Worth celebrating....

Is it just me or does everyone hope they live to be 100 years old and just a little bit weird?

In the Sydney suburb of Glebe, they’ve just unveiled a plaque for Ernie the Fridge Man.

From his state-housing backyard, Ernie Ridding repaired and donated about 3000 used fridges to people in need, never once taking a cent.

In fact, he had a sign on his gate that read: “Ernie’s charity recycling, if you want to talk money, piss off.”

Whenever he signed his name, Ernie finished with GKN LLM, which apparently stood for “Graduate of Kenmore Nuthouse, Legally and Lawfully Mad”. It’s true that Ernie once spent time in Kenmore Psychiatric Facility, but nobody believes he was actually mad.
The plaque reads: “In giving, he inspires us to give.”

I love a mad old bloke.

When I was a kid, every so often my mum and dad would buy a whole side of beef and hire Buck West to cut it up and whack it in the freezer.

Buck had about two teeth left in his head, great yellowing tombstones that weren’t much good for anything more than grinning.

No matter what time of day Buck wandered into our kitchen, Mum always cooked him sausages and fried eggs, and we’d stand beside the kitchen table, transfixed, as he put on a show.

The old bushy would eat the sausages first, then slowly slide his knife under a whole fried egg and lift it gently from the plate, grinning his toothless grin.

Once he had the whole shiny bumnut (his word, not mine) balanced in mid-air, he would slowly rotate his wrist, turning the greasy white and gold disc towards his great gaping jaw.
With a delicate touch, he would slide the whole egg onto his tongue, theatrically withdraw the knife and swallow! Absolute gold.

And, if we were very very good, Mr West had an encore.

When the last shiny bumnut had disappeared into his gullet, Buck would gleefully raise his old singlet and reveal his huge, mangled, white belly.

Many years earlier, way out bush, Buck had watched his dog “Mutt” picking a fight with a boomer. When the old bushy foolishly intervened, the cornered roo slashed a gaping wound in his abdomen. Miles from town with no car and fewer choices, Buck simply unlaced his work boots and sewed himself together as best he could.

I loved hearing that story and always looked for a telltale shine in the old man’s eye when he got to the bit about the puppy that boot laces couldn’t save.

I don’t think Buck West had any children and I reckon he’d be long gone now, but he’ll never be dead to me.

I once saw an exhibition called Sydney Eccentrics, which I think included Ernie the Fridge Man.
I know it also celebrated a bloke who could imitate the sounds of more than 60 birds, and an old man who practised “pedestrianism” and once walked from Sydney to Parramatta in seven hours with a goat on his shoulders.

You don’t have to be a household name to be worth celebrating.

Tell me about your favourite character.

Daddy Dearest...

Is it just me or does everyone think you’re a long time dead?

There are two very sad stories in the paper today, of fathers estranged from their famous children.

The father of Brisbane swimmer Leisl Jones has been contacted by the Courier Mail and asked about his daughters impending wedding. Les Jones has said he’s rung Leisl five times since the news of her engagement broke, but she hasn’t phoned him back.

Leisl’s parents split in 2000 and Leisl lost touch with her father. I seem to remember stories at the time of Leisl and her Mum doing it very tough financially, which I guess means Les wasn’t great at paying maintenance.

Family estrangement is a very common and tragic story. I think if Leisl’s Dad was to disappear forever tomorrow, then she might just regret her hard line position. Having said that, Les, maybe you reap what you sow.

The other very similar story, is about Jimmy Bartel, Geelong star and 2007 Brownlow medallist.

Jimmy’s dad is a car salesman in Albury. The Herald Sun tracked him down after noting his absence from any speeches on Monday night.

It turns out, Jimmy’s dad left when Jimmy and his two sisters were very small but managed to stay in close touch until just three years ago, just before Jimmy turned 21. Apparently, after a family blue, Jimmy told his dad he was an aggressive drunk and it wasn’t helpful to him or his two sisters to have their dad around.

