South Australia pushes ahead with plastic bag ban
There’s a ban on plastic bags. Expect serious fines for anyone caught distributing them. So don’t get caught. South Australia is making a big push to eliminate plastic bags from supermarkets and other store over the coming weeks. It will be the first state in the nation to implement such a ban.
Starting on May 4 the environmentally friendly plan is aimed at doing Australia’s part in keeping the planet clean while kicking plastic making companies in the ‘nads. Offending retailers face fines of $315 up to a maximum of $5000. Suppliers can be fined up to $20,000 for knowingly breaking the ban. Don’t claim that you haven’t been warned. (link)
No more boobies?
Many popular beaches may soon become more conservative. A ban on topless sunbathing is in the works. That’s right. That means no more ogling boobies at the beach (one of my favorite pastimes). Politicians and religious entities are arguing whether baring one’s breasts counts as nudity, partial, or complete nudity is being banned. Hey if women want to show off their assets, I’m all for it. I say all women should rise up, right now, and go topless as a form of protest. Set them free ladies! I wanna see some giant knockers!
“If you’re on the beach do you want somebody with big knockers next to you when you’re there with the kids,” MP Paul Gibson. (link)
Hindu groups seek ban of “Love Guru”
“The Love Guru” has not received a warm welcome from some Hindu groups, who reportedly have requested that India’s Central Board of Film Certification and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ban screenings of the Mike Myers comedy in India.
In March, U.S.-based Universal Society of Hinduism president Rajan Zed was one of the first to protest the film when he said it “appears to be lampooning Hinduism.”
Media reports Tuesday quoted Bhavna Shinde, a representative of Mumbai-based Hindu organization Janjagruti Samiti and Sanatan Society for Scientific Spirituality as saying that the censor board should “stop distributing or screening the movie till Paramount has made necessary changes … so that it will not hurt the feelings of the worldwide spiritual and Hindu community.” (news)
NSW bans smoking in cars
The NSW government should stop talking about getting tough on smoking and start acting, the state opposition said on Tuesday.
Premier Morris Iemma called for public input on a plan to ban smoking in cars containing children, abolish cigarette vending machines and also remove all smoke packets from view in the state’s shops.
The content of the smoking reform package has been known since late last month, when it was originally announced by NSW Assistant Health Minister (Cancer) Verity Firth.
But Nationals leader Andrew Stoner on Tuesday said the reform package came more than two years after similar government promises to act on smoking in family cars.
“It seems to be groundhog day as far as the NSW government is concerned,” Mr Stoner said. (news)
Remote towns urge alcohol ban
An Aboriginal leader from a remote West Australian town has pleaded with Australia 2020 Summit delegates to help her win a ban on packaged alcohol in her town and others like it.
Halls Creek resident Doreen Green said a ban on packaged alcohol sales, like one operating in the nearby town of Fitzroy Crossing, would help end a “nightmare cycle” of despair in many remote towns.
In an open letter to be published in The Australian and The West Australian newspapers, Ms Green said problems with alcohol in her eastern Kimberley town “sear the landscape and defy belief”. (news)
