After a short period of smugness as we in Australia compared our covid-19 statistics with those of countries like Brazil, the USA, and the United Kingdom, the virus snuck up behind us and yelled “SURPRISE!” But we in Queensland could still afford a bit of hubris. After all, the mounting figures were in Victoria and,…
It’s unseasonably cold, wet, and miserable here in Hervey Bay. Yes, it’s winter, but our normal winter is dry and pleasant, with day temperatures in the low twenties and nights in the low teens. And that, friends, is why I haven’t been out whale watching yet. There’s plenty of time. The season peters out around…
Things were looking so rosy. Australia was the envy of the world, with very few active covid-19 cases and very few deaths, mostly of elderly residents in aged care homes. Sport was happening, albeit with restrictions. Pubs and clubs were reopening. And then the wheels fell off. Hot spots flared in Victoria, with hundreds of…
When I was a kid growing up in the sixties and seventies of the previous century, life was good. But there was an ever-present background noise, like the rattle in an air conditioner on a hot day. I’m talking about the Cold War. We all believed that nuclear war could well be just around the…
I suppose we had to expect a second wave of the corona virus at some stage. And it has arrived in Melbourne. Cases have soared. A person arriving in Darwin from Melbourne has become the first case in the Northern Territory for months. The man in his thirties had spent two weeks in quarantine after…
I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a bit sick of covid-19 restrictions and American politics. This week I thought I’d write about something completely different. Three hundred and ninety-one years ago this month there was a bump in the night and the captain of the Batavia was heard to say, God verdomme. God…
The murder of George Floyd has resonated around the world. Here in Australia crowds numbering in their thousands gathered in the capital cities in a mark of solidarity with those demonstrating in America. Here in Australia ‘Black Lives Matter’ means people identifying themselves as indigenous Australians. And it’s true that the treatment of Aboriginal people…
Isn’t it amazing? Covid-19 seems to have disappeared. From the news media, anyway. The pandemic has been displaced by the dreadful sight of America imploding. One thing about everybody having a camera and the advent of social media is that we can actually see what’s happening out there. Yes, social media can be manipulated and…
The first rugby league game of the restarted season was played last night, signalling the start of a new phase of easing covid-19 restrictions. There were no live spectators at the match but the viewing audience via TV and on line was in millions. The TV audience was 1.6 million and the match was on…
Well, well. It seems we Australians have upset the powers that be in China. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has had the temerity to ask for an independent enquiry into the spread of the deadly covid-19 pandemic – a move that has been supported by the US, the UK, and Europe. The Chinese ambassador here has…