Why I won't be officially reprimanded for my social media use

I have been dragged into the office and unofficially reprimanded for my social media use. The first question was after a number of print-outs of my blog posts were held up asking if this was me, naturally I replied yes.

Firstly, Observations in an Undemocratic World is my blog, secondly there is a picture of me on the page and thirdly I stand by what I write. I was never going to deny writing this.

Now let me explain for the record, I do not dislike this particular director, he is undoubtedly an usual fellow by virtue of his communication methodology, but I don't think he is necessarily a bad person.

I fully expect he is under pressure from others higher in the organisation to get this sorted and then hampered by not allowing him the latitude to make the decisions to make this go away.

The union representative speaks well of him and his attempts to do the right thing by the union members instead being burnt by higher management. Based on his personal experiences, he now only pursues causes he believes he can win.

Despite our professional differences - I hold no personal animosity towards him.

A number of weeks before I was questioned over my social media use, a colleague contacted the Minister of Training and Workforce Development over workplace issues.

He was reprimanded for his social media use giving me the impetus to write about the issue. It was pretty easy to trace it to him as he used his personal account to write directly on the Minister's Twitter account.

So I decided to write a post titled Twittergate and the perils of social media in relation to his social media use and his misguided attempt to ensure better outcomes for the students in his care. Let's not forget, this is all about student outcomes and his intentions were purely for his students.

But my case is different, firstly I took the organisation (who will forever remain nameless) to the Industrial Magistrate's Court over intentional breaches of of a certified agreement ratified in the Industrial Relations Commission.

Despite their attempts by the state solicitor to get the case thrown out of court, the magistrate declined the motion allowing me to refile.

This was due to my poor wording of the submission as it was never expected to be tabled in the court but he felt the case had merit. The points raised in the submission were directed at the internal audience of my employer and not for legal dissection in the Industrial Relations Court.

Probably had they handled the issue better it wouldn't have made it that far and the issue would have been dealt with in a positive manner.

I believed the actual threat of legal action would be enough for them to back down as they were acutely aware that they were wrong. They held a different point of view; they thought if they could apply enough pressure I would wilt.

What they didn't know was that certain managers and people in positions of authority had over-stepped the mark and scope of their authority.

I had kept all written communication and the verbal threats and intimidation contained certain information that was not in the public domain. Whilst I can't verify verbal threats as it is illegal for me to record such conversations without personal consent, only certain people in positions of authority were in the know to the details of such threats.

This is confidential information and somehow I seem to now know some limited details of the corruption enquiry when they questioned me in an attempt to flush out the anonymous reporter in breach of legal protections. 

We then went back to mediation where they admitted they were wrong and I dropped the case based on a handshake. Needless to say, they then denied parts of the meeting and backed down on their word.

So here we go again, they thought that once I dropped the legal action I had lost my leverage; what they didn't know was that I was in possession of information that would support my legal action and take it to a whole new level.

So when they came across my social media accounts, they were not going to officially reprimand me because I had not posted on the Minister's Twitter account.

I hadn't named the organisation where I am employed so it wouldn't be unreasonable to conclude their were stalking me on social media based on my actions in the Industrial Magistrate's Court.

It would be difficult to explain how they actually came in across Observations in An Undemocratic World including my Facebook account and other social media accounts.

Finally there is the use of the State Solicitor and the costs involved in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat me in the Industrial Relation's Court when they later admitted wrongdoing in return for me to drop legal action.

I have had it with Hewlett Packard, no more

I have had it with Hewlett Packard, no more. This is the last time I will own a HP computer, it drives me insane, the slow processing, locking up and generally not performing.

I don't really want to have to purchase a new computer as this one is reasonably new, what I never want to own is another computer like this one. For a minute, let's forget it was loaded with Windows 8, the most useless operating system I have ever had the misfortune to use. Let's forget about the fact that this computer will just not upgrade to Windows 10 and has compatability issues with just about every program I run. Do I run disk scans - you bet. Defrag the drive, yes I do. Do I run the problem solving program? Well I try but it locks up with no resolution so this is the last HP I will ever own.

A denial of carriage

Standing at the check-in counter allowed me to witness a denial of service by an airline. A gentleman was checking-in until the counter staff detects his passport has less than six months remaining and he is pulled aside and will be denied carriage. He actually took it reasonably well, he made a couple of phone calls to his friends and was planning to head back to the city.

He was given advice to immediately head off back to the city and get to the passport office that afternoon before the office shut for the Christmas break. I understand the reasoning, he needed six months remaining on his passport despite only taking a week's break in Bali. Should he get injured requiring hospitalisation then he will have an expired travel document but although plenty of people get involved in scooter accidents, most don't require six months work of medical treatment and should they need such treatment, it can be organised during the bed rest.

