Good news!

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

"A ban on smoking on Sydney's popular Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama beaches came into effect today and may be extended. Waverley Council Mayor Peter Moscatt said under the ban, one of the first in Australia, smoking on the sand will be prohibited but other nearby areas may follow."

Having just about lost my voice and suffering from creaky-feeling lungs, the effects of the smoke level at the office party last night, I can only croak: "Yippee."

I've been saying for years that governments would finally ban all public smoking only when I was just too old to enjoy it, but maybe I'll get a few years of clean-air pubs and restaurants - the Blair government being timidly headed in that direction.

Then if they'd just ban smoking on pavements (footpaths), so that when cycling peacefully along the road you don't suddenly cop a lungful ...