Bit of a mismatch this week, folks, but there’s a lot on.
First, bad call by gutless British PM Rishi Sunak to get rid of his Home Secretary, the feisty Kenyan/Mauritian expatriate Suella Braverman, for telling the truth about the pro-Palestine marches exploding all over the UK over the Israel/Gaza saga. It now seems these are co-ordinated by some Iranian operatives in the UK. Congrats to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer for holding firm against calls from some in his own party for a ceasefire that would only benefit the terrorists at this stage. He may well make a good UK PM when he wins the election next year.
Also, in the interest of balance, the Israeli government now needs to release the 43-minute video from Hamas body footage documenting the atrocities committed on 7 October. Its general distribution would show the world the true story of what happened that day, disturbing as that may be.
Well done to the Poles for standing up to intimidation from the EU bureaucrats who wanted to foist thousands of Middle Eastern and African immigrants on Poland. (Poland has already taken in millions of Ukrainian refugees in the last 18 months.) At a referendum held on 15 October, Polish voters rejected that idea by 97 per cent to just 3 per cent.
Back home, on a more pleasant note, the ACT Veterans Rugby Club hosted the first Pride match in the ACT between the Vets and a Barbarians side comprised of members of the Sydney Convicts (Australia’s first gay rugby club, which has played in several international gay world cups), members of the ADF, and a few Vets such as myself. I took the opportunity to pack into the second row with Bob Lees, my old second row partner at Royals in 1983, who plays with the Convicts and the Vets and was instrumental in organising the game.
Special thanks to major sponsor Paladin Risk Management Services for donating $5,000 to SpringOUT, a group dedicated to diversity and inclusive sport, plus several thousand dollars raised on the day to help other local charities. Since its inception in 1995, the ACT Vets have raised more than $700,000 for local Canberra and region charities (including Menslink, Clare Holland House, and the Heart Foundation). The Vets welcome any player aged 35 or over. It’s a very diverse, inclusive club, and even welcomes rugby backs!
Finally, I was appalled to see the continuing declining standards at the Canberra Hospital and now at the old Calvary Hospital. An elderly lady I saw at Page last week told me she spent four days with three other women in a ward on the seventh floor, and no one cleaned the room; the bin in the toilet was overflowing; and they ran out of toilet paper. Another lady told me she spent 15 hours in emergency at Calvary (recently taken over by the ACT government) before being sent home without seeing a nurse or doctor. Considering we had the best hospital system in the country only 15 years ago, this is a disgrace.
