Jul 06

RAW: Sista Act – Women of Country – Nexus 7pm – th July

Sista Act: Women of Country features seven South Australian Aboriginal women from different language groups and diverse backgrounds who come together to share their experiences about the unique role that Aboriginal women play in society, both historically and today.
Sista Act: Women of Country consists of Christine Egan, Elizabeth Hurrell, Tania Axleby-Blake, Kaylene Kerdel, Joanne Leonello, Rebecca Webb and Rachel Kerdel.
The musical concept of highlighting and honouring the significant roles and achievements of Aboriginal women since the 1960s was created by the women in 2007 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1967 referendum.  Sold out performances at the Bakehouse Theatre and the Space Theatre took the audience on a journey into the lives of Aboriginal women who strive to improve the lives of their people through their roles in the community and in the public sector.
When their songs, including the Acronym Song and Glad to be a Nunga became so popular, Sista Act: Women of Country found themselves in demand for new songs and performances and consequently a singing group was born.  Their unique songs honour all those who have walked before them and those who will continue to strive for human rights.
Tickets are available through Venuetix.   www.venuetix.com.au ph (08)8225 8888

Performance details
Main act – Sista Act: Women of Country
Support act – Rustflower (SA)
Special Guest – Kerrianne Cox (WA)
MC – Anne Marie Hayes
Date – Thursday July 7, 2011
Performance start time – 7pm
Doors open – 6:30pm
Venue – Nexus Cabaret, Lion Arts Centre, Cnr Morphett Street and North Terrace, Adelaide

Bookings through Venuetix, ph (08) 8225 8888
Tickets cost $15 (general admission only).

Jul 06

RAW: FEAR and ACID TEST – World Premieres At Accompanists’ Festival

Accompanists’ Festival

July 18 to 13

includes

TWO WORLD PREMIERES

FEAR

by Michael Kieran Harvey

performed in  Recital  by

Michael Kieran Harvey, Piano

Natsuko Yoshimoto, Violin

7pm Friday 22 July 2011


ABC Studio 520, 85 North East Road, Collinswood

Tickets: $30, $20, $15 Members, $10 students & groups of 10+ available at the door.

and

ACID TEST

by Stephen Whittington

Set Work for the 2011 Geoffrey Parsons Award

performed by

Mark Gaydon, Bassoon

with the 3 Finalists

7pm Saturday 23 July 2011

Hartley Concert Room, Elder Conservatorium, Kintore Avenue, Adelaide

Tickets at door $20, $15, $10

The Accompanists’ Guild is thrilled to present new works by Australian composers written especially for the 2011 Festival.

The first of the two world premières  to be performed during the Accompanists’ Festival and Conference is Fear composed and performed by pianist, Michael Kieran Harvey with ASO concertmaster, violinist, Natsuko Yoshimoto.

Fear is dedicated to Natsuko’s “superb violin artistry” It is based rhythmicallyand spiritually on a collection of haiku by Arjun von Caemmerer entitled “Tripples”. Michael’s response to fear itself owes much to the writings of Bertrand Russell, not the least,   “….To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom…”. The work demands extreme virtuosity from both musicians.

The entire program is  extraordinarily  challenging as befits the renowned talents of the two performers especially in relation to the performance of 20th & 21st music.  It  includes the three beautiful  Mythes by KarolSzymanowski, Vertical Time Study by Japan’s most famous living composer, Toshio Hogosawa, Toru Takemitsu’s wondrous elegy, Hika, the world première of Michael Kieran Harvey’s Fear, and, finally,  the Bela Bartok  masterpiece for the duo,  his second Sonata. The recital will be recorded for future broadcast on ABC Classic FM.