Jimmy, who was probably fairly accustomed to protecting his family, told his dad to clean up his act and get back to them. Three years later, Jimmy’s Dad is begging for forgiveness, yet still denying he ever had either a drinking or aggression problem.

Families are very complicated beasts, there’s no doubt about that, but they’re the only one you’ve got. Like I said before, you are a long time dead and I think you’ll lie a lot straighter in your coffin if you make peace with your family.

Keeping them safe...

Is it just me or does everyone think underage drinking is a problem for every parent with teenagers?

Underage drinkers on North Stradbroke Island are getting lots of press today, with news that one car load of kids was on the island with $2000 worth of booze, bought for them by their parents.

Police say they have confiscated a lot of alcohol in the past couple of days, from numerous groups of teenagers. All of it has apparently been tipped down the drain……some people are angry about that, some say good on them.

As the mother of a 16 year old though, I think the bigger issue is the age of the kids. I don’t know that there is a parent out there not worried about underage drinking.

Peter Norris is a coast parent, today he emailed me from Atlanta Georgia where he’s visiting for work. Peter has six kids - two in their twenties - the other four are under 18…

He writes: “If someone can come up with a cure for underage drinking, I'm prepared to market it World Wide. My son is turning 17 in a few months time, and I want to know, what does one do? If you allow your kids to go out (and you can't keep them locked up for ever), you know that they will be drinking. What they are drinking is what worries us. If you buy it for them you are actually breaking the law but I would rather supply my son with a limited amount and know what he has rather than just let him run wild. To his credit at this point in time he hasn't abused that privilege, that I know of, but I don't kid myself that it can and will happen.


In relation to the mob at Stradbroke, to my mind it’s a rod state government, and various commercial interests have made for their own
back. For years now the Stradbroke trip has been promoted as a pre-schoolies event, and now it’s starting to get out of hand the powers that be have decided to crack down. Bottom line is that it should have been nipped in the bud years ago.

Good on the cops anyway. Back in the day, if we as youngsters
got caught with booze, you got the booze tipped out and a boot up the
bum to go with it.”

Thanks for your email Peter….but the only answer I see is locking your kids up until they are over 18 – any chance you could market that world wide?????

Surprise Rusty!

it just me or does everyone think heroes sometimes come from the most unlikely places?

I’ve never been a massive Russell Crowe fan.

Obviously, there have been some brilliant acting performances, but deep down I’m pretty sure he’s actually a bit of a tosser.

Many moons ago when I was a country television reporter, a movie called The Silver Brumby was being shot in our general direction.

One very slow news day our brightest young cadet, Matthew, was dispatched to the set to interview anyone he could find.

At the time a movie called Romper Stomper was causing a bit of a stir, and someone mentioned the star of that flick might be filming the horse picture.

Long story short: Matt got Rusty in front of the camera and said something like, “So, Trevor, tell me about the film ...”

Russell didn’t take it well.

It kept the newsroom amused for weeks, playing and replaying the young Russell Crowe as he stormed away, yelling abuse at the junior reporter who dared not know his name.

Bit of a tosser.

Then there’s the fight at the BAFTAS, the fight at some pub at Coffs Harbour, the well-documented phone incident and a very dodgy attempt at being a rock star.

That’s right, tosser.

And yet, suddenly, in my eyes Rusty can do no wrong.

I am a bit old school. It might be boring but I love tradition. More particularly, I love people willing to put financial concerns aside to preserve tradition.

There was a time in Australia when going to the pub was a rite of passage: bands, beer gardens and long afternoons at the Sunday session.

It’s a different story today. There’s barely a pub or club in the country where you’re not forced to watch some poor fella put his last two bucks in a pokie machine.

There’s hardly any live music, and even when there is it’s basking in the reflected glow of Las Vegas neon and the “ring ting ting” of another pension cheque going down the gurgler.

Frankly, I’d rather stay home.

Around Australia, you will find almost double the number of poker machines in low-income areas.

Gamblers Anonymous claims that 30 to 70% of the money that goes through poker machines consists of welfare payments.

Thirty to 50% of the gamblers on poker machines are people who admit they are gambling more than they want to.

Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court are partners in the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Together they plan to give the Rabbitohs back to the community, starting with the banning of poker machines.

If it happens, the ban could cost the boys $7 million in 2008.

It’s a brave move.

But Peter Holmes a Court wants to prove that without the stench of lives being gambled to oblivion, people might spend a little more time at the club.

Without the threat of hungry kids sitting in the carpark, more advertisers might be attracted to rugby league.

He’s already nominated Virgin Airlines as a sponsor interested in a pokie-free club.

I’ve seen pokie addiction first-hand.

Regardless of how gaming managers try to spin it, gambling is not always about personal choice and the community chest.

It’s about loneliness, compulsion, addiction and, ultimately, desperation.

So, Rusty, my new best friend, good luck. If you and the Rabbitohs can prove to the world there is life after pokies, you never know, I might even buy your dodgy CD.

Probably not, actually, but I'll definitely stop calling you a tosser.

Safety, 70's style...

Is it just me or does everyone have very fond memories of the school bus?

John Howard yesterday announced a 40 million dollar campaign to put seatbelts in regional school buses, which is a good idea, a great idea and I hope they do it soon…

However, that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy my carefree seatbelt-less school bus days. Being buckled up would have seriously cramped my school bus style.

We were on the bus for more than an hour every morning and every afternoon and that meant the kids who caught our bus were a bit like extended family. We might have ignored each other during the day, but you knew more about the kids on your bus than just about anyone. You knew where they lived, whether or not they had a ritzy house, what their mum looked like in her pj’s and usually what they had for breakfast…

On our bus (remember it was the olden days), we had to throw newspapers and bread out the window of the moving vehicle as we passed certain farms. That’s what counted for ‘home delivery’ 70’s style! If Mary Cartenbark (that was our bus driver) remembered, she’d slow the bus down long enough to give the designated ‘chucker’ half a chance of hitting the farm gate, but most of the time we’d all watch transfixed as the rolled up paper hurtled wide and long and straight into a ditch. Then we’d all fall in the aisle of the bus cacking ourselves…

If the up roar was loud enough, poor old Mrs Cartenbark would back up the bus and order us all into the bush to retrieve the far flung missile, but most of the time she just shook her head in the rear view mirror and kept on trucking.

After years on the bus we knew the road like the back of our hand…ever bump, every bend, every chance for Mrs Cartenbark to get up a little speed going down a hill, then into a dip and up in the air we’d go!!!

The older you got, the further down the back of the bus you got to sit, and the better your chance of ‘getting air’ when Mary hit the dip at the bottom of Carters’ Road.

Not safe….I know…. But just a little bit fun.

IVF Idiots...

Is it just me or does everyone sometimes just want to cry when they read the paper?

There’s a Melbourne couple in the headlines this morning because they’re suing their IVF doctor.

Four years ago this couple went to a gynaecologist for help conceiving.

Apparently minutes before the eggs were implanted, the couple made it clear they only wanted one child, so just one egg was to be implanted.

For whatever reason, two eggs were implanted and twin girls are the result. The doctor admits he made a mistake….those 'mistakes' are three years old now and the couple is suing the gynaecologist for $400 000. Apparently that's the amount they feel is fair, considering they are forced to raise an unwanted child.

The couple even said they considered adopting out one of the children, but couldn’t
decide which one.

It makes me sick to the stomach.

In fact, I think both babies should be taken away from this couple. Seriously. Anyone who puts a price on a child’s life will never never make a good parent.

Just imagine the emotional burden those two children have already suffered.

Just imagine the fury of women who have tried and tried to have a baby through IVF and not been successful.

My brother in law had a vasectomy about 12 years ago, not long after, surprise, another pregnancy…

Did they sue, did they whinge and whine and ask the doctor to pay for his upbringing?
No way.

They might have had a moment, I understand that, but I am also confident you could offer them 400 MILLION dollars and they would never once consider giving up their baby.

Toddler traitor!

Is it just me or does everyone hate it when their values are questioned?

