Starting off in South Australia this week where the SA Attorney-General’s Department has announced a process of progress among staff, appointing a number of senior appointments in a single statement.
The Department appointed Bradley Slape as its 23rd Surveyor-General of South Australia, Greg Van Gaans as its new Director of Land and Built Environment and Margaret Smith its Director of State Assessment from April.
Congratulations to all the appointees, but what makes them of interest to PS-sssst!?
This.…! The all-at-one-time appointments are all in the Department’s ‘Planning and Land Use Services’, a division that wallows in the acronym PLUS, a nomenclature it apparently takes seriously when announcing new leaders.
And just to formalise the matter beyond recognition, PS-sssst! has adopted the Department’s PLUS as this week’s ‘Headline Of the Week Like-it Award’, i.e: its HOWLA!
Congratulations and good luck to all.
Weather or not?
To NSW now where La Niña has been active delivering floods and other downpours to the Noah State, causing the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment’s water branch to run to the fish in floodwaters where they suffer from low oxygen levels.
According to the Department, ‘blackwater’ is a natural feature of Australia’s lowland river systems in which organic material such as sticks, leaves, bark and grass break down in the floodwater and threaten the fish who live there.
“Too much organic material can significantly reduce oxygen levels, which can result in fish deaths,” a spokesperson said.
“The scale of this hypoxic blackwater event is substantial and there is a very high risk of fish deaths unless cooler temperatures continue.”
And who better to speak on behalf of the Department than its expert Director of Water Planning Implementation?
The director? The aptonymic Allan Raine!
Giveaway Gaind returns
And now for the first time in 2022, our graciously good-hearted giveaway guru, Rama Gaind unlocks her treasure chest to share piles of free books and DVDs with energetic PS News readers who take up her invitation each week to join in the fun.
Kicking off the weekly windfall this year, Rama has two copies of the waxy novel Tussau by Belinda Lyons-Lee to giveaway to two readers who can name the rambling estate Ms Lyons-Lee features in the book.
The correct answer is ‘Welbeck Abbey’ and the wise winners first to emerge from the PS News Barrell of Booty came from Kate B of the federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment and Karen M from the national Department of Health in Western Australia.
Congratulations to Kate and Karen and thanks to everyone who took part. The prizes will be on their way to their new owners very shortly.
So to join in the fun and welcome the new year with a new freebie, simply take part in Rama’s riches of giveaway games by either answering the question on her review of the Book The One That Got Away: Travelling in the Time of Covid at this PS News link and/or her other reviewed the Book Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (River of Dreams) at this link.
Good luck to all who do!
Numbers up!
And finally, a rundown of PS News readers at the end of the first month of the new year.
Congratulations are in order to the Australian Public Service, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia for greeting the new year with record numbers and contributing to another positive outlook for the months ahead.
For the record, APS now has its first ever 61,109 subscribers; Victoria its best ever too at 22,365; WA hitting 17,421 for the first time; and Queensland the new heights of 14,906.
Welcome aboard all the new readers and welcome back the old ones.
And thanks to everybody encouraging their workmates and others to read PS News.
We’d be PS Olds without you!
Until next week…..
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