To-day, I spent a couple of hours over coffee with Brisbane solicitor and industrial law specialist Susan Moriarty. It was just general catch-up and social occasion, not a professional one. Susan represented me when I went through a very rough time at work (some rather nasty, vicious and provably false accusations were laid at my doorstep). We won. Handsomely. The new extension has doubled our floor space, though I'm not sure it will ever compensate for 2 years of unnecessary hell.
Anyway, Susan is the penultimate professional, never one to break a confidence, or divulge the slightest detail about her clients - however, her over-arching concerns about the gross mis-management of our tax-payer dollars in the Queensland Public Service made my hair stand on end. In fact, at one point, Susan paused and looked me, "Kim," she said, "your mouth is hanging open." It was.
The Queensland Government is regularly spending 6-figure sums on pursuing the most low-level employees, over the most trivial issues, and then (if they can get away with it), sticking the hapless individual with the bill. Of course, very often the ruse back fires, and we the tax payer cough up, either because the Queensland Government loses, or the hapless employee is broke. I wonder how many special care baby cribs, or open heart surgeries, this wilful and disgusting waste of money would buy?
From what I could make out, there are no checks and balances. HRM officers have open slather, and our open tax-payer cheque book, to spend (at will), on bloated legal fees. As for the employees on the other end of these expensive (and tax-payer funded), witch hunts, well, let's just say if the Queensland Government took a hammer to their head, it would be quicker (and more honest). Quite honestly, I got the impression Susan's finding it more and more difficult to witness this every day. And from what I gathered (correct me if I'm wrong Susan, this is just my personal impression), there's routine violation of what most people see as their most basic civil rights, once the Queensland Government targets them.
"Well," I finally said, "I do have a digital DVD recorder, quite a good one. Have you ever thought about You Tube?" Susan looked at me with increasing interest. I continued, "You probably know a competent journalist or two, you know, someone who could conduct a decent interview . . . " So, in that very simple way, a grand new project was born. Susan Moriarty, coming to a small screen near you sometime soon - and I guess (then), a great many more Queenslanders will be left with their mouths hanging open . . . And next? Maybe it's time for the "Hapless employees" on the sharp end to break the silence on You Tube too. What's to lose? Does the Queensland Government openly destroy the vocal and fearless? What do you think? And a note to finish this blog entry on? Maybe one of John Farnham's most famous songs . . . We're not going to sit in silence, we're not going to live with fear . . .
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