There are about 300 industries in Greece which the government deems to be hazardous to one’s health to work in for too long. David Wessell, the economics editor of the Wall Street Journal, said on a visit to Sydney last month that he was intrigued to see that one of these dangerous industries was broadcast journalism, allowing a retirement age of 50 followed by the state pension. He wondered how long the German taxpayers would be happy to pay more to support the Greek system. Separately, Steffen Meister, the chief executive of private equity firm Partners Group, said on a visit from Switzerland, that the best profession he found in the Greek hazard list was hairdressing. Hairdressers can retire at 53. Meister was reasonably relaxed about the European uncertainy though. His firm’s worst-case scenario was that Greece and perhaps Portugal may have to leave the Eurozone, but combined they only made up about 3 per cent of Europe’s GDP.

He didn’t believe Germany would return to its old currency, the mark, because it would go through the roof as a safe haven and German exporters would be hurt too badly. Look! Up in the sky! Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Pinkman aka Peter Tagg, training consultant with AIST. Pinkman/Tagg completed the 8km Mother’s Day Classic in 37 minutes, and raised several hundred dollars for Women in Super ‘s fundraising for breast cancer research. Last year, the Women in Super Mother’s Day Classic raised $1.3 million, and organiser Carol Turner says the group is on target to exceed that amount this year. Pinkman, whose wife sews his cozzie and sources many of his accessories, says the main hazard was politicians trying to kiss him for a photo-opportunity. The main problem for Pinkman in his mission is that Telstra keeps removing public phone boxes, and it’s now very difficult to change in the few remaining Perspex-sided booths.