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The Westender is proud to have local citizen journalist, Jan Bowman contributing to our coverage of the Griffith election campaign.
She has completed a piece on most of the candidates who have announced they are standing for the seat of Griffith to date and continues to cover the stories as they unfold. Tuesday is an exciting day with four of the candidates appearing at the Colmslie Hotel in Morningside some of which will be broadcast live on ABC 612.
New research reveals that a big night out on the town can play havoc with oral health – not to mention the risk of having a few teeth knocked out in a drunken brawl.
Often criticised for a range of financial and social impacts, regular excessive drinking may be playing havoc with our oral health – especially among 18-29 year olds, new research from the Australian Dental Association (ADA) and Oral-B suggests.
The hidden cost of Australia’s drinking culture was revealed in a survey of 400 young Australians* which has been released today at the start of Dental Health Week.
The Oral-B ADA Dental Health Report revealed that amongst 18-29 year old Australians who drink regularly almost half (46%) will consume five or more drinks per session. As many as three quarters of those admit to not always brushing their teeth after a night on the booze – despite 60% saying they experience a ‘furry’ sensation on their teeth after such an occasion (a tell-tale sign of plaque build-up).
Very few (15%) young Aussie drinkers are concerned about the potential damage the binge might have caused their teeth after a night out. They are simply more worried about how they feel (68%), how much money they spent (66%) or what they might have said or done (33%).
Chairman of the ADA Oral Health Committee, Dr. Peter Alldritt says: “As our teeth are hard-wearing, we often neglect them in favour of caring for other parts of our bodies which show more immediate or obvious effects from drinking. This would include things like our weight, skin and liver. In the 18-29 year old age group, where drinking is more common, it’s even more important to be aware of the dangers to teeth and gums.”
“Our focus for this year’s Dental Health Week is on raising awareness of the importance of oral health amongst this age group,” he added.
When it comes to the impact of alcohol on health and wellbeing, oral health was not a major concern for most young Australians. Key concerns for this age group were weight gain (50%), vital organs such as lungs, kidneys and liver (46%), and their skin (26%).
And it’s not just alcoholic drinks that are causing our teeth grief. Our young nation has a fetish for fizz, sugar and caffeine – all of which can have a detrimental impact on oral health if preventative measures aren’t undertaken. Over a third of young adults (34%) have a daily cup of coffee, and almost half (47%) have a soft drink, cordial, sports drink or juice on most days of the week.
ADA member and Oral-B spokesperson Dr. Christopher Ho warns that many Australians do so without taking precautionary measures such as rinsing after one of these drinks. “One of the best ways to minimise the damage to the teeth caused by soft drinks, sports drinks and juices, is simply using a straw! However the research suggests that only 4% of young Australians always take this precaution.”
One in ten young Australians also mistakenly believe that diet soft drinks are better for their teeth than regular soft drinks, but Dr. Christopher Ho explains why this may not be the case. “All fizzy drinks are highly acidic and this can cause real and permanent damage to the teeth. While diet soft drinks might be lower in calories, the same risk to oral health is present.”
It’s little wonder that the majority of young Aussies (65%) admit to feeling anxious when visiting the dentist!
Dr. Christopher Ho provides his top tips for taking care of your teeth if you are having a night out:
Brush twice a day for two minutes, using a good quality toothbrush and paste. Power toothbrushes that use an oscillating-rotating technology are proven to be more effective than those that move from side to side
If drinking alcohol at parties, minimise the amount of sugary drinks by opting for soda as a mixer rather than soft drink. Also, drink a glass of water in between alcoholic drinks as this will rinse away the acid that causes tooth erosion. As alcohol can also dehydrate your body, drinking water will help stop the mouth from getting dehydrated. When we are dehydrated there is less saliva to neutralise acids which can lead to tooth erosion
If you’re only a short walk or cab ride from home, be sure to allow at least 60 minutes between your last drink and brushing your teeth. Brushing your teeth too soon can damage the softened tooth enamel caused by acidity in drinks consumed during the evening
The research
*The study was conducted online by Galaxy Research, among a representative sample of 1,008 Australians aged 18-64 years, including 400 18-29 year olds. This press release specifically focuses on the 18-29 year olds.
The sample was distributed throughout Australia including both capital city and non-capital city areas. Following the completion of interviewing, the data was weighted by age, gender and area to reflect the latest population estimates.
You’re invited to a special Divestment Workshop in Brisbane, conducted by 350.org Queensland.
If you were one of the many who heard about or attended Bill McKibben’s successful “Do the Maths” presentation in Brisbane Town Hall in June, you may be wondering what has been happening since.