Missing a work flight

Over the past decade I haven't flown much for work, the previous twenty years I flew on a regular basis and never missed a flight - this was all to change.

So when I missed a 7am flight for work, I knew I was in trouble. The flight was paid for by the client whom we were consulting as they outsourced their maintenance training. We were experiencing a number of difficulties due to non-aligned strategies and whilst we had plenty of reasons for this, we needed to get back on track quickly - this just blew that.

I was booked to fly Virgin Australia from Perth to Kalgoorlie and there wasn't another flight to Kalgoorlie by Virgin until around 4pm. I had effectively messed up a two and a half day visit. I was thinking, this could be the issue that really blows the relationship apart.

Breaking into a stressed state, I felt like throwing up, this missed flight was my mistake and I knew it. I had ordered a taxi and it was late to arrive, I am guessing this is when the taxi drivers cross over from nightshift to dayshift. I went onto their automated booking system and booked the taxi later than I should have.

Regardless, plenty of people make it to the airport on time so there is only one responsible person at fault here. There is no value trying to apportion blame to taxi drivers, it was me who booked the taxi too late and left no room for late arrival.

Enquiries with the Virgin floor staff were no help so I quickly jumped onto a terminal bus and made my way to Terminal 4 and purchased a ticket with Qantas on a midday flight. This last minute flight was fairly reasonable and since this was my mistake I didn't mind placing this charge on my credit card.

Trying to call our office and going onto voice mail didn't calm me, I rang the phone number on my business card and it wasn't working so I know why clients get agitated. I couldn't get through to the client either, they went to voicemail too so I was really getting annoyed.

I am of the belief that whilst it isn't ideal when you make a mistake, the way you approach the solution is the primary factor in achieving favourable outcomes. Despite my initial stuff-up, I was determined to ensure this was a successful trip for both the client and ourselves and it turned out to be exactly that.

Bitcoin - bubble or hysteria?

I am hearing many stories about crypto-currency and the associated payment system Blockchain transaction leger. 

I am also closely watching how bitcoin is reaching unprecedented levels of speculation making tulips look like just a minor bubble. You know you are witnessing a speculative bubble when everyone is talking about it so I'm interested to witness what will happen next.

So I read there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins minted, so there is a finite supply that apparently won't be increased. So far, in an attempt to create an artificial scarcity by the anonymous creators are controlling the release of bitcoin to create demand. 

But unlike tulips, possibly the first financial bubble to implode, there is no physical actual bitcoins you attain, instead they are purely a electronic transaction although people are willing to trade bitcoin for actually currencies, goods or merchandise.

So crypto-currencies are both a payment system and a currency of sorts, yet are not backed by a standard such as gold or other precious metal. Instead bitcoin is a decentralised currency that is not associated with any country or bank. 

This is a peer-to-peer payment system and not supported by an economy as national currencies currently are or as gold once backed national currencies.

Previously national currencies were once backed by the gold standard under the Bretton Woods agreement implemented directly after the second world war. Although, that policy was repealed when American President Richard Nixon ended the convertibility of US dollars to gold in 1971 in a series of economic reforms.

The argument is that as an economy grows so should the currency in circulation. The gold standard acts as a brake and limits economic growth with monetarists arguing that recessions are created by limits to money supply.

I'm expecting bitcoin to go higher in the short term as demand soars as supply is set with people willing to apparently purchase at any price. I am also waiting for the implosion that follows every speculative bubble and this speculative bubble won't be any different.

The Breitling Navitimer

The Breitling Navitimer is a classical timepiece featuring a unique aeronautical design for pilots. Whilst not a pilot myself, I am still able to appreciate the style and functionality of the Navitimer.

The centrepiece of the 1952 released Navitimer is the rotating bezel activating a circular slide rule allowing pilots to perform complex calculations for navigation and aeronautics. Whilst modern commercial aircraft utilise GPS and computerised avionics, the Breitling Navitimer remains a favourite timepiece of pilots and aeronautical engineers.

The slide rule is no longer required for normal commercial aviation requirements but maintains the aviation inspired heritage of pilots. I wouldn't purchase a Breitling Navitimer for only one reason and that is I'm not a wannabe pilot and don't want to be running around pretending to be something I'm not. I will leave the Navitimer to the people who have earned their flight status.

How did it come to this?

I began my employment at my current state government employer in 2006 and worked really hard progressing through a series of levels after five years service and successfully completing a graduate diploma to gain the prerequisite qualifications to progress further.

I then undertook tertiary education to further enhance my formal qualifications at a considerable financial cost and time because that is what is required. I also undertook every challenge that was offered, worked overtime without remuneration because the job required quality outcomes. I was up to midnight most nights preparing for the next day and weekends were written off for the first two years.

