Because my life is so boring and otherwise purposeless, I thought I’d count the smokers – Councillor Conkey’s current nemeses.

There were four. It was a leisurely stroll which took over 30 minutes and I probably passed about a thousand people.

I also counted people on the other side of the street; that’s an average of 0.4 per cent (four tenths of one percent).

Of this 0.4 per cent was a woman on the other side of the street who seemed to work in the government office block in Morgan Street and she waited until she got to Bardo Lane before lighting up.

I’ve counted her in anyway.

The other three smokers hugged the gutter and were so far away from me that I didn’t get even a whiff of their dreaded second-hand smoke. A truck did, however, spew quite a bit of diesel smoke across the sidewalk at one point which made me hurry on a bit but none of the smokers caused me any problem.

Similarly, as I noted the woman at Bardo Lane, a cyclist sped past me from behind on the footpath and narrowly missed me by about 30cm. Oh, and he had a big grey beanie but no helmet.

Yes, my life was endangered, but not by any second-hand smoke, but by a lunatic who is already presumably “prevented” by law from slicing his way through pedestrians on footpaths.

Some “prevention”!

Let’s start enforcing the laws that we’ve already got before deciding that we need laws which my own experience tells me that we don’t need.

Cr Conkey should be getting council to enforce the laws that we already have and ridding the footpaths of fools on their skateboards and bicycles before introducing a “feel-good law” that tries to fix something that’s not broken. 

Why is it “not broken”?

Because the majority of the very few smokers in the main street – by my reckoning – already go out of their way not to annoy others. Walk up and down the main street yourself and see for yourself – it’s not rocket science dearies!

Do we really want laws that are unenforceable anyway?

I have an hilarious vision of some council ranger running down the main street in pursuit of some hairy truck driver puffing away in his Isuzu cabin.

Oh, and personally I don’t smoke and I wish you didn’t, if that’s important.

Congratulations to the Wagga City Council and the Wagga Civic Theatre for their upcoming presentation of Circus Oz.

This exceptional and critically acclaimed celebration of human skill is well worth a visit.

The performers have dedicated hours of training in refining their chosen skill, be it circus craft, music or comedy performance. 

What sets this circus experience apart from the Lennon Bros Circus, which is also performing in Wagga soon, is that all the Circus Oz performers have chosen to learn skills, refine them and perform them for the paying public. They have made this choice.  

The animals made to perform in the Lennon Bros Circus do not and never have had a choice. Nothing in these performances can be regarded as natural behaviours for these animals that are forced to spend months touring the land, performing at the command of their trainers. 

Circus Oz is a rock-n-roll, fun filled, animal free circus that adults and children can enjoy together. Animals don’t belong under the big top. Make your circus choice a good choice please.