With space debris washing up on a North Queensland beach and a prime ministerial faux pas making headlines, Australians have been moved to share their own observations, memories and a few sharp one-liners — from inventive tourism slogans to diamonds pythons standing guard over school textbooks.
A new tourism pitch for the Sunshine State
The discovery of space junk on a North Queensland beach — currently under investigation by the Australian Space Agency — has inspired at least one creative mind to rethink the state's branding. A reader from Mosman suggests Queensland could do far worse than adopting the slogan: "Beautiful One Day, Out of This World the Next." It's a riff on the state's long-running tourism tagline, and given the cosmic circumstances, hard to argue with.
The PM's 'Kylie indiscretion' and a famous presidential confession
The Prime Minister's recent so-called "Kylie indiscretion" has prompted reflection on how leaders recover from moments of awkward candour. A reader from North Epping draws a historical parallel, recalling that former US president Jimmy Carter once confessed in an interview that he had "committed adultery many times in my mind" — a remark that stunned the world at the time. The reader expresses cautious optimism that the PM, too, will weather the storm, noting that "one can never be sure about these seemingly mild-mannered men."
Old farts, proud Boomers and the OFFAL Club
A recent discussion about the term "old farts" has resonated strongly with readers of a certain vintage. One gentleman from Evans Head proudly belongs to a Lismore-based Friday lunch group called the OFFAL Club — Old Farts Friday Afternoon Lunch — which he notes even has its own bank account. Meanwhile, a self-described classic Boomer born in 1950, writing from Castlecrag, says being called an old fart is something he takes as a genuine compliment.
When university life was more than a degree factory
A reader from Penrith laments that universities have lost their sense of mischief, recalling that the Australian National University in Canberra once ran an annual scavenger hunt with an elaborate points system. In 2006, a nude photograph taken beside the famous artwork Blue Poles was worth 300 points, a marijuana infringement notice earned 100, and — most valuably — tracking down Barnaby Joyce fetched a remarkable 750 points. The reader asks, with some wry curiosity, what Joyce might be worth on such a scale today.
Demountable classrooms: cows, pythons and lasting memories
A discussion about demountable classrooms has unlocked a trove of vivid school memories. A former teacher from Austinmer recalls her first year in the classroom in 1980 at Oak Flats High School, where her demountable sat on the boundary of a neighbouring dairy farm. When a cow pushed its head through the window mid-lesson, she screamed — and became the day's entertainment for her Year 8 English students.
Further back, a reader from Georgetown remembers attending a scout hall across from her Nambucca Heads school in the late 1960s. The resourceful teacher kept a diamond python under the building to keep mice and rats at bay overnight — the rodents, it turned out, had a particular taste for the flour-and-water paste used to stick labels onto books.
