Wonderful recognition of public sector excellence last week with Her Majesty recognising and rewarding the eminence of so many members of the PS by presenting them with shiny medals from her treasure trove of beautiful badges.
While PS News did its best to report one and all of our fellow fealty, as is sometimes the case one managed to hide under its bushel and miss the limelight of the list until discovered as the dust later settles.
So it was with honoured servant of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, Peter White whose achievement of the Medal of the Order Australia (OAM) on Australia Day went unintentionally unreported in PS News.
Sincerest apologies Peter and congratulations on your recognition by Her Majesty for your “Service to public administration”.
PS News is sure the accomplished Peter will welcome his new OAM by lining it up with his already-achieved honours, ML, MBE and MCS.
Getting booked!
And while we’re wriggling with good news, PS News’s ever-popular giveaway guru Rama Gaind has hit the headlines again this week with the launch of her first giveaway goodies going under her gavel of grant-itude in 2022.
Up for first grabs in the new year Gaind’s Garland of Golden Giveaways sees Rama offer two copies of the “delicious novel of twists and turns” Tussaud by Belinda Lyons-Lee, the story of the waxwork whiz Marie Tussaud and her creative custom for collecting dead people’s heads for her lifelike likenesses.
Giveaway hopefuls can enter Rama’s competition right now by visiting PS News’s popular ‘Books’ feature section and following her giveaway guidance.
Winners have two weeks to enter their entry with a second fabulous freebie lining up to be unveiled next week to keep the games going.
Yet another example of PS News supporting the public sector and another reason to never miss a copy.
Spending time together
And it wouldn’t be a full-scale PS-sssst! without balancing the brilliancy of the always apt, alert, adept and able Philomena S of Victoria’s Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, whose share of wit and wisdom rarely leaves us wanting.
Philomena’s new year contribution this week could change our lives.
Read on:
“Imagine you won a ‘Prize’ in a contest that saw a bank deposit $86,400 into your account each day for you to use as you wish but with the following rules;
1. Every morning the bank deposits $86,400 into your bank account.
2. it is yours to spend BUT what you don’t spend you lose;
3. Only you can spend it.
4. You can’t transfer it into another account.
5. At any time the bank can end the game without warning, close the account and you’ll never get another one.
What would you do?
Like most people you would try to spend every dollar every day because it would be gone by the following morning. Right?
You could buy anything and everything you wanted, not only for yourself, but for all the people you love and care for and even people you don’t know because you couldn’t possibly spend it all on yourself, right?
Actually, says Philomena, this game is REAL and it happens every day!
“Each of us is already a winner of this ‘Prize’,” she said.
We just don’t see it!
“The ‘prize’ is ‘Time’.”
1. Every morning we wake up with 86,400 seconds in our time account. It’s free and it’s ours to use as we wish.
2. If we go to sleep at night, any remaining time lapses. What we haven’t used that day is lost forever.
3. But each morning our account is refilled.
4. But the time bank can dissolve our account at any time without a warning!
So what what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds?
As Philomena says, those seconds are worth much more than the same amount in dollars. Just think about that!
We should make it our business to enjoy every second of our lives because time goes by a lot faster than we think.
So, says Philomena, take care of yourself, be happy, love deeply and enjoy life! Particularly as we grow older.
“Don’t complain about growing old” the ever-wise Philomena suggests:
“Some people don’t get the privilege!”
In stats we trust!
And finally, another stewards report on the ‘PS News Derby’ in which public service subscribers in PS offices across the country compete against one another to see who are growing the fastest, providing a collection of statistics that exists for no other reason than it helps the PS News editor sleep well at night.
According to the latest signed-on stats, the top three readers who ended 2021 in a gallop came from the Australian Public Service which skipped over the 61,000 signed up subscribers for the first time, the Western Australia public sector which recorded a record 17, 348 readers at the end of the year and the Queensland PS which also set a new annual high record of 12,833.
Many thanks to all the readers who take the trouble to read PS News each week. It remains a pleasure after 17 years to know we’re providing a valued service for her Majesty’s many Public Services around the nation and in yet another year ahead will be able to do it again.
And if you’re after a reason to read on, next week’s PS-sssst! will reveal the stewards’ January subscription reports which just might reveal more than three top level subscription lists recording higher-than-usual ‘glad-to-be-back’ statistics for 2022 and who could be offering a warm welcome for our new (hopefully better than 2021!) year.
Till next week…..
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