If there’s one sign PS-sssst! recognises as evidence that all is well with the world and Public Services around the nation are in good hands, it’s when the otherwise uber-serious Australian Taxation Office (ATO) takes time out to exercise its funny bone.
So it is this week with the official announcement of a 27-year-old Queensland woman from the hospitality industry being sprung for claiming tax returns on travel and clothing expenses as well as donations to charity which the ATO was able to prove in court, were false.
Clearly delighted with the string of fines the dishonest taxpayer was ordered to pay, the ATO let it all hang out with an official announcement of its victory under a headline that would make Red Skelton proud.
The ATO garnered its media attention thus: “Queensland chef convicted for cooking up fraudulent claims”. Ka-Boom!
Well done to all concerned!
That sinking feeling
Dramatic news out of NSW this week with a high-rise block of residential units in Sydney evacuated as wide cracks appeared in the walls and engineers declared it may be sinking into the ground it stands on.
While one must sympathise with the now homeless homeowners, that sinking feeling reminds this old PS staffer of the fate of the Silverton Building in Canberra’s CBD which fell to a similar fate in the 1980s, evacuating half a dozen storeys of Federal Public Servants scurrying into temporary accommodation as the giant building adopted a distinct list to the left.
As a hard-working member of the then Department of Sport, Recreation and Tourism (SPRAT) I learnt the office was leaning when the carpet was rippled along one wall and left a gap at the other; when the underground carpark started filling with water; and when the building’s state-of-the art ‘White Noise’ in the background kept stopping and starting to the annoyance of one and all.
Needless to say the building was demolished and replaced by a bank.
Many of us still blame the white noise!
Giveaway with a bang
To our regular record breaking giveaway guru now as the redoubtable Rama Gaind dips again into her handbag from heaven for another irresistible example of PS News philanthropy in the form of free DVDs – this week the (almost) true terrorist thriller movie Hotel Mumbai.
To join Rama’s Army of worthy winners, all we needed to do was tell her in which year the terror attacks that spawned the film shook the real Mumbai in India took place.
The answer was 2008, and the first two correct entries to emerge from the infamous PS News Barrel of Booty came from Scott P of the Federal Department of Human Services and Mina C from the national Department of Home Affairs.
Congratulations Scott and Mina, and thanks to everyone who took part. The DVDs will be on their way to their new owners very soon.
In the meantime for another chance to become fabulously famous in front of PS News’s 200,000+ readers, simply follow this link and give the latest competition your best shot.
Good luck to all who do!
Giveaways galore!
And while on the sublime subject of the resourceful Rama and her gratuitous giveaways, conscientious competitors will notice that her contest this week is running over two weeks as her way of giving everyone a greater chance to walk away with the winnings.
And what great winnings they will be – free double tickets to the upcoming theatre screening of André Rieu’s 2019 Maastricht Concert Shall we Dance? which is being shown nationally all across the country on 27 and 28 July.
And, as is Rama’s record-breaking way, for the first time ever she has separate prizes for each of the nine editions of PS News (also national across the country!) so that everyone, everywhere has the chance to take part.
So, if you haven’t skipped over to the Rama’s Rieu Review already (and her oh-so-easy quiz question) your second chance to be a winner starts here.
As the fiddling Dutchman Andre himself would say: “Dat is Heel Goed”.
And for anyone keen to see the concert at their local theatre in any case, details can be found at this PS News link.
Lost activities
And finally, a little bit of fun seeking interrogating the eminently interrogatable English language over the long lost activities or duties it houses and shining a light of querulosity on them.
It started with the question: How does a passenger ‘passenge’ for which the answer is still vague but we believe there must be many more ‘Lost Roles’ to share with other PS-sssst! readers.
So, if you have a favourite ‘Lost Role’ like ‘passenger’, or you simply know of one or more worth passing on, just cybersend it in to [email protected] and an exclusive PS News ‘PS-sssst! Pack’ (Book, pen and T-shirt) could be yours as our way of saying thanks.
Watch this space to see which Lost Roles roll in.
Until next week….
