Make Your Voice Count

For a while now I have been having my say through Get Up. Today I was thrilled to get an email from them that showed that masses of average Australians, speaking up CAN make a difference!

This week, over twenty thousand of you rallied and helped turn the tide to protect an area of priceless heritage many didn't even know existed: the ancient Indigenous rock art on the Burrup Peninsula.

Now we've got their attention. In a stunning backflip, both the Western Australian Government and Woodside have just dropped their opposition to heritage listing. This is a huge step towards saving the remaining rock art from destruction, and making Burrup what it should be - one of the world's most well-known and safely-visited heritage sites. The West Australian reported, "...Woodside director Keith Spence said yesterday the company had changed its position after being influenced by public opinion...".

Wow!! -- Guys, get involved and speak up. For more info on Burrup listen the audio.

Another matter that I am concerned to speak up about is the Howard government's new IR laws. They are the biggest threat to average Australians in decades. Thousands of people took to the streets today to protest right across Australia. I can speak from personal experience about individual contracts. At Telstra it was "no contract - no job". Within a few months of signing a contract, I was suddenly out of a job with one day's notice due to "operational reasons".

Now as a teacher, the Howard government is trying to link education funding to IR reforms including, you guessed it, individual contracts and "performance reviews" - how do you meaningfully measure effective teaching?. There will be pay cuts, but it will be illegal to discuss our salaries and conditions with our colleagues. John Howard is a master at promoting fear, uncertainty and doubt. What sort of education system is this going to create? What sort of future for our kids and for us?

The Ashes - Day Three

On Saturday I went to the cricket with my son Craig. It was the first time I've been to a Test Match and this one was much anticipated. It was a hot day but we had good seats under cover. I enjoyed the atmosphere, but it was disappointing that the Barmy Army were spread out among the crowd rather than being allowed to sit in large groups and sing their songs. I think a lot of Aussies were also disappointed by this. Another aspect of bureaucracy gone mad was that you weren't allowed to take back packs into the ground.

Anyway, back to the cricket. After making 9/602 on day two, we had the Poms out for about 150. We led by about 450 and there was much debate about a follow-on. I agreed that we should bat again, but think that we should have gone hell for leather and damn the batting statistics, to put on about another 150 and then have about 20 minutes at them before stumps. However we batted through to stumps and rather bored most of the crowd. I was so pissed off that I left before the end, to avoid the crowds as I was meeting Jenny to go dancing.

It'll be interesting to see whether it rains tomorrow (Monday) and the Poms hang on for a draw. If so, then that decision could be important. All in all though, it was good day and I enjoyed it.

Dance the Night Away

Last night was week 8 of our Latin dance classes at Riorhythmics. I'm finally getting the hang of the Salsa - which is a great achievement for me! The Bossanova and the Merengue were much easier. We've been going to some of their Saturday night dance parties which are a real blast (and excellent value). For under $20 you get a two hour beginners lesson and then heaps of dancing with people from experts to first timers.

That was the week that was

It's been a huge week and I've been inspired to start this blog after seeing my son Mark and his new wife Lara's blog that they've created since their wedding last weekend. (http:/www.laraandmark.blogspot.com/)

It was a real joy to be there with them for their wedding (in the Hunter Valley) and to welcome Lara to the family. I haven't spent any real time down there for years and it was also great to catch up with members of the Hill family and to be able to introduce them to Jenny.
The wedding party stayed at some excellent cabins amid the vineyards. http://www.cedarcreekcottages.com.au/

School
The school year is coming to an end and I'm busy with setting exams and marking. Classes finish on Dec 1 and then we have a couple of weeks of alternative programs before the holidays.
I've just received news that I've been made permanent, which means that I'll be paid over the holidays. Yippee! No more working at the milk factory for me.


This weekend
Jenny's been at a four day Process Work workshop on "The Tao of Teams" with Julie Diamond, which has been very intensive and challenging. We've had fellow participants Paul and Siobhan staying with us for the duration. Last night we went to the Brisbane Jazz Club for the OZ MANOUCHE Gypsy Jazz Festival. What great music!