ACT chief health officer Dr Paul Kelly’s announcement to scrap the restaurant “scores on doors” food hygiene ratings scheme has been soundly lampooned by former food-safety professor Doug Powell in his blog barfblog.com

He dismisses Kelly’s explanation that there were a “range of reasons” behind the decision, but the government had decided there would be “better paths to follow to get the same outcome”, as “bullshit… especially when he [Dr Kelly] won’t explain what those alternative approaches are”.

“This is the sheep-town where 160 people got sick from salmonella linked to a raw-egg dish in 2013… where the largest bakery was fined $10,000 because they sucked at food safety,” Powell fumes.

“Canberra, you want to be known for having four Prime Ministers in five years, or you want to be leaders. Food safety is low-hanging fruit, get on with it… grow a pair.”

Up the workers!

CAPITAL Metro’s recent “Environmental Impact Statement Addendum Report” makes interesting reading with 40 of the 60 community and business representations (that is 67 per cent) objecting to the construction compound planned to swallow up an entire city car park for four years on London Circuit.

The report soothingly confirms that this has been “refined” by the Capital Metro Authority to 50 per cent of the original proposal.

Wondering how they could manage this enormous slice of common sense?

“In order to accommodate the proposed reduction in area of the construction compound within the car park opposite the Melbourne Building, it is proposed to relocate construction worker parking to the existing Canberra Racecourse/EPIC overflow car park…”

That’s right, they were going to completely jeopardise Civic businesses to provide, presumably, free parking for construction workers. Really?

Canberran with an eye for ‘Rock Stars’

CHOSEN from a field of 315 entries from across Australia, local snapper Craig Burns has won this year’s Geoscience Australia’s 2015 Top Geoshot photo competition, with this wonderfully colourful image of Hamersley Gorge in WA.

Craig’s photo highlighted this year’s theme, “Rock Stars”, by capturing the folding and rock strata of WA’s iron ore country.

Geoscience Australia’s CEO Dr Chris Pigram says: “This competition aims to raise awareness of our geological heritage and encourages people to consider the importance of geology in our world.”

Washington? Where?

ANYONE wondering where America’s capital is look no further than this helpful word from Chief Minister Andrew Barr: “The ACT Government is looking to establish closer ties with Washington D.C., the capital of the United States of America, as we continue to build Canberra’s presence on the global stage.”

Really bad dad jokes

“ON my wedding day, my dad came up to me and said: ‘Your wedding is beautiful, even the cake is in tiers’,” says Carlie White, of NSW, to bag the nation’s best “dad joke” – and a barbecue prize.

The joke search was launched by TheGourmet.com.au and “Take 5” magazine.

The five runners-up were:

• What did the male lamb say to the lady lamb? Nice rack.
• I asked my dad for his best dad joke and he said, “You”.
• What do you call a pig that does karate? A pork chop.
• How much does a hipster dad weigh? An Instagram.
• Last Christmas, we bought a fake Christmas tree, and the guy behind the counter asked: “Are you going to put it up yourself?” My dad replied: “Don’t be disgusting. I’m going to put it up in the living room.”