the boxing Kangaroo’ by Leemo’

come our female football team wasn’t called ‘ e Jillies’ or ‘ e Flyers’ which are known to be widely used to describe female kangaroos?

Warning to residents: battery fres are threatening lives

JANELLE SAFFIN, State Member for the Lismore electorate, is urging residents to keep batteries out of household bins due to a growing number of battery-related fres across the state.

“Batteries are vital to powering our day-to-day lives, but not enough people are aware of the dangers they pose when thrown into kerbside waste and recycling bins,” Ms Saffn said.

‘Mum Jane’ made me sit and watch a game of ‘Football’ with her yesterday. is meant I couldn’t watch ‘Bluey’ which annoyed me hugely. (It’s ‘Leemo Cat’ writing.) Mum was most engrossed in the game on our TV even though I personally believe her actual knowledge of the game of football is negligible to say the least. She informed me this didn’t really count in the scheme of things; she was simply being most loyal and patriotic in supporting our Australian Team against the French. Quite frankly, I believe she talks a lot of Tommyrot, and I most certainly will be querying her when this interminably never-ending game nishes. (Praise God the Australian team won or she may well have sulked, but instead she had a sip of wine, clapped, stomped her feet & yelled ‘whoohoo’, which I thought was absurdly lacking in any dignity for an elderly woman! Surely she had one of her neverending dainty white ironed handkerchiefs tucked into her feeble bosom that she could have waved instead?)

Anyhow, I told her to listen to me ‘cos I had some questions to ask her. ‘Mum, I noticed that the name of our all girl Australian Team is ‘ e Matildas’; I nd this somewhat incongruous considering ‘Matilda’ was actually a BOY kangaroo who weighed 195lbs. and specialised in boxing, as his feet were not designed to play football without possibly killing his opponents with one bounce. So, Mum, how

AND, Mum, a bushie’s Swag is also known as a Matilda…SO, I don’t get it, OK?’ Ooooh… her eyes narrowed evilly staring right at me and she emanated a most exasperated kinda angry sigh and said ‘Button it, Leems, you know-it-all cat, you’re outta your depth on this.’ Well, there was not a hope in hades she was getting away with her dictatorial attitude to my interested query. Hmmm! ‘OK Mum, pray explain to me why a BOY kangaroo who could box was called ‘Matilda’ (LONG before Gay Rights were happily recognised) and his life made into a movie based on a tale written by Paul Gallico in the 1930s? And, I MIGHT ADD, the movie, called ‘Matilda the Boxing Kangaroo’ was rated as one of the worst family movies ever made; it starred Elliott Gould managing a kangaroo who could box, actually played by a human BLOKE in a creepy ratty animal suit.,. e human boxing fans who watched it in the US disliked ‘Matilda’ hugely ‘cos the ‘kangaroo’ beat the humans in boxing, and ‘cos he/she was a boy, not a girl so it was all most confusing. In the end he/she had to stop his/her boxing career; whilst the movie was classi ed boring, it was not the fault of the kangaroo. e guy in the ratty suit couldn’t play a kangaroo to save his life and the production people didn’t even get an ear wiggle or nose twitch out of him like a real kangaroo. So, Mum, I deduce our Sports boss blokes should have spent more time searching for a better name rather than inging out the name ‘Matildas’ Gottit?’

Mum told me to go read more Paul Gallico books.

‘ e Silent Miaow’, ‘ e Honorable Cat’ and ‘ omasina’ and come back later. Whoohoo! I reckon I won this round.

Happy Purrsies, Leemo.

“Batteries should never be put in household bins and should instead be dropped off at a battery collection site for recycling.”

Lithium battery fres in homes and in garbage trucks and tips are increasing, with Fire and Rescue NSW responding to around three battery fres a week.

Fire and Rescue NSW data shows that so far this year, NSW has seen a 20% increase in battery-related fre or explosion incidents when comparing the number of fres this year to the frst half of last year.

Batteries contain a range of metals including lead, mercury and lithium which are hazardous when dealt with incorrectly. There are several recycling options available to consumers.

The NSW Government and many councils, including Lismore, Tenterfeld, Kyogle and Murwillumbah, have partnered with B-cycle, the national product stewardship scheme for batteries. B-cycle drop off points are available at large retail outlets, like Woolworths, Bunnings, Aldi, IGA and

Offceworks.

Community Recycling Centres and Household Chemical CleanOut events also accept batteries so you can now drop off small household batteries at over 1,000 locations across NSW for recycling. When a battery has reached the end of its life, the terminals should be taped with clear sticky tape. Once taped, batteries can be stored in a cool dry place, out of reach of children, before being taken to B-cycle drop off point or CRC for safe collection and recycling. Products with batteries embedded in them, like phones, laptops and power tools, should be disposed of at an e-waste recycling facility or e-waste drop-off event.

Find your nearest drop off point at www.cleanout. com or www.bcycle.com. au.

To fnd out more about safe battery disposal, visit the EPA’s website.