Michael J. Vernon, AM (2 April 1932 – 6 November 1993) was a prominent Australian consumer rights activist. Vernon was born in Portsmouth, United Kingdom in 1932 to John Ernest Vernon (a writer in the Royal Navy) and Caroline Clark Vernon (later a cryptologist in the Royal Navy). In 1955, he emigrated to Australia, where he settled in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. He was a joint founder of ''Canberra Consumer'' (a consumer activist group and publisher of a quarterly magazine) in 1962 and served on the Executive of ''Canberra Consumer'' until his death in 1993. He was employed by the Australian National University in 1960 and worked on the dating of moon rocks returned to earth by the Apollo missions. In 1972 he became the manager of the ''Research School of Earth Sciences'', a position he held until 1988. As an early Australian consumer activist, he was best known for his work on improving

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reliability, banning lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in children's toys and house paint throughout Australia, improving car safety, banning certain pesticides in the Asia-Pacific Region, and stopping the dumping of unsafe products into Third World countries. He was appointed Chairman of the Australian Capital Territory Consumer Affairs Council in 1973 by the Minister for Territories, Kep Enderby MP and held that position until 1993. He helped establish the Australian Federation of Consumer Organizations (AFCO) (now known as the Consumers' Federation of Australia (CFA)) and with Warren Braren of Consumers Union (USA) he turned the International Organization of Consumer Unions (IOCU) (now known as Consumers International) concept for a worldwide "Consumer Interpol" into a reality. He was a member of the

Australian Press Council The Australian Press Council (APC) was established in 1976 and is responsible for promoting high standards of media practice, community access to information of public interest, and freedom of expression through the media. The council is also the ...

and held many other positions on Government boards and committees.

Honours

He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1985 for services to consumer affairs and was also awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, also for services to consumer affairs.

Personal life and death

Vernon married in 1959 to Jeanette Wilkinson; the couple had two children, one of whom is writer

David Vernon David Vernon may refer to: * David Vernon (professor) (born 1958), professor at the University of Genoa, Italy *David Vernon (writer) David Vernon (born 1965 in Canberra, Australia) is an Australian writer and publisher. He has published several ...

. Michael Vernon died, aged 61, from a blood cancer,

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, which was attributed to his paid work with radioactive materials at Australia's first major uranium mine in

Rum Jungle Rum Jungle is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about 105 kilometres south of Darwin on the East Branch of the Finniss River. It is the site of a uranium deposit, found in 1949, which has been mined. The area deriv ...

in the Northern Territory and later at the Australian National University Research School of Physical Sciences and Research School of Earth Sciences."Isotope Danger in Canberra Fire"
''The Age'', 7 July 1960.

References

*'' Who's Who in Australia'' (1988); , ''Herald & Weekly Times'', Melbourne * ''In the Consumer Interest - A selected history of consumer affairs in Australia 1945-2000'', 2000, Simon Smith, Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals, Melbourne

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vernon, Michael 1932 births 1993 deaths Australian activists Consumer rights activists People from the Australian Capital Territory British emigrants to Australia Members of the Order of Australia Deaths from cancer in the Australian Capital Territory Deaths from multiple myeloma Australian memoirists 20th-century memoirists