Green historian and activist, Drew Hutton, will launch Dr John Jiggens' controversial history of the founding of Australia, Sir Joseph Banks and the Question of Hemp at Avid Reader on Tuesday April 24 at 6pm.
The book reveals that Sir Joseph Banks, the Father of Australia, grew hundreds of acres of ganga in India, and supplied the poet Samuel Coleridge with hashish. Accoring to Dr Jiggens, New South Wales was intended as a hemp colony to replace the United States.
Drew Hutton, Green historian and activist, will launch my new book 'Sir Joseph Banks and the Question of Hemp' at Avid Reader, Boundary Street, West End, on Tuesday April 24 at 6pm.
'Sir Joseph Banks and the Question of Hemp' examines the way the hemp question directed Britain’s colonial policy and the strategy and outcome of naval warfare between 1776 and 1815, a period when Britain lost its first empire in the US and began a second empire, centred on the Pacific. It argues that New South Wales was intended as a replacement hemp colony for the US.
Advance Notice Out in late March 2012 Available in e-formats - Amazon Kindle, Apple iTunes for iPad and iPhone, ePub & other formats RRP: $0.99 Authors: James Buckley & team ISBN 9780980433753
In 1988 the condom officially reared its head at the Olympic Games. About 8,500 were handed out at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games, an average of about one per athlete for the entire competition. Later this year at the 2012 London Games, 150,000 condoms will be distributed throughout the Olympic village.
In just two decades the condom has become a staple commodity at the world’s largest sporting competition, underlying a raunchy side to the Olympics, which for the most part goes largely unseen by the general public. Given the number of hormone-charged athletes living at close quarters for the duration of the Games, it’s not surprising that sex has bloomed in and around the village. The International Olympic Committee knows this culture is embedded into the Games, and spends thousands of hours promoting a safe sex message.
Sex & the Olympics: Condomania explores the importance of the condom and uncovers its controversial journey en route to becoming an Olympic tradition. It looks at just how many condoms are distributed and reveals which Games suffered a critical shortage in rubber contraceptives. It examines opposition to the provision of condoms at the Olympics and tells the story of how Salt Lake City, one of the world’s most religious places, reacted when the Winter Games ‑ and its supply of condoms ‑ hit town in 2002. And it delves into the vital role each condom plays in the fight against the spread of sexually transmitted infections in the Olympic village, particularly the potentially lethal HIV/AIDS virus.
This lovingly illustrated book profiles the critical role of the condom at the Olympics, for without it, the Games and the athletes simply could not perform.
The Australian Sex Party was launched at Sexpo in 2008 by leader Fiona Patten. AAP/Julian Smith
“Where’s the party?"
“Can I join?”
“Is this legitimate?”
These were just a few of the questions I was asked during my eight-hour shift as a volunteer for The Australian Sex Party (ASP) at their booth in Sydney’s 2012 Sexpo, the world’s largest sex and adult lifestyle exhibition.
What is the ASP?
The Australian Sex Party was officially registered in Australia in 2008 and is recognised as a political party at the federal level. There is only one other registered sex party in the world, The Sex Party of Canada. Currently, at the state level, ASP is registered in Victoria and Queensland and at the local government level in New South Wales.
As a civil liberties political party, ASP emerged in response to the sexual needs of Australia in the 21st century. The party’s platform has clear policies on censorship, education, equality, health, workplace relations, religion and ethical issues, drugs, and abortion.
Fiona Patten, ASP President, is confident about the party’s political agenda and optimistic about the future of the ASP. At a recent ASP fundraising lunch she said, “We may not be changing the curtains in The Lodge anytime soon, but we will have a seat in the senate.” Patten further explained that once they have a presence, they can expand the policy base but still stay true to their fundamental civil liberty objectives. “Adults should have the right to make their own life decisions, and I think the majority of the community agrees with this.”
Sex Party representative, candidate and all round clever guy, Andrew Patterson was a guest on 89.7 Eastside FM's Friday Drive program with Jon Shapiro. He was a contestant on No Politics, Please – We’re Intelligent, a quiz show with the aim of minimising politics in discussion of public issues, (contestants “lose points for point-scoring”)