Then, when I was preparing to go on long service leave in mid 2014 and nearly worked myself into a state of exhaustion, I noticed a shift in attitude going on that wasn't rewarding hard work, it was rewarding alliances that agreed primarily with one person to shore up their power plays.

These people are pathetic, they did not even have the courtesy to speak to me face-to-face, they just undermined me at every opportunity knowing I would be away from the job for three and a half months. This was really the period I lost respect for these individuals - sad really.

So upon from my return from three and a half months break in September 2014 after everything had changed, I set about fixing this up. I already knew these people could not be trusted, I was threatened off-the-record and told that if I ever repeated this threat - it would be denied.

Until that time, I had been a model employee, albeit somewhat opinionated but the attitude of those you had been entrusted in a management role changed all that. What they had never expected was my resilience and appetite for a fight - they didn't get to walk all over me as they expected.

JJ's Kitchen Chinese Restaurant

I was fortunate enough to finally not have a busy schedule so I decided to head down to JJ's Kitchen, a Chinese restaurant in the southern Perth suburb of Thornlie for lunch yesterday. The restaurant is part owned by a work colleague and managed by his partner so I sought the restaurant out as I really wanted to see the business he invested in first hand. As she is from northern China not far from the North Korean border, the cuisine has a distinctly northern Chinese theme.

That being said, their lunch-time chef is a Chinese/Malay gentleman so a number of dishes have Malay and Singaporean influences. As such, I didn't order off of the main menu instead reaching for the lunch menu specials and a laksa was my choice with spring rolls as an entree. I was pretty happy with my choice and there are plenty of future options for lunch.

Normally if I skip out from work to head out for a meal, I go to the food hall at the Maddington Shopping Centre. Heading in the other direction, I can drive down to the Thornlie Shopping Centre that isn't that much further and get a better quality meal for a better price. A better option in the future will be to order take-away and get them drop it to our workplace now that I have had a chance to see the place - a much better option.   

The TAFE South Australia fiasco

So TAFE SA has been found non-compliant against national regulatory standards; that is the state government funded and managed Technical and Further Education college in South Australia. 

So far, the Chairman has been fired with the South Australian government appointing consultants to review quality assurance processes and a possible Senate investigation likely.

The question is, could TAFE colleges in Western Australia also be found non-compliant after the damning independent review by the national auditor in South Australia? So far fourteen courses have been found to be sub-standard. 

Now courses have been suspended and no longer allowed to enrol students until the non-compliant courses have been cleared. The questions are; will students have to be re-assessed? Will further academic study be required? Who will pay for this?

Could funding arrangements in Western Australia be affected or any other state or territory in the country for that matter? Could rorting even take place in the form of resulting fraud so full funding could be claimed when students are rubber stamped? 

With all the regulation involved monitoring vocational education and training in Australia, could misappropriation of government funds even occur? The was no indicators of misappropriation of government funds, this was purely related to compliance. 

Whilst these possible abuses appear to be vastly different to the challenges affecting TAFE SA, the question is, could they occur in different jurisdictions in Australia with pretty much the same results achieved by different means?

Drugged and robbed in Manila

In a story that was retold to me by a young English woman on a trip to the Philippines left me shocked and outraged, I have read about this type of incident happening before but I never really believed it. I thought these stories were more urban myth than reality; this really goes on go with young solo travelers targeted.

She arrived in Manila and headed out to Intramuros, an area just south of Manila central with a wonderful Spanish influence courtesy of their rich colonial history. According to her she was befriended by a couple of women who invited her out to lunch, she duly accepted their kind offer. 

Apparently a male also came to lunch and was introduced as the husband of one of the females. She is where her story becomes somewhat hazy as she was drugged at lunch and loaded into the back of a taxi where she was driven around Manila and her bank account emptied via her credit card.

She recalls being in and out of consciousness where she was being kissed by a male accomplice but doesn't speak of any sexually explicit activities going on. I did ask her if she felt sore or had and injuries, she replied that she did not. 

I did point out that there may have been photographs taken as she only remembers a small part of being kissed. I did unfortunately advise her to go and get some tests done for sexually transmitted diseases as she had established some form of inappropriate activity occurring in her description of events.

Upon being dumped and slowly regaining consciousness she made her way to a police station where she reported the incident when she was still affected by the drugs. The police took a short statement but were anything but enthusiastic about pursuing the matter further. 

She was shown a photograph where she was able to identify the male offender where the police stated that this individual was known to them but they wouldn't be taking the matter further. The police cited the reason as being that she will be out of the country when the trial would be expected to occur; she replied that she would be in attendance when a trial is set. 