McKibben urged Australians to take action on climate change by putting pressure on businesses, organisations and universities to stop investing in fossil fuel companies.
To find out how, 350.org Queensland is inviting those who want to get involved to attend their Divestment workshop on Saturday 17th August at Jagera Hall, Musgrave Park, South Brisbane. (Entry off Cordelia Street)
Having despatched the Red Queen, the Cheshire Cat grinned hideously
Having despatched the Red Queen and beheaded her guards, the Cheshire Cat grinned hideously, “No-one plays fair if they think they can get away with it. That’s a lesson you’ll have to learn.”
The bolt of adrenaline hit as the ABC unofficially announced that Kevin Rudd had the numbers.
I finished reworking the cover photo of my campaign page in seconds and started slashing the press release I had prepared earlier. The familiar flood of heat in my palms was unmistakeable. Adrenaline.
“We’re on”, I muttered.
The surreal high drama of the back-stabbing back of Julia Gillard merged seamlessly with the real-politik of running an election campaign. Rules become guidelines, your focus narrows, you move forward in a tunnel, one step at a time. Lists and practice are the only saviours for surviving extended periods high on adrenaline – and lots of nanna naps.
KRudd’s disdain for the rules of engagement had been brought home a month earlier during Brisbane’s Greek Festival Paniyiri in Musgrave Park, site of the Aboriginal Tent embassy, smack bang in the middle of West End, where the Green vote tops 30% and the gutted infrastructure of Labor’s union past is gradually replaced by apartments in what will be Australia’s most densely populated suburb.
Kevin ignored the invitation to address a special session at 10:30 and turned up late, personal media crew in tow, crashed the VIP formalities using a minder with an extra chair to secure his place and challenged Premier Newman to a Zorba dancing contest from the podium, displacing ALP member for Moreton and Gillard’s official representative at the function, Graeme Perret, in the process.
Down in the crowd, handing out my pamphlets one by one, the hero worship was palpable. The crowd lapped up Krudd’s well worn platitudes about the ethnic community’s love of family and music. They laughed as if they had never heard the joke before when he thanked them for saving Australia from the penury of English and Irish cuisine with fetta cheese, spinach and the olive.
Upstaged, outclassed and on the wrong side of the river, Premier Newman briefly withstood the boos, the sullen silence and the turned backs of the crowd as it moved onto other things. He cut short his speech. KRudd, campaign machine, had swept the field, again.
How do The Greens, earnestly trying to engage the public in a debate about energy descent and the end of unbridled affluence, meet populist, rock-star campaigning of this ilk?
KRudd smiles like the Cheshire Cat as he sets the executioner arguing with the King over how to behead a head without a body. The ALP has struggled to get a grip on this slithering tove for the last three years. Now it is my turn.
Of course, the answer lies somewhere in the rumbles and grumbles of discontent from within the ALP. The question is how to capture and synthesise that discontent into the three word quote that cuts through.
Within seconds of posting the Game of Thrones inspired quote “He burned his party to the ground so he might rule the ashes” over Rudd’s visage as the cover of my campaign page, I had responses from Games of Thrones fans, rusted on ALP friends, branch members in Melbourne for the Young Greens conference and an old school friend I had not spoken to in two decades.
“My sister is rapt that your are running against KRudd and wants to donate to your campaign. Send me the account details.”
It was still only one hour after he had been announced as leader of the ALP and was officially only the Prime-Minister elect.
That discontent, and the financial and physical support that flows from it, adds weight to the campaign. But it only builds it arithmetically – a couple of percent at a time. This is the way we have built The Greens over the last two decades: a percentage point here, two percentage points there, a sudden lift of five percent. In the seat of Griffith we now average 16 percent, ranging from 30% in the Green West, to 7% in the conservative north-east and south-eastern corners. We have doubled the vote in each election bar one over the last four federal elections but that is from a small base.
We need a real game-changer to wean the electorate from fossil fuels, from unfettered economic growth and the unnatural advantages of a tiny population harvesting the resources of an entire continent in an overcrowded world. They don’t want to vote for The Greens in case we have them all hold hands and sing whale songs.
I reread chapter 8 of Alice through the looking glass, pondering the metaphor of the Cheshire cat. The book ends with the cards blowing away in the wind, waking Alice, who finds herself batting away dry leaves in an Autumn breeze.
And it dawns on me.
In a twist worthy of the Cat himself, KRudd himself is my secret weapon in the battle against him. His insistence on style over substance, populism over principle and the quick grab encapsulate the hollowing out of the ALP that is the cause of the rumbles, grumbles and desertions.
