Millions of kids grew up with the black, yeasty stuff all over their face and it was standard issue for our soldiers at war so it’s welcome news dairy company Bega is buying it back from the Yanks, including Kraft-branded products like peanut butter, cheeses and mayonnaise for $460 million.

When food manufacturer Fred Walker launched Vegemite in 1922 sales were disappointing, with people preferring to dip into the similar Marmite, so in 1928 he changed its name to Parwill, the theory being that ‘If Marmite … then Parwill.’

Parwill sales were also a flop so Walker reinstated the Vegemite name and now all these years later we’re downing around 23 million jars a year, or more than 6,800 tonnes.

And although it has high levels of vitamin B, don’t believe the urban myth that scoffing lots of Vegemite will keep mozzies at bay.

WHY do the nutters and spoilers want to rain on our Australia Day party?

It’s the same old story every year with the sour minority trying to wreck it by dragging out the same old negative arguments why it should be scrapped.

Invasion day, the Fremantle council axing it altogether, the annual TV ‘eat lamb’ ad described as offensive and the so-called left renewal ratbags in the Greens calling for us to burn our flag and disrupt Australia Day ceremonies.

Fair dinkum. Can’t we have an Australia Day without all this annual rubbish?

Remember when we had Empire Day at school? To those of us imprisoned within the walls of Orange East Public School, any holiday no matter what it was for was always welcome.

Few of us had any idea what the day was all about but it had something to do with a huge framed picture of the King and Queen in the corridor, although they seemed too remote to mean anything, certainly not to us kids.

The King was an old bloke in a funny suit and the Queen was an old duck who we reckoned spent all her time mucking about at flower shows and wearing big hats.

But on Empire Day we trooped into assembly and sang the usual songs like ‘Land of Open Glory’ and everyone got a small cardboard flag to pin on themselves.

After that we adjourned to the playground for foot races but the boys spent most of the time chasing the girls. And we all got a cup of water-mix raspberry cordial.

Anyway, after it was all over we chucked away the cardboard flags and wandered home, kicking empty cans along the Nile Street footpath.

Weren’t things simple then?

THAT mobile speed camera thing that’s saving so many lives in Woodward Street in front of Elephant Park is giving the street a belting again after a short break.

It’s been there most days, including at 7am, parked on the side of the widest road in Orange in an area the Roads and Maritime Services believes is a ‘high risk’ location.

There’s never been any serious accidents there so it’s obvious it’s all a money-raising exercise and it would be far better to put the bloody thing in a location where it might save a life.

Be warned: 50km/hr or cop a bluey.