The  second world première  during the  Accompanists’ Festival is  Acid Test for bassoon and piano by Adelaide composer, Stephen Whittington. It is the Set Work  for the 2011  Geoffrey Parsons Award to be  played by all applicants with Mark Gaydon, principal bassoon in the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Acid Test has been composed to test particularly the ensemble skills of the competing pianists

Jul 06

RAW: Facebook Fatigue – Part 1

By Lewis Dowell

It was about the 15th time I had automatically switched on my Facebook to see what was going on amongst my cyber friends when the only thing new to see was a picture some one had posted of their cat. It had is two front paws cocked up and was sitting on it’s hind legs. The caption read “My cat apparently thinks he’s kangaroo”… it was time to get rid of my Facebook.

Although it would appear I was jumping off an internet craze, I am apparently jumping on to another one. I am joining the millions globally who are deactivating their Facebook accounts.

In the last 6 months the U.S has posted a loss of around 6 million users and Canada a loss of 1.5 million. This is the first time these countries have posted losses. In Europe Britain, Norway and Russia have all posted losses of at least 100,000 each.

Like any growing internet craze it has of course been given a catchy sounding buzz name. ‘Facebook Fatigue’ is apparently sweeping across our offices and homes.

Yes this term has appeared in news reports and studies and is probably being looked at by a government committee with a confusing acronym. The Committee of Internet Trends and Social Media Overall Demographics or CITASMOD.

Even posted on Sitepoint.com is the ‘5 signs of Facebook Fatigue”.

1. Not responding to every poke and invitation

2. No withdrawal symptoms

3. Culling Facebook friends

4. Are your parents or grandparents on Facebook?

5. Have you rediscovered the interent?

Is this you? Or are you still determined to reply to every invitation, get the shakes when you’ve been away from Facebook for 10 minutes, still keep every single friend you accept, even the guy you met in town that time last year who knew that guy you knew in school. Do you have no close relatives on Facebook, not even the Aunt who sees herself as the ‘hip’ relative and sends you a friend request once a month, and have you not used any other website in 4 months because Facebook has all your online needs covered? If this is you then don’t worry, you don’t have ‘Facebook Fatigue’. But you may be suffering from several other dependency issues.

It’s hard to read exactly how many users they have lost, why they have lost them and what effect it is having on Facebook, its shareholders and its users. This is because Facebook, the organization, chooses to keep their views and official reports on user declines to themselves.

The sites official statement on the drops is;

“From time to time, we see stories about Facebook losing users in some regions… Some of these reports use data extracted from our advertising tool, which provides broad estimates on the reach of Facebook ads and isn’t designed to be a source for tracking the overall growth of Facebook.” Mmmm, yes, and what that means we will never know but if it isn’t kind of accurate, just exactly what coverage are advertisers paying for?

There is one theory to why Facebook do not seem overly phased by the decline, that is they are no longer obsessed with getting every single person in the world hooked up to the Facebook intravenous (have been reported to be targeting a billion users globally), but are looking at new and more creative ways of extracting money from the people they already have hooked. Sort of like a drug dealer.

Instead of looking at new and creative ways of attracting new users, Facebook is looking at better ways of advertising and getting people to buy Facebook credits, especially younger teens, who although have a soft spot for online games, are unsure and unlikely to spend money on the internet.

Facebook is also looking to ‘Google-ise’ itself by broadening its reach across the internet starting email systems, a partnership with Skype, moving further into the mobile phone sphere, is experimenting with streaming movies and is rumoured to be looking at starting a new social music service. As Google is no longer just a search engine, Facebook no longer wants to be just a social networking site.

However some see the change in trend as being less aligned with the economic goals of the company, and are choosing to look at the decline more philosophically. They are viewing the drop as “internet crazed public are turning off their laptops and rediscovering the world”, describing scenes of pale 22 year olds, walking outside and seeing the sun for the first time in 3 years before sketching a picture of a tree.

