Michael Vernon

Michael J. Vernon, AM (2 April 1932 – 6 November 1993) was a prominent Australian consumer rights activist.

[2] 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.

As an early Australian consumer activist, he was best known for his work on improving condom 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 a member of the Australian Press Council and held many other positions on Government boards and committees.

Michael Vernon died, aged 61, from a blood cancer, multiple myeloma, which was attributed to his paid work with radioactive materials at Australia's first major uranium mine in Rum Jungle in the Northern Territory and later at the Australian National University Research School of Physical Sciences and Research School of Earth Sciences.