An amazing few days this week for our beloved Queen, celebrating 70 years of monarchy in Australia and a few other countries around the world, as well as her home in England, where the celebration lasted four whole days.
Australia’s contribution to the celebration was to rename a small island in Lake Burley Griffin in the capital by naming Aspen Island – named for the Aspen tree – “Queen Elizabeth II Island” to name it after Her Majesty.
Excuse PS-pssst!’s cynicism, but there is only one building on the island – presumably amongst the Aspen trees – and that is a beautiful carillon (pictured) donated to Canberra by the British people on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the capital in 1963.
By renaming the island after the Queen, aren’t we simply returning the carillon to our British brothers who gave it to us to keep?
Only time – and the chimes – will tell!
Religious equality?
Speaking of change, the new national government has taken place after the recent elections. It is busy rearranging the ‘Machines of the Government’ to suit its driving style, but a certain change seems to have missed the party’s gender equality boat.
As a long-time advocate for equality in the workplace, PS-assist! had expected the new regime to show equality loud and clear when it took over, not just pick up a remnant of its predecessors.
While the new government is gaining points for appointing ten women to its ministerial ranks, it could have been a little more thoughtful in choosing which ones to go where.
Appointing a man as Defense Secretary is understandable because guys like to play with guns and boats and planes etc. But PS-assist! believes it would have been better to restrict a female minister to the classically typical chore-laden task of the Secretary of the Interior!
We wonder if a woman will ever be chosen to lead Defense and a man to run things at home.
Firefighting in good plans
Now to Victoria, where the State’s Country Fire Authority (CFA) has called on its members to roll up their sleeves for the emergency services’ annual blood donation campaign.
And while the call isn’t as dramatic as a call to get out and fight a fire, it’s worth reporting as a public service doing something of great value to the public it serves.
Being an annual event, CFA blood donation has been made it before. This year, the Chief Officer pulling the strings is an Acting Chief Officer, but one whose name gives him a better-than-normal understanding of fire activities and how to deal with them.
CFA’s acting and aptonym Chief Officer is the highly qualified Garry Cook.
A well-known review
A music break now where Rama Gaind opens the notes of her weekly giveaway featuring the life and sounds of international Australian singer Keith Urban, the book!
To win a copy of Jeff Apter’s biography of Keith, we had to tune in and sing to Rama what Keith said about Nashville.
The answer is ‘(Nashville’s) not my dream, it’s my destiny’ and the four lucky singers who hum that answer to Rama were Kate D of the National Department of Education, Skills, and Employment; Suzanna A of the Australian Border Force; Jenny D of the Australian Tax Office; and Elizabeth P of the NSW Public Works Department.
Congratulations to all winners, and thanks to everyone for participating. The books will soon be going to their new owners.
For another chance to put Rama’s vocals to the test, tune in to one of her rhythmic reviews of either this Book Heartfelt Leadership at this PS News link – and click the appropriate string – or her other reviewed Book Lonely Planet’s Experience Guides: Italy at this link – and tailor her question there.
Good luck to anyone who does.
Numbers up…again!!!
And finally, another month of new subscribers, readership records, and growth for PS News, adding 481 new readers nationwide, bringing national audiences to over 176,000 and growing.
No. 1, not two, and not three, but five states and the Commonwealth set new high-level readership records as more staff members appreciate the value of a free, informative, and enhancing weekly online newspaper.
PS News is always open to comments, ideas, suggestions, and criticism if you think we can improve.
Rest assured that we’ll do our very best to give you what you want, so if there’s anything you want us not to provide you with, just let us know, and we’ll try harder.
In the meantime, enjoy Australia’s number 1 source of public service news, and remember it’s NEWS that makes the difference.
If it’s not PS News, it’s not the real PS News thing.