Some are connecting the decline of Facebook to the decline of people using the internet to by groceries and clothing. They seem to believe that the decline is the start of an anti-internet and anti-technology revolution. Like all of a sudden we’ll be throwing are laptops and mobiles away and begin writing letters to each other and meeting friends in parks and on beaches rather than on chat rooms in order to reconnect with ‘life’. This may be a tad ambitious as although they have seen a decline, they still have somewhere between 700- 750 million users worldwide.

Still, there is one phone company in Britain that is marketing a phone only phone and it is going gangbusters as a product – or so they tell us.

In my personal opinion it is too early determine anything official out of the drop. Although 6 million in the U.S sounds big, compared to the numbers that remain it’s relatively small. If the decline remains constant then I’m sure we’ll hear more about it, and indeed might even hear something substantial from Facebook themselves. But of course when something so new, that has been growing so quickly, consistently and significantly over a sustained period of time, then sees a decline, people are going to take a step back and assess the situation.

I myself, now into my fourth day Facebookless, am seeing withdrawals. It’s funny how the things you miss aren’t actually any of the helpful functions of Facebook, like communication or invitations. It’s more the odd status update like “reloading the staple gun at work makes me feel like Liam Neeson from Taken”. It’s the ability to be creative with your thoughts and share pictures, video clips and photos with your friends that attracts people to Facebook. The things you write and files you share are seen as an arm of your personality and creativity.

However, after a while, what you thought was creative and funny becomes tedious and unoriginal. And it turns out that you’re not on Facebook because you’re bored, but bored because you’re on Facebook. ‘Facebook Fatigue’ is not the beginning of the end of social networking, but maybe just a sign that it’s not for everyone. But I’m sure a re-jig and some new functions down the road will be enough to re-attract the deactivated.

Jul 06

RAW: Experimenta at MONA – From 5th August

Kit Wise - Xanadu 2009 (Courtesy of the artist - An Experimenta Commission)

Come on tour to MONA

with Experimenta!

Experimenta at MONA 2011 Tour

Experimenta Utopia Now:

International Biennial of Media Art

Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart

Opening Weekend: 5 – 7 AUGUST 2011

www.experimenta.org • www.mona.net.au

One bedroom pavilion packages are available for $2600 and two bedroom pavilion packages are available for $3200.
To secure your place or for more information please contact Gemma Lumley on 03 9650 9977 or experimenta@experimenta.org

Experimenta is inviting art lovers, foodies, adventurers, the curious and inquisitive, to join them for a weekend of art and indulgence at Australia’s newest cultural icon, The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Tasmania. The Experimenta at MONA 2011 package is a unique opportunity to be among the first to experience Experimenta Utopia Now: International Biennial of Media Art at this extraordinary museum when it tours there from 5 August – 3 October 2011.

Michael Burton - Nanotopia - 2006 (video still - image courtesy of the artist.

Experimenta at MONA 2011 is an art lovers weekend and includes accommodation in the exquisite MONA Pavilion, a welcome supper at the Wine Bar hosted by Experimenta Chair Nick Miller, curatorial insight into the exhibition with tours by Experimenta and MONA curators, lunch at The Source cooked by Michelin-starred chef Philippe Leban, wine tasting in Tasmania’s second oldest vineyard hosted by Moorilla winemaker Conor van der Reest, a talk by one of the Experimenta’s artists, plus ferry tickets, transfers, assorted gifts and goodies. This tour is offered in partnership with MONA and numbers are strictly limited to ensure an intimate and exclusive experience.

Ominous yet optimistic, innovative and interactive, Experimenta Utopia Now dares and double dares you to take the fate of the world into your hands. Showcasing works from countries including Australia, China, Germany, Canada, France, Austria and the UK, Experimenta Utopia Now critiques the scope for happiness on earth as we know it, pokes fun and social and physical boundaries, and questions the human race’s ability to preserve itself. Irrepressible works include Life Writer, the interactive typewriter that unleashes an infestation of hungry and promiscuous little bugs that hunt to mate all over your page; You Were in My Dream, an off-the-wall ‘choose your own adventure’ dreamscape where interacting with familiar fairytale characters draws you into an enchanted fractured forest; and the hauntingly beautiful Whose Utopia, that tears holes in daydream ambitions.

Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to get up close and personal with the art, as two of Australia’s most cutting edge and innovative arts organisations come together to offer this unique experience.

Experimenta Utopia Now will be at MONA from 5 August – 3 October 2011.

Jul 02

RAW: Innocence – Accidental Productions – 4K

When two iterant workers, Fadoul (Jesse Butler) and Elisio (Nic Krieg) witness the drowning of young girl, one holding the other back from attempting a rescue, Innocence starts us off on the expose of half a dozen groupings – family, friends, lovers – as they grapple with dispossession and purpose in life when confronted with an array of challenges.

Innocence by Dea Loher is a remarkable play and a challenge for both the players as well as the audience. Has the western world really lost its moral compass, is the future only possessed by desires to go back to earlier, better days?

With 10 actors, it would be normal to expect a few laggards in the performance stakes but not here in Accidental Productions working of Bavarian Loher’s acclaimed work, directed with dedication and dimension by Joh Hartog.

Most have demanded of them at various moments difficult soliloquies and all deliver in style with the aforementioned Jesse Butler’s on God one of the best but repeated ones of depth and despair by Anna Linarello as Ella, the lonely wife of an artisan, also noteworthy.

Samantha Soh’s casting as the blind, lonesome but not lonely Absolute (in all white) was inspired and she gave a truly believable and moving performance.

While laced with moments that are harsh, sweet, funny, cruel, dark and light, Innocence is probably best enjoyed by committed theatregoers who will respond with enthusiasm to the play and the players’ performances.

Another fine performance by this crew and production team.

Kryztoff Rating  4K

Jun 29

RAW: Carbon Tax – Let The People Decide

By Lewis Dowell

Leader of the opposition Tony Abbott is pushing for the fate of the politically contentious carbon tax to be handed to the Australian people in a referendum. Abbott will introduce the motion ofin both houses of parliament.

It is quite obvious that the only reason Abbott is introducing such a motion is that in recent polling less than 40% of the public have shown support for a carbon tax. Abbott has also received much support for his ‘stop the tax’ campaign. If polls were turned the other way and showed great public support for the tax, it would be interesting to see what strategy he would take then.

However, as Abbott has argued, Prime Minister Julia Gillard did promise pre-election that a government under her leadership would not introduce a carbon tax, and so maybe the referendum is merited. If the public voted for Gillard based on the information that there would be no carbon tax, perhaps it is only fair that we get to decide again as she has changed her mind.

The motion lies on the shoulders of the two independent senators Nick Xenophon and Steve Fielding, who will support the motion if it is in the interests of ‘democratic accountability’.

One can only imagine the storm of propaganda and fear mongering that is about to descend on the public should a referendum take place. Not only between Liberal and Labor, but every corporation and company likely to be adversely affected, will be willing to open their wallets to scare enough people to vote ‘no’ against the carbon tax.

The public seemed so outraged and offended months ago when they learned of the Australian Hotels Association’s plan to spend $20 million in a campaign against stricter regulations on the pokies (the ‘Un-Australian’ campaign), but I wonder what the reaction will be to the efforts of mining companies flooding our TVs and radios with anti-tax messages. My guess is that we will not be anywhere near offended.

The public easily made the connection between the Gaming Association’s profits and the livelihood of those addicted to gambling, and could see the cynicism in their attempts to confuse the legislation with notions of patriotism and being ‘Un-Australian’. But in this issue I don’t think the same connection will be made between the profits of major corporations and the detriment to the environment.

