Tiwi Islands Hike for Health

30/07/2026

Football is personally important to me. It meant my grandfather kept his family fed throughout the Depression. It allowed my father to provide my education. However, the alcohol culture he saw around it meant that Dad never let me play football. This month I went to the Tiwi Islands football grand final where alcohol is banned, and it was the most exciting and enjoyable event that you’ll ever see. The communities came together on the main island for healthy celebration. Alcohol was nowhere to be seen which aligns with healthy sport because it’s linked to at least 7 types of cancers including mouth, throat, liver, breast, and bowel. Support Drug ARM reduce the harms of alcohol and other drugs across all communities by helping people and sport make healthy choices, just like the Tiwi Islanders. My target is $5,000 so please make a tax-deductible donation today https://www.mycause.com.au/page/397213/tiwi-islands-hike-for-health

24/07/2026

Prior to heading out into the Timor Sea for my , I visited the Northern Territory’s Mary River which boasts the highest concentration of saltwater crocodiles in the world. It certainly delivered with crocodiles, water buffalo, and jabiru in abundance. Australia is a beautiful natural country, and I’m looking forward to sharing the natural enjoyment of the Tiwi Islands football grand final without grog – just pure, healthy sport. Alcohol is linked to at least 7 types of cancers which none of us need. Please help promote a healthy lifestyle by donating below to the charity which has been working to reduce the harms of alcohol and other drugs for 177 years. https://www.mycause.com.au/page/397213/tiwi-islands-hike-for-health

16/07/2026

Prior to departing for the Tiwi Islands, I showed the team at Drug ARM the colourful screenprinting for which the islands are famous. I'm going to the islands in the Timor Sea to showcase the community that embraces sport without alcohol, the grand final that each year brings the whole mob home. In doing so I'm raising money for Drug ARM's Street Outreach Service which is largely self-funded, so your donation goes directly to keeping these vans on the streets, to help people make better decisions. Please don't wait and donate now. https://www.mycause.com.au/page/397213/tiwi-islands-hike-for-health

15/07/2026

Here’s The Honourable John Mickel, former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, this week admiring traditional Tiwi Islands art that I brought back from a previous visit. John is honoured to support my in which I’m attending the Tiwi Islands football grand final to highlight the community that knows a healthy sport can be celebrated without an unhealthy mix of alcohol. I’m raising money for the charity Drug ARM to reduce the harms of alcohol and other drugs. https://www.mycause.com.au/page/397213/tiwi-islands-hike-for-health More than 50% of intimate partner homicides involve alcohol use, and yet alcohol companies still advertise their products as tools of sporting celebration after which domestic violence spikes. We need to do better than that. I need your support, please make your tax-deductible donation here https://www.mycause.com.au/page/397213/tiwi-islands-hike-for-health

12/07/2026

I caught up with Ipswich councillor David Martin: Ipswich who is a non-drinker, and we talked about a new book and my charity trek. This month I’m going to the Tiwi Islands football grand final where alcohol is not needed by the community to enjoy fantastic sports events. Sport is promoted for its health benefits, but alcohol is a carcinogen, causing at least seven types of cancer, so it doesn’t make sense for the two to mix. Please make your tax-deductible donation via the link below to the charity Drug ARM that works to reduce the harms of alcohol and other drugs. https://www.mycause.com.au/page/397213/tiwi-islands-hike-for-health

05/07/2026

This week I was delighted to catch up with Hon. Pat Comben AM, former Queensland Minister for Education and Minister for Environment and Heritage, for a pre-launch signing of his latest book, “Queensland’s Temperance Story: A Faithful Struggle.” Pat is supporting my Tiwi Islands Hike for Health for which this month I’m going to the Timor Sea to showcase that the best of healthy sport can be celebrated without the counterproductive harms of alcohol. In Australia 6,000 babies are born every year with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), up to 80% of children in the criminal justice system have FASD, and yet there is still no compulsory alcohol warning label and there’s unbridled alcohol advertising during live sport. We need to protect our children better. I need your help so please make your tax-deductible donation below to support Drug ARM educate and reduce such fully preventable harms https://www.mycause.com.au/page/397213/tiwi-islands-hike-for-health

21/06/2026

Over the weekend I was privileged to share in celebrating the AFL debut of a fine young man dedicated to hard work and a health regime focused on helping him be the best that he can be.

Sport participation is fantastic in driving health, but the alcohol culture that can surround it is not, and television often promotes bad decisions. Alcohol advertising is supposed to be restricted during family viewing times, but the screens are awash with it for our kids during live sport. There’s a spike in domestic violence during those sporting times, up by 40% on State of Origin nights, so families suffer most.

Next month I’m going to the Tiwi Islands football grand final 2.5 hours by ferry north of Darwin in the Timor Sea. It’s a much-loved dry grand final and I’m spreading the word that sport can be enjoyed best in a safe and healthy environment for our kids. I’m also raising funds for the charity Drug ARM that works to reduce the harms of alcohol and other drugs. Let’s all help others be the best that they can be by making a tax-deductible donation here today https://www.mycause.com.au/page/397213/tiwi-islands-hike-for-health

11/06/2026

Enjoy the sport, dont let it be ruined.
https://www.mycause.com.au/page/397213/tiwi-islands-hike-for-health

Women and children shouldn't have to brace for a greater risk of violence around our major sports events. Full stop.

So when we know that alcohol is a major contributing factor to gender-based violence, we need to act on the alcohol industry's deliberate and decades-long efforts to entrench itself in our sports.

31/05/2026

This week I was on hand with Jason the co-ordinator of Drug ARM’s Street Outreach Service, and Alex the Senior Manager for Public Relations, as they took delivery of a new Street Outreach van.

In July I’m heading to the Tiwi Islands football grand final to raise awareness and money for Drug ARM. Alcohol ads reinforce the idea that alcohol consumption is a routine activity associated with sport. Domestic violence increases by 40% on State of Origin nights. People need to make better decisions.

The Drug ARM charity works to improve the lives of people affected by alcohol and other drugs. Its Street Outreach Service is a mobile alcohol and other drug health service providing a vital outreach of care and compassion to those who need it most.

Please make your tax-deductible donation now to help people to make better decisions. https://www.mycause.com.au/page/397213/tiwi-islands-hike-for-health

26/05/2026

Sport doesn't need alcohol to be fun, in fact it makes a good thing bad.