I hope you all had a great Christmas / New Year.

Well done to local minister Chris Steel for backing the Canberra Racing Club on its redevelopment plans (which include housing) for a thoroughbred park in North Canberra, and thereby torpedoing the local Greens’ obsession with destroying all forms of racing in the ACT. The only additional thing you need to do now, Chris, is back the Racing Club’s desire to increase the $7.5 million p.a. ACT government subsidy given to the ACT race club from gaming revenue turnover to a figure about twice that, to match what your interstate Labor colleagues give to their racing industry. It’s at no cost to taxpayers, as it’s all from gaming taxes, and ACT racing is a big local industry employing and supporting about 500 local jobs.

On the big stage, well done to Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak for striking back against the Houthi terrorists attacking shipping in the Red Sea. The Poms particularly should be congratulated, because even though they only have about six ships capable of doing the job (shame on you, David Cameron!), they at least have deployed two to help the US – unlike Albo, who refused to deploy even one RAN ship. Well done to Tanya Plibersek for knocking back an ecologically disastrous Victorian plan to build a huge wind farm off the Victorian coast that would have caused havoc with the local environment.

And — Congratulations to our very own Queen Mary of Denmark on becoming Queen of that delightful country with her Prince Charming as the new King Frederik. A wonderful true fairytale…

Recently, I have been going to court a lot (no, I haven’t been a bad boy), helping my old friend, local solicitor Tony Tu’ulakitau with his court cases. For about six years or so, the ACT has been blessed with a new innovative program whereby therapy dogs are taken to places where people may be stressed and need the wonderful calming influence a dog can give. Courts are certainly places where people get stressed – defendants, witnesses, and police alike.

Unlike guide dogs and sniffer dogs, which people are not encouraged to pat, therapy dogs are there to be patted. I have two dogs: Honey, a female desexed staffy cross, and Bailey, a cavoodle. On some occasions, Bailey especially will lie on the bed with me, and on the occasions I pat him or just put my arm on him, I feel any stress leave me. It’s a wonderful, comforting feeling.

I recently had an interaction in the Magistrates Court with Sundae, a lovely labrador therapy dog who delighted court-goers. Her calming effect was great to watch. She made lots of people awaiting their hearings in court happy. Her handler told me that the therapy work is a drain on the dog, and after about 150 minutes, it was time for Sundae to go home, as the transfer of all that human stress makes her tired.

I don’t know whose idea it was to introduce therapy dogs, but it’s a great initiative. A big thank you to the therapy dogs and their human handlers for doing such a wonderful job…