hellooooo?

Radcliffe Camera & the Taylorian - Oxford, Trinity Term 2021

“Electronic devices will be used to track COVID-19 cases in WA: Western Australia is ramping up its efforts to stop isolation breaches and keep the community safe during the COVID pandemic.” SBS/NITV. 1 April 2020. “The Emergency Management Amendment (COVID-19 Response) Bill 2020 will allow authorities to make an individual who fails to comply to self-isolation rules wear an electronic device or direct that an electronic device be installed at a person’s residence. Anyone who fails to comply or removes or interferes with the electronic device without a reasonable excuse faces a penalty of a $12,000 fine or 12 months’ imprisonment.”

Can’t be outside, unless you work in resource extraction industries:

“Concerns over COVID-19 data tracking in WA amid FIFO postcode confusion.” ABC Australia. 8 April 2020. Excerpt: “Concerns have been raised about the true number of COVID-19 cases in Western Australia’s mining hub because of the way the Government collects data. The Pilbara region’s thousands-strong force of fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers has been deemed essential in order to keep the economy moving.”

———

“Presently, one in 12 of Western Australia’s Aboriginal adult males are in prison and, from a racialised lens, this is the world’s highest gaoling rate.” [Gerry Georgatos. ”The shocking truth of Australia’s Indigenous incarcerated.”  Independent Australia. 1 May 2018.]

“Western Australia incarcerates the Aboriginal peoples of its State at 9 times the rate of Apartheid South Africa.“ [Gerry Georgatos. “Aboriginal incarceration rates.” Creative Spirits. February 2020.]

“What you cannot get away from is that the rate of Indigenous imprisonment in Western Australia is far greater than anywhere else in the country […].“ [Bob Debus. “Aboriginal incarceration rates.” Creative Spirits. February 2020.]

Text and graphics from Creative Spirits. “Aboriginal incarceration rates.” February 2020.

————-

Vast majority of Aboriginal-exclusive land titles are located in Western Australia. [Map by ABC Australia.]

I have a family friend who worked at our local Salvation Army headquarters as a a secretary. This particular office took all the Christmas donations for children in need, put them in a warehouse, and on a designated day the staff and their friends picked through them all, taking whatever they wanted. She saw people hauling away bikes donated for specific families. Some local children had hundreds of dollars of gifts donated in their name, and on Christmas they received three cheap things, items likely not even from the person who sponsored them.

My friend quit, and I’ve not given them a dime of my money since then.

I’m a wildfire and disaster logistics specialist.

I deal with a lot of agencies who provide disaster relief.

I used to say the Salvation Army’s disaster services were the one (literally the ONE) good thing they did.

They would come in, set up a canteen trailer, make and pass out hot coffee and donated food in a disaster, usually being one of the first agencies to get there and the last to leave.

Then I found out.

Every time they did this, regardless of if they were actually invited or deployed by the agency in charge (usually FEMA, sometimes others) they would SELF-DEPLOY. Meanjng they would just show up. Ok. That’s not TOO bad, sometimes agencies have to take initiative and get there before the red tape is sorted out. BUT. They, after they left at the end of the incident, they would send FEMA or the host agency a BILL. They used one or two paid employees (usually the driver of the truck and a supervisor); and many VOLUNTEERS, but they would bill for EVERYONE’s Labor at standard federal rates. They would bill for the food they distributed even though it was all donated by another agency or private parties. They would bill for the coffee they made and the supplies. Except they would use electricity from the shelter location, water from donations or from the shelter, and in many cases, they would get the coffee and industrial filters DONATED, but bill for them at retail prices.