I raised my toddlers with a book called Toddler Taming by Dr Christopher Green. I loved that book. Basically, it reassured me that my children were normal (and not devil’s spawn….as I'd come to suspect). It promised it was normal for toddlers to misbehave and that there was something I could do about it. I don’t know how many times I went to that book and found the exact issue I was concerned about and a firm but fair solution.

Wel, wouldn’t you believe it, Christopher Green has re-canted.

After a near death experience, Dr Green has revised his philosophy and is telling parents not to tame their toddlers at all. He says children getting an appropriate amount of attention don’t misbehave, that if you value your toddler, they will be good.

All the time, Dr Green, seriously, all the time?

How Dr Green came to back flip is an interesting part of the story. A few years ago he had a major stroke, around about the same time his wife passed away. He says the combination of the two events meant he lost the will to live, sinking him into an almost fatal depression. Dr Green says he saved his own life, by re-writing Toddler Taming from scratch, partly to keep his mind active, and partly to regain the power of language.

I’m really interested in the revised version because I always found Toddler Taming to be a sensible (…not torturous or mean…) approach to explaining consequences to your kids (….I promise….) And I know I sound like a crazy person now, but the original Toddler Taming worked for me!

What do we have to do?

Is it just me or does every parent wonder what you have to do to make your kids safe on the roads.

Five boys from Bli Bli got into a car in the early hours of yesterday morning and for reasons unknown decided to head for Gympie.

One of them is dead, one is in a bad way in a Brisbane hospital and one, 15 year old boy, is being questioned by police. Talk about no winners.

Inspector Owen King is a Byron Bay copper, he was first on the scene at a crash last year that claimed the lives of four local teenagers. This is an open letter he wrote to all ki

Car smashes are democratic. They do not discriminate. Good kids die as easily as ratbags.One moment’s lapse can kill you. If you want to hear music again that ain’t harps, keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel.Wake your parents if you need a safe lift. They’ll be tired and cranky but that’s their job.

Chill out. Every day on the roads some dropkick may cut you off, try to drag you off, give you the finger or dare you to do something stupid. They are everywhere. They have big egos and little brains. Let them go. Chill out.

How much are you willing to trade for that one moment? It takes just one mad moment to be killed on the roads – speed, distraction, drink – and you lose so much. Seatbelts are made to stop your body exiting the car headfirst. Heads are not designed for this and split like melons.

Wear your seatbelt.The boot of the car is for the spare wheel. No matter what’s happening – you urgently need a lift, it’s not far, the car is full – don’t climb into a boot. It’s like climbing into a coffin.

If you drive a car full of passengers and cause a bad smash, grief and guilt will wrap you up like a skin. When all your mates pack into the car, that’s an extra 320kg and the car will brake, corner and handle completely differently because of it. So, slow down, for their sake.

Better still, carry just one mate.The police, firies and ambos are tired of dragging broken young bodies from wrecks. They are tired of the smell of blood and hot engines at car crash scenes. They are tired of knocking on front doors at 2am to parents dressed in pyjamas and bone-pale faces.

They are tired and it is not even the start of the mad Christmas season. They are tired of the waste. Give them a break.

For the price of a game of golf....

Is it just me or does everyone think Afghanistan is no place for a child?

Stick with me. I know that sentence might not seem that relevant to you, but don’t go yet.....

It’s hard to imagine, but until the late 1970s Afghanistan was a stable, progressive country with a healthy economy. These days it’s one of the poorest in the world.
No wonder, really, after 25 years of conflict.

Afghanistan is landlocked, has poor infrastructure, has the largest concentration of land mines and other unexploded ordnance on earth, and the world’s largest producer of opium.
Less than half its young people have ever been to school.

The government of Afghanistan continues to grapple with the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and its citizens live in fear of war and drug lords.

That’s right – no place for a child at all.

Now cast your mind back to the story of former Siena College student Meg Foley.
While still at school, Meg began sacrificing her school holidays to visit asylum seekers holed up in remote immigration detention centres.

In Port Hedland one holiday, Meg met handsome young Abdul Achigzai. At that time he was Australia’s longest-serving detainee.

