Published Messenger Newspapers, Adelaide, January 7, 2004


EARLY NEW YEAR MUSINGS


AT LUNCH in Gouger St, I have been watching two young men, in baseball caps and oversized clothes, saunter across the road in defiance of the traffic, forcing cars to slow, swerve and honk. They must think they're bulletproof. Or else their teenage hormones have made them particularly bad at judging distance. I like early January. The work pressure is off to an extent, most of the usual pests are on holiday and there is time to enjoy a leisurely lunch waiting for teenagers to be deliberately run down. All very pleasant. Hereabouts are also the familiar faces of the lower level lawyers who are minding the shop while their senior partners are on holidays at Port Willy or Carrickalinga. Perhaps I should move to a side table in case one of the lads is knocked over and I am inadvertantly crushed in a stampede of legal representation. And before I forget, here is my new year resolution: I do not believe in heaven and hell but I will try to live my life as if they exist. The paper I am reading carries an ad for a marital arts academy which, since it depicts someone in a karate pose, I presume is a blooper for martial arts. A pity - it would have made a good story. The same paper reports that "free speech zones" have been established on more than 20 US university campuses. In the Land of the Free, speech is to be feared, regulated and monitored at all times. Such are the times we live in. New ASIO laws passed by Federal Parliament late last year forbid me from reporting ASIO's "operational information" on pain of five years' jail. Another pity because a weekly list of ASIO raids published in Messenger would have been great for readership. A police friend told me the other day there were only a couple of fulltime ASIO agents based in Adelaide. Is that really enough? An ex-newspaper editor also told me ASIO once tried to recruit him. He rejected the overture, quite rightly, only to be told there was not a major newsroom in Australia that did not have at least one ASIO plant. Hmm, I have my suspicions. The taxi driver who drove me to lunch today mentioned that Asian parents preferred to send their kids to university in Adelaide because there was not much else here for them to do except study. Two ASIO agents is probably more than enough. Eating a cheap bowl of noodles, my wallet emptied by Christmas, I cannot think of many other places I'd rather be right at this moment although many of my friends have taken their holidays away. One photographer, sent a postcard "Having a great time, wish you were here," postmarked West Beach. My travelling correspondent Richard B also sent me a hand-written note that he had found on arrival in room 505 at the Saville Park Suites in Perth, evidently addressed to the previous occupant: "Hi Mrs Lay, Kindly ring reception when you're ready to be serviced. I'm on other floor. Thanks. Lydia." Lucky Mrs Lay.