Skepticism and apathy toward climate change is abundant, and widely people seem to trust big corporations and the mining industry. They view Australia’s economic stability as being on their back and are willing to listen when they start grumbling. Unlike when not-for-profit environmental organisations grumble, and we all seem to snidely snigger at them, and ignore their message as whingeing or sooking. We seem to have it reversed in this country, where we have an abundance of trust for multi-million dollar companies, but are very cynical to small volunteer environmental groups. Maybe it’s because we view anyone not concerned by money to be crazy.

Mainstream skeptics of climate change have played a great trick on the public by turning the issue of climate change into a matter of belief. People in the broader community seem to think they have a choice, that they don’t have to believe in climate change. Unfortunately this is not the case. Climate change is happening and the only choice we have is what are we going to do about it (if anything at all).

I am all for democratic institutions being used in political debates, however in this case I believe it’s not being used to see what the public wants, but rather to confuse the public over the issue and allow corporate giants a chance to rally their minions. Climate change is happening, and the government needs to act. If it’s the carbon tax that Liberals disagree with then they need to introduce an alternative that is just as effective. Simply rejecting the tax and high fiving corporations is not going to help anyone.

Jun 28

RAW: Cabaret Festival – Michael Feinstein Sings Sinatra – 5K

With a Las Vegas like welcoming to the stage and an opening number that finished with him atop his piano, Michael Feinstein delivered a rousing finale to 2011 Adelaide Cabaret Festival. With a stage draped in luxurious folded curtains and supported by the 17 piece Adelaide Art Orchestra, Feinstein belied his 55 years of age with a performance full of vitality, style, great voice and variety.

Possessing a self cynical demeanour (that remained well shy of horrid false modesty), Feinstein performed not only Sinatra covered songs of the great composers of the mid years of the 20th century but also others by them in a range of styles. Throughout his voice was top notch and the seamless transitions between songs just emphasised what a truly professional entertainer he is.

Highlights included Luck be A Lady, Such a Lot Of Living To Do and the finale, New York.

Just the consummate performer and performance and one of the highlights of the festival, far surpassing how it opened with ONJ.

By way of note, I do need to marvel at the performance of two audience members both sitting in the very front row. One old matron found herself caught short about 20 minutes in and Feinstein thankfully took to her upon her return – it is doubtful this old biddy will be seated so unprepared again – not even Dame Edna could have rightfully have humiliated her any more.

The other was some geezer in a workman’s cap with a rucksack, also in the front row, who 10 seconds before the end of one song and 10 minutes before the end of the concert, stood up, adjusted his clothing and wares and walked out. With tickets at $95, one wonders how it was he was there and yet needed to time his run to the bus stop.

Wonders will never cease. What were these people thinking?

Kryztoff Rating  5K

Jun 28

RAW: Cabaret Festival – An Evening With Jimmy Web – 2.5K

When given the opportunity to be entertained by a legend it is easy to immediately forgive any and all shortcomings in the performance. Jimmy Web is one of the greats of the pop music industry with (uniquely) Grammy Awards for music, lyrics and orchestration with his songs sung by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Glenn Campbell and Lynda Ronstat. And let’s face it anyone who can get a hit out of lyrics about baking a cake deserves special notoriety.

It also often good to hear a composer’s interpretations of his own songs, stripped bare of the record company’s sugar coating for radio.

Sadly, An Evening With Jimmy Web was not one of those occasions. The limitations of his voice seemed to mess with the arrangements and his anecdotes at time bordered on the banal – I need to hear nothing more in my life about Richard Harris.

Been there, done that.

Kryztoff Rating  2.5K

Jun 28

RAW: Racism in the AFL a thing of the past?

By Lewis Dowell

A major event in the history of the AFL and its battle against racial vilification is the moment when St.Kilda great Nicky Winmar faced the Collingwood cheer squad and lifted his jumper and pointed to his skin. Winmar and his teammate Gilbert McAdam had both received constant, racist taunts from the supporters throughout the game.

In a speech earlier this year to the UN in Geneva on combating racism in sport, Adelaide Crow’s and AFL great Andrew McLeod credited this event as the moment the AFL was forced to stand up and take notice of racial vilification in the game.

