Before I begin this post, I wish to convey to anybody reading this not to take my occasionally bizarre musings too seriously. I mean, a conversation yesterday provided the spark for my latest pontification. And as the Cheshire Cat cheerfully pointed out, "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad..."
I rest my case...
Right. Back to the topic at hand. Why don't I believe that some evil organisation unleashed COVID 19 with the desired intention of killing a staggering number of both Americans and Indians? Maybe the tinfoil hat brigade has a valid point? Maybe this exceedingly nasty virus wasn't the result of environmental and habitat destruction and bringing some rather exotic creatures into a wet market in Wuhan? I have to admit that I find the transmission of the virus by 5G technology a tad far-fetched, but could there be a sophisticated and coherent organisation out there ready for world domination?
Yeah, nah...
This previous train of thought could have been gaining traction until I mentioned the adjectives "coherent" and "sophisticated". There is no possibility that a worldwide evil entity could be infused by either of those words, hence the probability of such a party releasing the Coronavirus is a nonsense.
Has anybody ever known any ponderous and populous agency to be efficient or logical or knowledgable or nimble or proactive? Me neither...
Take the extraordinarily pompous Department of Home Affairs, for example. Apart from its deplorable title, Home Affairs is, anecdotally, poorly run, overstuffed with bureaucrats, with the mentality of the Keystone Cops, the compassion of Medusa and an enormous waster of time, revenue and resources who have imprisoned a Tamil family at vast taxpayers' expense for three years, with no valid reason, whilst publishing memos about acceptable clothing standards (no sleeveless blouses please!) for their staff, even if working from home.
The mind boggles...
On a state level, the Housing Authority (now part of a super-department named Communities) really does appear to be trying their best, despite lapses of internal communication that inevitably lead to situations that could be included in a comedy sketch.
I have had discussions with a very pleasant and accommodating housing officer and also maintenance about two issues in Alex's unit - an ill-fitting toilet seat and peeling paint above his shower recess. We believe the peeling paint is a signal of moisture in the ceiling of his unit, due to the fan venting into that enclosed space, rather than out into the open air. As Alex has severe asthma, mould is not a desirable bed-fellow and we wish this issue to be resolved toot sweet. However, in their wisdom, a dodgy toilet seat is superior in importance to the possible presence of mould. As a result, I was rung by a very pleasant plumber named Joe on Friday morning. I had given the information that Alex worked on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, as well as his phone number for contact purposes. Neither of these facts had been passed onto Joe, who was on his way to Alex's unit to fix the toilet seat. And he had no knowledge of the ceiling issue, which apparently was deemed less serious...
Ye Gods...
Then, of course, there are the Departments of Stealth and Total Obscurity. Centrelink and the NDIA are neck and neck for outstanding excellence of performance in these two areas.
I have previously mentioned the giant virtual heads floating throughout the corridors of Human Services, rather like soft and drunken dodgem cars, due to the invisibility of actual persons. The mountains of hard copy information provided repeatedly on numerous occasions, and seemingly never viewing the light of day. The inadequate and contradictory responses given by staff, if one can actually get through on the telephone. The realisation that a trip to Centrelink for lodgement of one of their complex and confusing documents will swallow at least half a day.
Dealing with the NDIA has been rather akin to the search for the Holy Grail. Upon its smooth transition of Alex's disability funding from the previous agency, I was hopeful that, given the tremendous drum roll for its launch, the National Disability Insurance Agency would become a friendly space for disabled people and their carers, easily navigatable, with flexibility for alteration depending on the client's needs. I was burnt out by thirty years of advocacy and I needed a break.
No such luck. My quest to divert some of Alex's existing funding for a reverse cycle airconditioner for health purposes was initially refused because all monies must meet the needs of his daily functioning. This excuse infuriated me. Alex's daily functioning would be pretty bloody awful if, for the lack of stable temperatures in his unit, he suffered a serious asthma attack, chest infection or heart arrhythmia.
This fiasco has been trundling along for over a year. At last, I appear to have stumbled across a sympathetic troubleshooter from within the NDIA itself. Thanks to some questioning from WA senator Glenn Sterle's office, I was rung, and taken seriously (!), which culminated in a chat last week with my secret contact. I am finally hopeful that we may actually be successful in this enterprise of obtaining and installing the air conditioner in Alex's unit. This would be just sensational.
But a juggernaut such as the current Australian government initiating a pandemic? This lot couldn't organise their way out of a paper bag. Are any of them fit for purpose? Do any of them have any grasp of their portfolios? On the other hand, perhaps their hypocrisy, incompetency and dishonesty is all part of a cunning plan to disguise their true mission of world domination.
Now, where did I hide my tinfoil hat?!
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