John Fahey, former Premier of the state

my brother lives in, Finance Minister in Federal Parliament, and the leader who managed to snag the Sydney Olympics has died at 75.

It seems he is being remembered for the last thing rather than anything else. Oh, there has been some coverage of the fact that he flung himself in front of Prince Charles when someone was firing at gun. The gun was firing blanks but Fahey did not know that at the time. Snagging the Olympics seems relatively minor compared with behaving  in a way that could have cost him his life. (And no, it does not matter whose life it was - it just happened to be Prince Charles.)

But of course it is the fact that he managed to snag the Olympics for which he is being remembered. Downunder is a sports mad country. It is something which would matter to many people.

As someone who has no interest in sport apart from a passing interest in the psychology behind cricket - I mean what other game involves standing around waiting for someone to hit a ball with a bit of wood? - I do not see gaining the Olympics as anything of importance. I would cheerfully say goodbye to the Olympics. The endless ridiculous attempts to shave another one hundreth of a second off a "world record" while on performance enhancing drugs does not interest me in the least.  But, other people think that is important.

Fahey did other things too - like bring in the disability discrimination legislation in his state. He also has remarkably good relations with "the other side" of politics. He seemed to be a generally cheerful individual as well.

He has not been seen much for some years due to ill health. Major surgery for lung cancer would have sapped his strength however much he might have wanted to go on. 

I don't know whether he was a smoker or not but he would certainly have spent years in meetings where other people smoked. I have never even tried to smoke a cigarette but I spent years in meetings where other people smoked. The amount of secondhand smoke I have been forced to ingest has not done my health any good. I was considered "unsociable" in the schools I worked in because I had to avoid the staff rooms where people smoked heavily. I could do that but many people had no choice. 

None of my close friends smoke. We have other things to do with  our hands. I wonder whether Fahey smoked or fiddled with his fountain pen? It doesn't matter. What does matter is that disability discrimination legislation. It has saved lives too.