The party faithful have endured the gradual decline over the last three decades believing that it was all for something, that this was a journey on the way to somewhere and that the destination had something to do with the party’s principled past. KRudd’s antics in the last three years have proven that this is not the case. It is simply about power and now everyone can see it. The emperor has no clothes.
The tearing down of the union headquarters along Peel St, West End to make way for 20 storey apartment blocks is the embodiment of this decay. From protecting workers’ rights, to supporting the aspirational middle class, to the naked embracing of economic growth to underwrite the social contract: the ALP has lost its soul.
It took decades to build the ALP from a shearer’s strike that encapsulated an emerging global movement into a political organisation that could govern to protect workers against the opportunistic pillaging by owners of capital. A century later, the organisation is all that is left.
It is now two decades since Bob Brown entered the Senate, and The Greens are steadily building a political organisation to take on the responsibility of nurturing those finite resources against the opportunistic pillaging of capital. This is the century of a resource constrained economy.
The challenge for The Greens has been to make the transition from the meaning of Labor obvious. KRudd has provided the necessary spotlight.
His behaviour starkly highlights the irrelevance of the principles he purports to espouse. The real problems of the day are to find dignity and social wellbeing in a stable economy. That means we have to stop chasing economic growth and start to build long term infrastructure that is going to last. We have to recognise that we are on the path of energy descent and if we don’t start taking this into account we are going to run out of petrol on the highway 1500 kilometres from home.
KRudd is the proof of what is currently wrong with Australian politics. He is the fruiting body of the fungus that has worked its roots into the core of the political process. The campaign for Griffith is the opportunity for the electorate to let the parties stuck in last century know that the status quo is not acceptable.
The future must be different. The future is Green.
Brisbane based not-for-profit organisation Micah Projects is holding a Free Fun Day in Musgrave Park next Friday as part of Homeless Persons Week 2013.
The event will feature a range of fun activities for all the family, as well as a wealth of information on the subject of homelessness.
The event is being organised by The Hive, a part of the Homelessness to Home Support Services, an activity of Micah Projects.
The Hive is a QCCS-funded, social inclusion team which supports individuals to re-engage in the community of their choice through providing a seasonal calendar of centre-based group activities, social support, community outings and events.
Details of the day’s activities follow.
PARTY IN THE PARK
Friday the 9th of August
10:30AM – 1:30PM
The Croquet Club
91 Cordelia St
SOUTH BRISBANE
(Adjoining Musgrave Park)
FREE BBQ lunch at 11:30am
Games and activities including:
Free massage with Kylie from “Joining Hands”
LIVE MUSIC by local artists
Soccer
Tug of War
Vintage clothes stall
Children’s Activities, including Clown face painting
Photo booth (and uploading to Facebook with permissions)
Race around Musgrave Park
Crafts table
Children’s Basketball hoop
Coits
Hook the fish pond
The day is all free, but a coin donation upon entrance will also be accepted.
Hummingbird house offers hope to parents of critically ill kids
Queensland Kids announces this week that it is a step closer to construction of Hummingbird House children’s hospice in Brisbane after securing a significant funding commitment from the Queensland Government and Federal Coalition.
The commitment of $5.5 million by the Queensland Government over seven years is in response to the recent State parliamentary inquiry recommendations regarding palliative care services in Queensland. The Federal Opposition has offered to match this funding if elected to Government this year. Greens candidate for Griffith has submitted the costing to the Australian Greens for consideration at part of the party’s submission to the Parliamentary Budget Office.
These funding commitments will go towards the $22.6 million forecast for the construction over 2 years and the first 5 years of operation of Hummingbird House. The balance of funding will be sourced from corporate and private donors. We are yet to receive a Federal funding commitment from the current Federal government.
Currently, there are only two children’s hospices in Australia, with none being in Queensland. Queensland families are suffering under immense emotional and financial strain caring for their ill children with limited local services.
Hummingbird House will be Queensland’s only children’s hospice, servicing a critical need for respite and care for children with a life limiting illness to complement Queensland’s existing hospital based services.The establishment of Hummingbird House also offers an alternative for families whose children require end-of-life care.
Queensland Kids co-founders,Paul and Gabrielle Quilliam have drawn praise
Hummingbird house offers hope to parents of critically ill kids
from Hummingbird House Chairman John Hummelstad. ‘The Board is proud to celebrate this important milestone with Paul and Gabrielle, who have worked tirelessly for over two years to make this project a reality.’
The Westender is proud to have local citizen journalist, Jan Bowman contributing to our coverage of the Griffith election campaign.