Abdul was born into the ruling class in Afghanistan. His father was a police officer who once shot and killed a drug smuggler during a routine border patrol.

It turned out the smuggler was the brother of a Taliban warlord who then hunted and killed Abdul’s father, vowing to exact revenge on the whole family.

In fear for his life, 16-year-old Abdul was smuggled out of Afghanistan and arrived in Australia in 1999. He spent the next five years and nine months behind bars.

While in detention, Abdul learned his mother had died of unknown causes and his little brother appeared to be lost.
Can you even imagine that? At the ripe old age of 20?

Anyway, back to the hopeful bit.

You might remember in June 2004, Abdul and Meg made headlines when they married in Baxter Detention Centre. Later that year, Abdul was finally released and a week later, incredibly, he tracked down his little brother.

Malik is 13 years old now and living with an uncle and 13 cousins in scary, deadly Kandahar.

Abdul and Meg have applied for what’s called an orphan’s relative visa. The face a bureaucratic maze which involves interviews with the United Nations in Pakistan, police and medical checks.
Hopefully, it will give them the chance to bring Malik safely and quickly to Australia to be with the big brother he thought he lost 10 years ago.

Meg is five weeks from finishing her teaching degree; Abdul is working in retail. Between them, they just don’t have enough money to get the job done.

And that’s where you come in.

On Sunday, November 4, there will be a golf day at Hedland Park, raising money for Malik.

Meg tells me it doesn’t even matter if you don’t like golf, because she’s never played and has plenty planned for people who just want to join the day.

If you’ve got a business, corporate spots are available, too.

To find out more, call Meg’s mum Barb on 5477 5307.

Afghanistan might be no place for a child, but sadly we can’t save all of them. So I thought, maybe we could just start with this one.

Do mothers kill their babies?

Is it just me or does everyone marvel at how quickly the public can turn?

There is a media feeding frenzy in the British press at the moment, the worm has turned on the parents of Madeleine McCann, the little girl who disappeared from her hotel room in Portugal four months ago.

I don’t know about you but it reminds me, chillingly, of Michael and Lindy Chamberlain.

Twenty-five years ago, the barrister representing Michael and Lindy Chamberlain, on trial for the murder of baby Azaria, argued that sane, stable loving mothers "don't kill their babies".
But we didn’t believe him. The public had decided Lindy Chamberlain was guilty, and the police, conveniently, came up with the evidence.

Obviously scientific evidence has done wonders for the fight against crime, but it’s but it’s certainly not infallible.

On the way to their ill fated holiday at Ayers Rock, the Chamberlains visited Mt Isa in their Torana Hatchback sedan. Getting in and out of the car in the dusty mining town, the family unwittingly filled the car with copper oxide, the substance later identified as baby Azaria’s blood. The police claimed Lindy left the camp fire, sat in the front seat of the Torana and slit her babies throat.

A tireless fight and a royal commission have completely exonerated Lindy Chamberlain, but not before she lost her marriage, the security of her family and spent years in jail.

The Chamberlain and McCann cases seem uncannily parallel….right down to the public scorn.

In the McCann case, traces of dried blood are claimed to have been found in the car Kate and Gerry McCann hired 25 days after Madeleine's disappearance.

25 days after Madeleine disappeared the police are claiming her parents might have put her body in the hire car and disposed of it in the sea. I just don’t buy it…for a start, when were those people alone for five minutes in the 25 days after their baby disappeared?

Science is great, but it’s not perfect. In the meantime, the person who did take Madeleine gets further and further away…

Bye Bye Beattie...

Is it just me or was everyone surprised, but a little bit proud of Peter Beattie for going so quickly and cleanly?
I wonder if John Howard is looking north longingly this morning, wondering if he should have pulled the pin last year? Got out while the going was good?

So how will we remember Peter Beattie?

