Warning labels on alcohol bottles seems to be designed to head-off future legislation now that cigarettes can no longer be displayed - and will soon only be available in plain packs. The gambling industry is in turmoil as new laws get drafted to require punters to first have a license before they can have a flutter on the poker machines.
Part of this rush to legislation to save us from our own follies is directly linked to a Federal election that bestowed almost unlimited power to a few individuals. Holding the balance of power is heady stuff - and what would otherwise be unreasonable demands are the price of forming government.
There has always been a " wowser " element in society. There are those who would like to bring in prohibition and ban the sale of all forms of alcohol. Gambling is forbidden by some religious creeds - along with dancing and any form of intermingling of the sexes. Cigarettes and other forms of smoking tobacco have been frowned upon by some sections of society ever since Sir Francis Drake brought the evil weed to Europe - and then we have the crazy laws that forbid Marijuana, despite it being available on most street corners in our cities.
It now seems that we are seeing a more truculent form of prohibition. The average person is being denied his or her choice on whether to smoke, drink or gamble. It is not outright banning but rather the introduction of hoops which we must jump through before we can exercise free choice.
The circumstances that make this legislation possible will not persist - and when next we go to the polls there is every chance that whoever governs will do so without the need to placate a bunch of individuals with some sort of weird socialist agenda.
Then the worst of these restrictive laws will probably be rescinded - but not before they will have inflicted damage on firms and institutions - and denied the public the right to make their own decisions on matters of personal choice.
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