Fight against tree-rotting Rust. Myrtle Rust is the horrendous new leaf fungus from South America that may eventually infect half the trees in Australia … and kill a good proportion of them. Despite having authorities in a panic for nearly a year now, it has largely been ignored by government and the mainstream media. Maybe that’s because its economic impact has so far been limited to a few nuisance restrictions on the plant nursery trade — the guys who almost certainly introduced the damn thing.

Word in the local agricultural products store on the weekend is that it may be beginning to change. Seems local (north coast NSW) tea-tree oil growers have been in and out recently buying thousands of dollars worth of toxic fungicides. Tea tree is a myrtle. So, by the way, is eucalyptus.

Newspaper free-for-all #876. As a teacher, my hubby gets papers cheaply, with newspapers delivered to schools under special deals. All of a sudden the Herald Sun and The Age are thumping down our drive in the early hours. Hubby went to local newsagents to point out we didn’t request home delivery of any papers. He was told it’s complimentary for X amount of weeks. They must have captured our home address when he subscribed to the school deal.

Newspaper free-for-all #877: There was a friendly young person standing out the front of Thomas Dux Crows Nest on Sunday morning (understandably) handing out free Sun Heralds …