murrum wrote:Event the liberal think tank the Centre for Independent Studies is in on the action - from their mailout:
Don’t drop in ... or jump off
It’s not only road cops and highway sign-writers who have been busy over Christmas. Despite the lure of the banana lounge and the soporific sounds of the Channel Nine commentary team, it’s been hard yakka for our tireless (selfless?) local lawmakers this summer.
Surfers might say their sport is about getting out in the wild, with the difference between catching a good wave and missing out governed only by Mother Nature herself.
But at Sydney’s famous Manly beach, surfing is now managed by local government as well, with the council erecting signs instructing beach-goers on surf etiquette, titled ‘The Surfer’s Code.’ The code instructs board-riders when it is appropriate to ‘drop in’ on another surfer’s wave, and advises they must ‘remember to communicate.’ Like, duh!
What’s next? Surf cops on paddle boards? Recruit ‘The Hoff’ to patrol the area? Waterproof tasers? Or as one online commenter suggested, set up a ticket machine á la your local butcher shop? ‘No. 24, your wave is ready.’
But if you’re outraged that local government should be instructing surfer dudes on the laws of the beach, you would apparently be in the minority. Local surf groups support the rules, and according to the Council’s General Manager, ‘regulating behaviour is expected of us by the general public.’
We can lament that such an (in?)famously rebellious subculture is so ready to accept government command and control, but perhaps not all is lost. ‘Matto’ from the Gold Coast says, ‘Don’t worry, we’ve had these signs up the coast for ages and nobody pays any attention.’
One group that is not so enamoured with Manly Council’s efforts to regulate their summer fun are the local kids who plunge from the notorious ‘jump rock’ every summer into the cool ocean below. Two years ago, the council installed a $26,000 safety fence; this year, they pledged to have rangers patrol the area, intent on catching thrill-seekers in the act.
But their efforts haven’t stopped the kids from jumping, and the fence has simply turned out to be a very expensive ratepayer funded diving platform. Frustrating the efforts of patrolling council rangers probably makes the whole exercise seem even more worthwhile.
So whether you’re back in the office or out in the sun, spare a thought for our tireless local councils who are unstintingly regulating our summer fun. If you’re still at the beach, enjoy. Just don’t drop in or jump off.
Jessica Brown is a Policy Analyst at the Centre.
hey Jessica, I tell ya what: why don't you go fcuk yourself.
is it part of a right wing think tank's job to draw farcical conclusions from underreported, overblown circumstances?
You're all pretty god damn keen to "regulate" other countries' behaviours if your unstinting support for sensational acts of Middle Eastern violence is anything to go by.
It's fine to kill thousands of people you've never met to ensure Democracy, but when it comes to the local council erecting meaningless signs, well holy crap! let's take a moral stand!
Leave us out of your idiotic vision of the world thanks ma'am.
Meanwhile ... anyone get in a fight during this last couple of days' worth of OK lil ESE swell in Sydney? Let's hear how you're coping (other than poor old K10)