eugenehwhite

I have effectively disengaged from Twitter [X] and Instagram, I refer you to Facebook and LinkedIn.

Retired yes; but I do not forget those still working for whom unions are vital; especially in the community sector - @servicesunion - With regular Brisbane Labour Day stalwarts as fellow 1990s family lawyer @ShayneNeumannMP now federal MP for Blair: “Solidarity Forever”.

@ShayneNeumannMP @servicesunion @AWUqueensland Indeed the years roll on by: yet again marching with @ShayneNeumannMP with our @servicesunion - and Neil Henderson and Penny Carr there again yesterday!

On #LabourDay we celebrate the ongoing achievements of workers and the strength of our unions. It's about celebrating the rights that so many have fought hard for. I'm proud to march every year and to recognise the hard work of all our unions. @servicesunion @AWUqueensland

1 March 2024: Arrival of autumn, first day of retirement; not an end but a new beginning. There is “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” [Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV]; so on matters of significance, “when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now” [Phil Ochs].

Proud of my association with the @UQLaw my final scribblings before retirement in “Nota Bene”, the University of Queensland Law Alumni magazine. So with parting words, “fiat justitia” – let justice be done- I venture into silence. See uqla.org.au/nota-bene-2023

Cowabunga! I extend to family, friends, colleagues; diverse other associates and social media connections, best wishes into 2024 for peace, health, happiness, prosperity; and all that you wish for yourselves - keep safe, stay well; l’chaim, cheers and may the Force be with you!

Since 2012, Solicitor by day, Santa by night [and eighth time with Patricia McArthur as helper] for local community Christmas function organised by Nundah Now Inc. Retiring soon as lawyer, so too this is likely my last year in red. However this has been a fun, special role for me

Brisbane: late afternoon sun highlighting engineer John Bradfield’s magnificent Story Bridge. After a year of frequent fun post Covid, pre retirement travels; pleased to be home for a spell.

Canberra: despite some sterile, stifling bureaucratic planning; a capital of vital democratic institutions and cultural establishments. The Museum of Australian Democracy and National Portrait Gallery, two of my favourites, the latter with a great Archibald Prize retrospective.

Sydney: magnificent harbour in late afternoon sun.

Melbourne's Acland Street; long a centre of Jewish culture and community; a site of my family celebrations sixty years ago and in recent decades the venue for my regular nostalgic visitations.

Bendigo: another great regional Victorian city with history of gold and fine art.

Ballarat: great visit, appreciating this diverse, modern city; its place in history: in gold mining  and championing justice and democracy at the Eureka Stockade; and a fun tram ride there, my first since 1968.

Arrived in Toowoomba with nostalgic visitations in the town I briefly lived in twenty years ago, capped with an evening repast at my one time " local", the Toowoomba Sports Club.

Still on the road. Always liked Hervey Bay, especially impressed with its impeccably curated Historical Village and Museum. Only reservation is seeing so many now distant historical exhibits which were once commonplace items of my daily life.

Nambour: another delightful sojourn to my base when visiting the increasing number of those I know retiring to Queensland's Sunshine Coast; good decision too to join the welcoming Nambour RSL.

Countdown to retirement. My work colleagues organised a superb, if slightly premature, function for me. It was better than a funeral as I was present; only to be honoured and humbled by comments; albeit speakers did not shy away from forthrightly noting my limitations.

Adelaide memorial plaque to Australia's pioneering liberal reformer, SA Premier Donald A Dunstan; for a very youthful me, a stark contrast to, and a beacon of hope against, the authoritarian, anti-intellectual Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen.

Delightful afternoon in Hahndorf, South Australia - including a visit to the studio of renowned artist, Hans Heysen.

Adelaide: visiting this city of charm; different to, but adding to the diversity of, other cities in great multicultural Australia.