“It wasn’t until 1993 when Nicky Winmar … was racially abused by opposition supporters, and in return, he lifted his jumper pointing to the colour of his skin, which made the AFL sit up and take notice.” Said McLeod.

McLeod went on to say that the day where Indigenous players were vilified by opposition players and their supporters were over, and although the AFL may have been slow to act on the issue in the early 90’s, racial vilification policies and education programs developed in 1995 greatly helped the AFL community combat racism.

However it would seem that 18 years on from Winmar’s famous gesture towards the Collingwood supporters, and 12 years on from the last suspension of an AFL player for racial vilification, racism has once again surfaced in the game.

On Saturday night Bulldogs forward Justin Sherman repeatedly racially vilified Gold Coast Sun’s debutant Joel Wilkinson, 19, who is of Nigerian decent. Sherman reportedly sort out Wilkinson after the game to apologise and has since made an official apology claiming that his actions were “out of character” and that he was “ashamed and embarrassed”.

It could be said that if he was really ashamed, embarrassed and remorseful, it would have been a stronger statement to report himself to the AFL the following day, but the AFL were informed by a formal complaint from the Suns.

Sherman was handed a $5000 fine to be paid to a charity chosen by the Suns, and will volunteer for the Red Dust Role Model program which provides mentoring and support for youth in remote indigenous communities. He has also been given a 4 game suspension, but will be available to play in the VFL.

Considering James Hird was fined $20,000 for criticism of an umpire in 2004 you have to wonder about the AFL’s priorities, as well as the fact that players often receive 3 – 4 match bans for high contact and striking. The fact he is able to continue playing in the VFL is a joke.

I believe that the punishment is too soft, not because I wish for the punishment to act as a deterrent or to make an example of Sherman, but simply because the act of racial vilification deserves more.

In this day and age players should not need to be deterred from racially vilifying opponents, but should just not participate in such behaviour because they know it’s morally, ethically and personally inappropriate, irresponsible and offensive behaviour.

Racism should be held as one of the worst offenses a player can do on the field, higher than criticism of an umpire, higher than high or reckless contact and even higher then striking or brawling.

Since the incident, the media has begun to build up the story of racism in the AFL. The fact that although the AFL claims the game is racism free, it is actually riddled with it. I think this is an exaggeration. I believe that this is an isolated incident from a naïve and ignorant player, that shouldn’t have happened but is now being dealt with. And yes although I previously said the punishment was insufficient, I think it is obvious to all players that behaviour like this is unacceptable and wont be tolerated.

The issue to have come from this though is the issue of racism and racist taunts coming from the crowd. This is a serious issue but to be fair, is a harder issue for the AFL to deal with. Supporters cannot be screened prior to games, and they cannot setup educational institutions and force supporters to attend. Catching out supporters that participate in racist taunts, the majority o the time relies on other supporters viewing and reporting them. However once they are caught the AFL does take a strong line, often barring the supporters from attending games for life.

The AFL hasve also setup text-lines that supporters can use to ‘dob-in’ supporters behaving inappropriately.

The AFL can only deal with official members of their organisation, and with offenders that have been caught in the act. It’s a lot harder for them to educate the wider community.

Unfortunately racism is apparent in our society and community as a whole, and is not just specific to footy or sporting cultures.  The AFL is doing their part to combat racist views in the community.

In the meantime however the AFL still has a way to come in progressing indigenous people into higher levels of their organisation, and into more senior positions in football clubs. In McLeod’s UN speech he pointed out that there are no Indigenous senior coaches, no indigenous representation at board level at any football club and no representation in executive committees. Possibly the next step for the AFL could be looking at a form of affirmative action to progress indigenous players and officials into these positions. Indigenous players make up more than 20% of the entire playing group, it should only be fair that they have proportional representation.