All she required was sufficient notice to organise flights and accommodation. The answer was still a resounding NO. One suspects the police are in on the scam taking a share of the profits in exchange for not investigating this crime. 

Keeping in mind that this is the same police force given special permission to execute drug dealers, this is somewhat perplexing that they should not be keen to investigate a known criminal group using drugs as a way to incapacitate vulnerable women.

A coward's punch condoned by the justice system

So here we go again, homegrown thug and genuine loser Dylan Robert Thomas has been sent a clear message by the justice system - your actions are condoned. 

In June, Thomas punched, without warning, seventeen year-old Sam Ortiz with so much force that Ortiz, already unconscious, fell backwards striking his head on the pavement risking life threatening injuries.

We have a serious societal problem where young people go out and get drunk before punching people whilst they aren't even looking. We also have a justice system not only supporting such behaviour, this decision endorses one punch attacks - this is why we are where we are right now. 

Thomas avoided prison and was instead warned by the magistrate about the mindset of young thugs and one-punch attacks. Ortiz has been left with headaches and memory loss no doubt other injuries. 

Thomas then went and assaulted another person in a one-punch attack twenty minutes later in the same area. If the magistrate wanted to send Dylan a message then he would have enforced prison time, that would make thugs think about actions and consequences. 

In a pathetic turn of events, Dylan and his family left the court smiling away taking selfies as if this is a big joke, unfortunately these fools are correct. This is the justice system, they walk free and mock the people they assaulted. 

The one and only Sir Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney last played in Perth in 1993 so it's been a while, so when Paul wandered out on NIB Stadium in Perth on Saturday night we knew we were in for a treat - Paul really knows how to entertain a crowd. 

We were not disappointed, three hours of top class entertainment on a balmy Perth Saturday night. It might have been 36°C during the day but the evening really cooled off making for a wonderful evening. The moon hanging over the stadium really set the tone, Paul stepped back to enjoy the atmosphere and we did too.

Paul casually wandered on to the stage to a rapturous applause with his left-handed Hofner violin bass slung across his shoulder facing downwards opening with A Hard Day's Night, Junior's Farm and Can't Buy Me Love. Paul played some old Beatles songs, some Wings material and newer songs including the Rihanna and Kayne West FourFiveSeconds song he collaborated on. 

What I learned was that some of the old Beatles songs sound great live, much better than the studio recorded material we are used to hearing on the radio. Paul has an absolute on-stage personality, he is a humble guy and despite all his adulation over the decades, he is a great bloke.

You knew there was going to be some Wings material and Band on the Run as well as Live and Let Die were going to light the crowd up. There was some Helter Skelter, Sergeant Pepper as well as Blackbird and a tribute to George Harrison with Something that began on George's old ukulele. 

I'm not going to list all the songs as we were entertained with a 40 song setlist; he had the WA Police Pipe Band on stage for Mull of Kintyre with bagpipes as part of the 8 song encore. We had an on-stage proposal and a whole bunch of fabulous stories between songs, this was a fantastic Saturday night and I am glad I was a part of it. 

A failure of strategy

The strategy of issue avoidance and stalling in the misplaced hope that I just give up has proved to be a failed strategy. If anything, this has just strengthened my resolve; I will not only continue to pursue this issue but I will increase my pressure on senior management until they address this issue.

This is moving to a case of challenge accepted, not can I also negate your stalling tactics, the roadblocks placed in my path can be navigated around. I am more than happy for the spotlight to be turned on our strategic business unit and our practices be placed in the public spotlight. 

When you have engaged in corruption the spotlight is not really want you want, the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003 is designed to prevent acts of revenge against a whistleblower.

I will highlight not only poor public sector practices in a public forum, I will highlight governance failures at the highest levels. This can be a real career killer for the ambitious managers within the organisation. 

This is a strategy I am more than happy to engage in. Why not have some personal ambition at stake? This is very much a strong motivating factor. You have a requirement to prevent misappropriation of government funding and report abuses of position.

The major issue arising from poor governance and corrupt practices being allowed to flourish is that somebody must pay. A Registered Training Organisation is exactly that, an organisation registered to defined standards as set by a governing authority with registration suspended or cancelled should abuses be identified.

Should our competitors find out about our flagrant abuses then they have real issues through lost business, government funding and then there is the reputational damage to the business and the loss of market leadership.

One has to seriously question the strategy of providing a poor service to clients, over-charging both clients and apprentices, misappropriation of state government funds, an abuse of position and the abuse of a government authority. 

The is not an appropriate use of taxpayer funds and serious ramifications need to be asked about the leadership, or lack thereof to abuse a position. We all have a ethical responsibility to prevent abuse of a public system, it shouldn't be a choice between doing the right thing or career progression put at stake.