Michael Vernon
Encyclopedia
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1932 to John Ernest Vernon (a writer in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
) and Caroline Vernon
Caroline Vernon
Caroline Nellie Vernon was born in Woolwich, London, England to Emma Clark and Frederick Clark. She married John Ernest Vernon, a writer in the Royal Navy in 1931. In 1936 she joined her husband in Malta where she spent the next seven years. She worked as a volunteer cryptanalyst.She had four...
(née Clark) (later a cryptologist in the Royal Navy). He emigrated to Australia in 1955 and settled in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. 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
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
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 condom
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
reliability, banning lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
(Pb) and cadmium
Cadmium
Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, bluish-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Similar to zinc, it prefers oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds and similar to mercury it shows a low...
(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
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
Consumer Affairs Council in 1973 by the Minister for Territories, Keppel 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
Consumers' Federation of Australia
The Consumers' Federation of Australia is Australia's umbrella consumer advocacy group.-History:In the early 1960s the Australian Consumers Association unsuccessfully attempted to establish state and territory Branches. The first state or territory based consumer organisation was Canberra...
(CFA) and with Warren Braren of Consumers Union
Consumers Union
Consumers Union is a non-profit organization best known as the publisher of Consumer Reports, based in the United States. Its mission is to "test products, inform the public, and protect consumers."...
(USA) he turned the International Organization of Consumer Unions (IOCU) (now known as Consumers International
Consumers International
Consumers International is the world federation of consumer groups that serves as the only independent and authoritative global voice for consumers...
) concept for a world wide "Consumer Interpol" into a reality. He was a member of the Australian Press Council
Australian Press Council
The Australian Press Council is the self-regulatory body of the Australian print media. It was established in 1976 and is a private organisation. Its aims are to help preserve the traditional freedom of the press within Australia and to ensure that the free press acts responsibly and ethically...
and held many other positions on Government boards and committees.
He was made a Member of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
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.
He was married in 1959 to Jeanette Wilkinson. He had two children, one of whom is David Vernon.
He died from a rare bone cancer, multiple myeloma
Multiple myeloma
Multiple myeloma , also known as plasma cell myeloma or Kahler's disease , is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell normally responsible for the production of antibodies...
, which was attributed to his paid work with radioactive materials at Australia's first major uranium mine in Rum Jungle
Rum Jungle, Northern Territory
The Rum Jungle uranium deposit in the Northern Territory, Australia was found in 1949. It is 65 kilometres south of Darwin on the East Finniss River.-Original uranium mine:...
in the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
and later at the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
Research School of Physical Sciences and Research School of Earth Sciences.
Many people around the world owe their lives to Mike Vernon's actions to improve product safety. Quoted at his funeral were Shakespeare's words:
How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.