Interesting news in the national capital in recent weeks with Canberra’s local government offering to meet the cost of “medical and surgical abortions up to 16 weeks”.
The Territory’s Minister for Women announced the plan saying that “from early next year, all ACT residents would be eligible for the service, including those without a Medicare card”.
The Minister made it very clear that ‘all ACT residents’ would qualify for the service.
“This investment is the latest action by the ACT Government to protect the rights of women and people who can become pregnant,” the Minister made clear.
‘Women and people who can become pregnant?’
Call PS-sssst! old-fashioned but we can’t think of anyone, other than a woman who can become pregnant and qualify for the service.
Maybe we should get out more often!
In count we trust
And while we’re on the art of didactic pedantry-ism, even South Australia’s super-powerful Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has tumbled into PS-sssst’s vision with a tangle of numeral turbulence and solo understatement.
In an article in its newsletter Integrity Matters, the revered ICAC advised the SA public service to keep a close eye on boards and committees as they often have volunteers on them who may not adhere to the high quality of integrity an all-PS gathering would observe.
“Neither the scope nor the power of public sector boards should be under-estimated,” ICAC warned its readers.
‘“Public sector boards and committees are also one of the primary areas where private interests and employment arrangements can come into conflict….”.
Wise advice that goes without comment other than the revered Commission ought to learn to count.
“Public sector boards and committees are also one……” it misstates.
According to the ever-pedant PS-sssst!, if the boards and committees are plural – which their ending in ‘s’s would suggest – they are clearly more than one.
Could this be a rare example where an Independent Commission Against Corruption is itself guilty of corrupting a sentence?
Who’s that?
To Victoria now where the local Government is to furnish vulnerable citizens with free masks to protect them – and protect others – while the COVID pandemic continues.
According to the State Premier, more than three million masks are to be handed out at ‘State-run testing sites, community health services and across the public transport network.”
“Over the next four to six weeks every person that presents for either a free rapid antigen or PCR test will receive one box…” the Premier said, de-humanising his vulnerable constituents.
“Every person that presents…?”.
The premier must have been away from primary school the day they taught how human subjects are referred to as ‘who’s instead of ‘that’s.
Or is he just telling us that if they weren’t vulnerable before, they are now?
Free books on the level
To Rama’s weekly prize time now where lucky winners win by showing their skills in reading Rama’s reviews.
This week the prizes are copies of the career-promising book Level Up: How managers Learn to do Less and be More by Maree Burgess which can be ours just by answering Rama’s easy-as-anything quiz question
This week Rama’s question is: ‘What is the purpose behind Level Up’, the answer to which was to ‘focus is on key behavioural skills that shift you from being a transactional manager to a transformational leader’.
And the first two sharp readers whose entrants greeted the judges from the PS News Barrel of Booty with the correct answer came from James D of the Department of Defence and Gwen T from the Queensland Department of Resources.
Congratulations to James and Gwen and thanks to all who took part in the game. The books will be on their way to their new owners shortly.
For another chance to join Rama’s Army of winners, all we need to do is play her giveaway game and send in our answers to one or both of her brilliant reviews of the Book The Quiz Masters at this PS News link and/or her other excellent review of the DVD The Good Neighbour at this link.
Good luck to everyone who plays the game.
At least one or more of us will be winners next week!
Acronym and an ambulance
And finally, out of Victoria has come a new online arrangement for elderly residents living in aged care facilities who call for an ambulance.
Ambulance Victoria has introduced a new system to connect and coordinate Triple Zero (000) calls from residential aged care facilities and providing a better service for elderly patients while ensuring ambulances aren’t used for unnecessary responses.
The new system has been called ‘Residential Aged Care Enhanced Response” cleverly shortened to the acronym RACER when out to work.
Well done to all concerned.
‘Till next week…..
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