Friday 20 February 2015

Is Food branded Australian actually Australian?

In Australia If you grow fruit and veggies yourself there is fair chance it is Australian by definition.  If however you buy products in major retail stores then be aware that if is labelled as Australian it might just be that it is fish caught in the Atlantic Ocean by Taiwanese fishermen in Taiwanese fishing boats that is then shipped to Taiwan, part processed then shipped to New Zealand for final processing before being shipped to Australia for packaging labelling and distribution to local retailers.  To legally qualify as an Australian product it simply has to be shown that the total cost in getting it to the end user was more than 50% Australian expense!

Stone fruit grown in an unhealthy environment with highly polluted water in China declared unfit in China for Chinese consumption caused several Australians to be inflicted with Hepatitis A.  Those in the supply chain did not seem to check that is was a health risk because it was labelled "Australian" made.

This info was sourced from live radio from 2GB in Sydney Yesterday. (On any PC with Internet simply link to 2gb.com and select "Listen Live".)  2GB is a 24/7 talk a back show that is not scared to speak out when appropriate and yet balanced with humour, praise and criticism.

I promise that the next post I submit will be positive!

Here it is!  New Zealand has won all of it's first 4 cricket matches at the ICC World Cup comfortably and that includes beating Australia.

Monday 2 February 2015

The February 2015 Function Celebrating Australia Day (26 January) and Waitangi Day (6th February)

Dave Brosihan at work
Today the Australia and New Zealand Association celebrated both Waitangi Day and Australia
Day at the Northlands Bowling Club in Durban with a Spit Braai (BBQ). At this function there were short talks on the history of both these special days.

The historical information was gleaned for the most part from the following two links:


 http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/treaty/waitangi-day

 http://www.australiaday.org.au/australia-day/history/
   It is noted that both these days have experienced some degree of controversy over time.

At both of these linked sites one can read the information by clicking onto a chronological list of headings.

The next scheduled function will be a wreath laying memorial event celebrating the 100th Anniversary of ANZAC Day, 25th April 2015 at the Natal Mounted Rifles (NMR) Headquarters in Durban followed by dinner at the NMR