Great interest shown shown in last week’s news report of the cosy courtship between Australia Post and the Royal Australian Mint which has the two organisations stamping out their second Great Aussie Coin Hunt which sees a collection of 26 freshly forged dollar coins released alphabetically to reflect an A-Z of the nation’s most popular and significant features.
“The new coins range from the Akubra to Zinc sunscreen,” the Post and the Mint explained, “and include instantly recognisable Australian landmarks, like ‘Q’ for Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market and ‘S’ for the Sydney’s Harbour Bridge.”
But it was their selection for the letter ‘H’ that had Ms R of WA’s Department of Planning Lands and Heritage howling in horror.
According to the post and mint the collection includes the “much-loved brands like M for MILO, T for Tim Tam and V for Victa Lawnmower and even H for the popular and longstanding television program, Home and Away.”
“Hello?” an unhappy, harangued and heavy-hearted Ms R howled.
“I would have thought that ‘Hills Hoist’ or ‘Holden’ would be a tribute to an icon more than ‘Home and Away’,” she hammered home.
How head-turning, Ms R.
Thanks for hatching your hassle with us!
As it happens a hectically handmade PS-sssst! Pack of PS News goodies will be heading your way soon to help you hop over the hurdle of heavy heartedness.
Waiting game?
To Western Australia now where the local tourism agency, like most around the country, has been looking for attractive attractions to put in front of local tourists whose out-of-State holidays are on the back burner thanks to the COVID pandemic.
Eager to offer holidaymakers the very widest of choices, Tourism WA is building a most impressive four-year plan with particular focus on the State’s Indigenous community’s cultures, stories and traditions.
To produce a plan that’s as authentic as possible, the tourism agency has brought local Indigenous groups and committees together as well as public sector agencies to make sure the end result is as good as it can be.
But the sharp eye of PS-sssst! has noticed a slight skidmark in the process.
A vitally important organisation in the project goes by the name ‘Western Australian Indigenous Tourism’, a title the ever-observant pedants among us will recognise as ‘WAIT’: possibly the single most unpopular word most holiday makers hope not to hear!
Good luck to the project however!
Food for fort?
To a flurry of funniness now from our friendly freelance funny friend Philomena S of Victoria’s Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
Always the observer of odd things observational Philomena has offered us this observation:
Referring to combative, belligerent and generally hard to get along with acquaintance, Philomena made use of kitchen patois to paint a picture of his unhappiness at dinner.
“My mate’s so argumentative” Philomena explained, “he only eats food that disagrees with him!”
Ka Boom!
The Rain game
Time again now to throw PS-sssst! open to the prize-giving hands of giveaway queen Rama Gaind as she delivers delight to three lucky PS News readers soon to become proud owners of a DVD of the gripping psychological drama Fear of Rain starring Katherine Heigl and Harry Connick Jr.
To score one of Rama’s super stakes of success, all we needed to do was name the actors who play the roles of Rain’s parents, the correct answers being – surprisingly enough – Katherine Heigl as her Mum and Harry Connick Jr as Dad.
The first three correct entrants whose entries managed to be the first three to squeeze out of the PS News Barrel of Booty belonged to Rae M from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Heath J from Services Australia and Margaret S from the NSW Crown Solicitor’s Office.
Congratulations to all the weekly winners and thanks to everyone who joined in Rama’s giveaway game. The prize DVDs will be winging their way to their new homes very soon.
For another chance to be a winner choose from either (or both) of Rama’s current free offerings the DVD Stepping Out up for grabs at this PS News link – and another freebie Book Shanghai Acrobat at this link.
Jolly good luck to everyone who tries their hand!
The blunder bus
And (almost) finally, just when we thought it impossible to blunder into yet another PS-sssst! typing error (or should that be plain and simple incompetence), the very kind and gentle correspondent Wendy L wrote in to say we’d managed to do it again.
