrupulously researched study, my guess is that, as with me, not all that many readers of The Sydney Institute Review of …