Obviously, in this part of the world, he’s blotted his copy book. The Traveston Dam is a PR nightmare…Council Amalgamations…much the same…

It’s exactly one year on since the last election, perfect political timing I guess.…long enough after the election for the public to think it’s a fair cop, enough time before the next for Queenslanders to get used to a new leader (…possibly our first female premier…)

Anyway, how would you describe Peter Beattie? I’d describe him as fun fat and fifty, a bloke I’d probably like to be friends with. He’s a straight talker, good natured…and very very shrewd. I don’t know how long it will be before the conservatives get back into power…that’s how powerful the Beattie majority is.

The Australian newspaper today gives the Beattie Government a score of six and a half out of ten saying he squandered too many opportunities to score higher, saying that in a time of economic boom, Mr Beattie failed to invest in his state's future.

According to the editorial, there isn't enough water or electricity in Queensland; there aren't enough doctors or hospital beds; and the roads are choked….despite the fact billions of dollars are pouring into Queensland from the resources boom, the GST and rising property taxes.

On the radio this morning, the callers were emphatic, they are not happy with Peter Beattie…but seriously, he was a very popular premier for a very long time…and surely he deserves some credit!

Because the Beattie government has been slow to spend money, we have AAA credit rating in Queensland, so his fiscal management has been responsible.

He’s made some positive moves on the environment, slowing or stopping tree clearing around the state, he’s promoted women, reformed the courts, particularly in the way it deals with young people…we have a prep year in state schools…you can’t smoke in public places in Queensland any more…

Fearless or foolish?

Is it just me or does everyone sometimes wonder how we raise our boys?

I think most parents are terrified by a story on the front page of the sunshine coast daily today.

An 18 year old Buderim apprentice, Tyson Leader is dead.

On Friday his mum dropped him off at his mates house, for a weekend trip to the Gold Coast.

The last thing shw said to him was, ‘Be safe.’ and if you believe what you read, it wasn’t an empty message. Tyson has always been a bit of a dare devil.

But, despite his Mum's warning, just hours after he kissed her good bye and got out of the passenger seat of the car….Tyson was dead.

After visiting a couple of clubs, no doubt with a drink or three under his belt, Tyson climbed onto the railing of the apartment balcony.

Like a monkey, he crouched down, and held on with two hands, hanging back and testing his weight.

Then, he upped the ante, taking one hand off the railing, grinning at his mate not three feet away. And in an instant he was gone, falling 24 stories to his death.

His mum Jan is quoted in the paper this morning, she says, ‘we had to go to the morgue to see him and I just looked at him and said, ‘mate, what part of be safe did you not get?”.

Sound familiar?

Is it just me or does everyone sometimes feel like a broken record?

This week is child protection week, yet everywhere we turn there are stories about child aggressors.

In Nambour, teenage girls drunk and high on glue were caught stealing charity donations from a disabled man.

A 61-year-old man on Kawana Island was bashed by 12 and 14-year-olds.

In Perth, a group of Year 7 students are facing court for the kidnap and torture of a school mate.

In London, a 14-year-old girl has stabbed and killed her older sister in a fight over a boyfriend.

And the broken record whines: Where are the parents? Who is failing these children?

I got a new perspective this week. Dr Philip Bird is lead physician at the Gosforth Clinic in Maroochydore. He specialises in the research, diagnosis and treatment of ADHD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

I know you’re all familiar with ADHD kids: anti-social, restless, reckless, seemingly incapable of eye contact, quick to anger, always in trouble, never able stick at anything.

Well, here’s the kicker. According to Phil, ADHD is not something you necessarily “grow out of”.
Adults have ADHD, too, and the pattern continues – poor social skills, anger management issues, broken relationships, a string of lost jobs, restlessness, recklessness, possible drug problems and ultimately very poor parenting skills.

According to Phil, before the age of 25, some 75% of untreated ADHD patients are diagnosed drug users.

By comparison, in the general population, it’s just 20% of people under the age of 25.

You see, if you’ve got ADHD, the drugs really do work.

Any stimulant acts like the prescription drug Ritalin, calming the thoughts of the ADHD sufferer.
Phil tells the story of a patient who took speed before going to a nightclub with mates. Under the influence of the drug, the young man’s mind cleared and for the first time, he was able to look around and see the mess his unit was in, so he stayed home and cleaned up.