Not only had PS-sssst! been found guilty of inserting a couple of typos in a story four weeks ago, its arrogantly groveling assurance to readers that it couldn’t possibly happen again was infested by another typo or two, prompting the eagle-eyed Wendy (and others) to swoop on it with great glee and calls for comeuppance.
While one would expect PS-sssst! to be uber-careful in its third foray into faultlessness, the un-impossible happened again with another error rearing its ugly head prompting correspondence from Wendy.
“Thanks for the mention in PS-sssst! news this week” the disbelieving Wendy wrote.
“(But) I work in the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, not ‘Energy’.”
Aaaaaarrrgghhhh!!!
Needless to say PS-sssst! extends an unreserved apology to Wendy and everyone else mortified by its repeated show of incompetence.
To make up for such inexplicable blundersome, PS-sssst! has determined to show its humility by adopting a cutting new motto that accurately summarises its philosophy for performance and its expectation for the future.
From now on PS-sssst!’s highly appropriate catchphrase and slogan will be: Aim low and avoid disappointment!
Quite!
PS from the PaSt …!
To the PS of the past now where the news that made the news in the public sector 10 years ago this week is resurrected from the PS News Archives, dusted off and brought to life again for all to see today.
So to see what was happening across the country this week in 2011, tune in to the:
Unleashed Past: 17 -23 May 2011
1. This week 10 years ago, Queensland introduced new allow the Directors-General of Departments and Chief Executives of statutory authorities to be questioned by Parliamentary Committees in public.
Premier, Anna Bligh said the new laws promised closer scrutiny of legislation and greater accountability and transparency in the lawmaking process.
Leader of the House, Judy Spence said the committees would be empowered and encouraged to hold public hearings when undertaking their investigations.
“This will result in a more accountable Government and ensure public views are taken into consideration,” Ms Spence said.
2. It was also the week a Federal Court hearing in Coober Pedy, South Australia’s Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara People were recognised as native title holders of 78,672 sq km of land and waters in the north west of the State.
Justice John Mansfield made a consent determination recognising their non-exclusive native title rights to hunt, fish, live, camp, gather and use the natural resources of the area, undertake cultural activities including relating to births and deaths, conduct ceremonies and meetings, and protect places of cultural and religious significance.
3. This week also saw the Therapeutic Goods Legislation Amendment (Copyright) Bill 2011 passed by Parliament ensuring consumers had more ready access to generic medicines, as originating pharmaceutical companies would no longer be able to use copyright of product information to delay or prevent generic medicines entering the market.
The amendments were a response to an emerging practice of pharmaceutical companies arguing that the product information approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for a generic version of a medicine breached copyright.
4. It was also the week former Public Servant and Chief Minister of the ACT, Jon Stanhope retired.
Mr Stanhope was the longest-serving leader of the ACT Labor Party, taking the lead in 1998 and steering his party to Government at the 2001 election.
In 2004 he secured the only majority Government in the Territory’s history and in 2008 won an historic third term for his party. Under Mr Stanhope, reforms to the Territory’s education system were introduced and a total rebuild of Canberra’s hospitals was commenced.
5. In Victoria it was the week the Deakin University became the first university in Australia to receive internationally recognised certification for its security management standard.
Executive Director at Deakin’s Information Technology Services Division, Peter Brusco said the certification was a reflection of how seriously the university took information security.
“Achieving this certification helps strengthen our information security culture and reduces the risk of fraud, information loss and unauthorised disclosure,” Mr Brusco said.
6. And in Western Australia, nine chuditch (Western quoll) were released into Francois Peron National Park at Shark Bay after being translocated from Julimar Conservation Park, west of Toodyay.
Chuditch were widespread across all mainland States and the Northern Territory at the time of European settlement, but by the 1970s, were restricted to the south west corner of WA.
Minister for the Environment, Bill Marmion said the Department of Environment and Conservation had been working to increase existing populations in the south west and translocate others to their former range. The release into Francois Peron National Park was considered to be a reintroduction, as chuditch were known to exist in the Shark Bay area.
Till next week…….
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