I might be a big baby, but I'll scream in your ear

Now, I've just moved from the UK which until now I thought was the epicenter of the nanny state, but they seem to have nothing on Australia. (Although all of the following can be considered for entertainment purposes only if any the following might jeopardize my pending residency visa).

Don't get me started on bike helmets. I haven't worn one for years in London and now I'm stuck with one here. A well meaning law but one that seems to me to do nothing to actually make anything about cycling safer.

Recently, a bike shop I was in didn't stock bunji cords (elastic straps with hooks which can be used to attach anything up to like a sofa onto a bike) because "they can be dangerous, mate", they can snap back and hurt people. They would only stock non-elastic straps. Sigh.

Today the news drove me over the edge. Peter Garrett, former front man for Midnight Oil, now minister of something or other (although much less of a position than he had hoped for after shooting his mouth off too much during the last election) after a recent photo opportunity had numerous people call the police for not wearing a life jacket in a rowboat (there is no legal requirement). Great, those are probably the same people who complained to bike shops about bunji cords after they heard that this one guy somewhere was hurt by one.

So much for my image of Australia as a rugged country.