A post on the forums noted this little piece of amusing media suggesting topless bathing on NSW beaches should be banned – amusing until you see that it actually got a some support!!

From the article:

TOPLESS bathing would be banned on mainstream beaches in NSW under a conservative push to reclaim the sand.

With women increasingly going au natural, conservative powerbrokers from all sides of State Parliament yesterday supported a ban on topless bathing.

Local councils currently don’t fine or prohibit topless bathers as they do not regard bare breasts as nudity.

Click here for the full article, and then perhaps head out to get yourself a new swimsuit from the 1950’s

One of the risks faced by the nudist/naturist community is something not usually considered until it’s too late (particularly by new forum administrators) – the use of free online community forums such as Yahoo and Google groups can actually be spontaneously closed down with no warning!!

This has happened a number of times in the past and has happened just recently to the “SE Qld Nudists”, a popular online community forum running for over 6 years!! In this case, Yahoo did not give a reason (and they rarely do), but the group was immediately recreated successfully with the word “naturist” instead of nudist in the title, so it would appear terminology might be the cause.

The greater issue facing our community on a national basis is that the use of free online service providers like Yahoo and Google means we relinquish some of the control of our online presences to corporate entities who have little concern about communications histories, topic threads, and the wealth of detailed information contained in a long running community discussion forum (6 years in the case of SE Qld Nudists).

Perhaps it is time for a centralised internet presence (including forums) for Australian nudist and naturist community groups? The nudist community definitely has the skills in house (being webmaster of this site is not overly difficult!), and the costs are very low – we might suggest it to the nation forum via ANF http://www.aus-nude.org.au/ and see what transpires.

Comments welcome on this topic – should the multitude of nudist/naturist internet presences (including forums, club and resort websites) be consolidated wherever possible to ensure that a consistent, professional community presence is visible not only to the local communities but also to international communities and holidaying “nudistourists”?

The Geelong Advertiser ran an article today on the Surf Coast Shire Council Elections. An interesting read, with Cr Humphrey stating:

“I stuck my neck out on some very passionate issues, like the nude beach and keeping parking metres away from our beaches.”

Click here for the full article on the Geelong Advertiser website, or Click here for an article scan.

According to discussions on the community forums, the new council has been formed with 6 progressives, 2 conservatives and 1 unclear. We look forward to working with the new council to ensure a safe and enjoyable environment on our beaches for nudists and textiles alike!