Others say they just fall asleep while their mates party around them.

Untreated, ADHD sufferers under 25 are twice as likely to get a speeding ticket, four times as likely to crash their car and seven times as likely to crash their car more than once.

Phil says it’s taking a long time to get the message out that people don’t grow out of ADHD just because they go to Schoolies Week.

The good news, however, is that once diagnosed, ADHD is treatable. In fact, among medicated ADHD adults, the incidence of illicit drug use drops to just 21% – very close to the community average.

The message for people who work with troubled kids is simple: take a look at the parents and see if you recognise the symptoms.

ADHD exists in only about 4.4% of adults, so it’s not the answer to every crap parent, I know that, but when it comes to protecting children, it’s got to be worth a try.

If you want to find out more, phone the Gosforth Clinic on 5451 1800.

Protective services....

Is it just me or does everyone think keeping children safe is everyone’s business?

Yesterday, I was part of a forum for Child Protection Week… basically a whole lot of people committed the kids in crisis, all in the same room, talking about how we can do it better.

There’s always terribly sad stories, like the tale of a ten year old boy, who at this very moment, on the sunshine coast is living alone, in hotel accommodation with a roster of five carers. He’s violent, he’s angry, he's a problem at school and has broken down every relationship ever offered to him. How did he get that way? I can’t tell you that, but he’s ten years old. Just a little boy.

On the front page of the Sunshine Coast Daily today is the story about two girls, aged 13 and 14 who robbed a disabled man in Nambour last week. Of course people are angry about that, the police said they showed no remorse when they were arrested.

But you know what? Someone made those kids that way. Their parents might have been unable, or maybe just unwilling to protect them. Regardless, they are still little girls - far too young to be written off.

So back to yesterday. It was great to be in a room full of people wanting to be part of the solution. Child protection is a very tough job to do every day.

Just briefly, if you’ve got a passion – if you want to help – there’s heaps of ways you can get involved and volunteer – foster care, big brothers big sisters, good beginnings...all sorts of organisations need volunteers. Never doubt what a massive contribution you can make…. it’s about community – sometimes it really does take a village to raise a child.

On the other hand, if you just know a person who works in child protection, a teacher, a policeman, a case worker, a community nurse, a counsellor, it doesn’t matter what they do for kids, just give them a pat on the back…

What are YOU doing about drugs?

Is it just me or does everyone suspect when it comes to drugs, they might be a shocking hypocrite?

It’s the talk of Australia, drugs in elite sport.

Rugby League legend Joey Johns admitted last week he was taking recreational drugs for most of his playing career. It's since been revealed that Joey's drug fascination/problem was the worst kept secret in rugby league. Everyone at the Newcastle Knights knew Joey was depressed and behaving recklessly at the weekend, however, thanks to his amazing form, not a word was ever said.

There's a claim too, that Gordon Tallis made a formal complaint to the ARL about the 2000 Kangaroo tour of England, apparently Gordy was unhappy that players were taking drugs while on tour and nothing was being done about it.

The ARL has refuted they did nothing. Officials are saying that since the 2000 allegations, they have employed a former Yorkshire policeman to warn off drug dealers on subsequent tours of England.

Paul Roos, AFL coach of Sydney says he’d be disgusted if he knew that coaches were fielding players they knew were using drugs. When I heard that quote on Friday night I thought it made a lot of sense. Like Paul Roos I thought that coaches should be more open, if rumours surfaced about a player, then the coach should have a word with him, tell him help is available, but make it clear he won’t be taking the field unless he is clean.


And then, as usual, Wayne Bennett, coach of the Brisbane Bronco’s said something that made me take a step back.

Bennett, as usual, went on the attack. He says how dare the media suggest the league is not doing anything about players behaving recklessly? He said they’re doing the best they can. And then he turned on the reporters and said something along the lines of, "You work in the media (notorious for party drugs)…do you know anyone who takes drugs in your organisation? What are you doing about it?"

And I guess it’s a question we can all ask ourselves.