Jun 28

RAW: Colourful debate on plain cigarette packaging

By Lewis Dowell

As the government stands strong on its decision to introduce plain packaging for cigarette packets (all packets to become a horrible pale ‘baby vomit’ green), tobacco companies have taken to television, radio and print to attack the new anti-smoking scheme, as well as potentially taking the government to court to gain compensation for loss of revenue.

Big tobacco sees a real threat about to hit their brands. And that is the un-branding of their product. Maybe the reason we haven’t seen such a strong response like this from tobacco industries previously is because they haven’t particularly seen the threat. Maybe their research showed that smokers under the age of 20 weren’t concerned with health warnings, cigarette contents, and didn’t mind going outside to smoke. And maybe their research shows that branding, packaging and image is key to getting young people to buy their first packet.

Tobacco companies so far have taken a philosophical stance against the proposal, spouting freedom in the market place and government control, as well as a ‘nanny-state’ fear campaign. The notion of “if the government takes control of cigarettes, what will be next…” including a picture of a green drink can with the boring and un-branded text of ‘Cola’ written on the side. Maybe if Cola drinks still contained cocaine as was the original secret ingredient, the government may be taking a similar line. However as Coke is relatively harmless apart from the amount of sugar, which can be avoided by buying several sugarless varieties, I really don’t think Coke or indeed any other brands should be worried by the steps the government is taking against cigarettes.

However some in the media and public have bitten on to the tobacco industries central premise, that while cigarettes are legal the government should not be able to exercise control over their product.

I have heard the argument that the government should either make cigarettes completely illegal, or should let them operate freely in the market place like any other company or product. However to make cigarettes illegal with out taking these precautionary steps would be to cut Australia off cold turkey. To cut off cigarettes whilst a massive slice of the population is still heavily addicted would only promote an illegal market for cigarettes as well as cause heavy distress to many of those addicted.

I believe what the government is doing at the moment is essentially acting like a federal nicotine patch. Taking steps against cigarettes step by step, slowly making the policies stronger and more effective, and slowly cutting down the amount of those addicted until they can make the product widely illegal.

The other line you hear is that, cigarettes can only be sold to adults, and adults should be able to choose if they wish to smoke or not, and that these new policies are just an extension of the ‘nanny-state’ where we are told what to do and what not to do because we aren’t smart enough to make decisions by ourselves. Well unfortunately we are still able choose to smoke or not because this policy does not make smoking illegal. In fact if anything, it is making our choice free of control from the research and branding of tobacco companies, making our choice clearer. The other point is that the choice to smoke or not to smoke is only made a few times before it doesn’t become a choice at all, but just a habit formed on addiction. All the government is trying to do is lower the amount of people that make that initial choice to become addicted to cigarettes.

Taking away the branding, image and overall ‘prestige’ of the cigarettes is the right step forward. Although the packets are already marked with health warnings and graphic photos, there is no denying the distinctive branding of some cigarette brands such as the shiny gold colour of Benson and Hedges or the old fashioned charm of Malboro. That’s all gone now, and has been replaced by the drabbest, most boring and repulsive shade of green possible. And the fact that cigarette companies are so up in arms should only tell us that the reform is actually going to work.

The fact that Philip Morris, a major tobacco company, is now threatening the government with potential legal action, seeking compensation for loss of revenue, should be see by the public as a joke, and a desperate one at that.

Tobacco companies knowingly sell a highly addictive product that kills people. They know their branding and image is what encourages young people to take up smoking, and then once the addiction is formed they know they will most likely continue smoking for years. The fact they believe they will lose revenue is only to say that the de-branding of their product will work and that less young people will take up smoking and form cancers and other fatal, debilitating and life ruining conditions.

Cigarette companies are barely entitled to our attention let alone our sympathy and understanding. It’s time we all see the tobacco industry for the hypocritical and mass murdering giant it is and don’t give them room to move.