A Parasitic Industry

During the last month, I’ve been helping two of my offspring find accommodation in Brisbane so that they can study there. This has brought me into contact with the Real Estate industry.

It’s not the first time, of course. At last count, my wife and I have lived in nine different homes since we were married. Of these, four were rented, and five purchased. This is a product of a series of appointments in schools and regional offices all over Queensland.

The one common thread through these two groups of experiences has been the absolutely hopeless level of service offered by the real estate agents encountered.

In the case of my recent experience, one of my kids is officially squatting in the students’ digs he has applied for simply because the agent concerned hasn’t gotten around to getting the assorted documents together for the property owner to sign. This agent has been sitting on them for three weeks. Independently, my son and I have been nagging over the phone. The interesting thing about this is that the excuses given to him vary a great deal from those given to me.

Also interesting is that when I asked to speak to the manager to make a complaint, I was told that they did not allow clients to do so, and the receptionist then hung up in my ear.

The upside is that he’s staying rent-free in the short term, as is one of the other students in the house who is in the same predicament. I wonder how the owner would feel if he knew?

In the case of my daughter, much the same occurred, but she’s now signed up after a delay of two weeks. What we have discovered with this (different) agent is that absolutely nothing she says can be believed. “Today” means any time during the next week, “Your room can be locked”, means that there are keys somewhere, but no-one has any idea where, and “there are only girls on that level” means that all the other boarders with the exception of one are male. The straw that broke the camels back was when I asked her for directions to her office so my daughter could sign the lease, I was told - “Sorry, I’m new to Brisbane, and have no idea”.

This from a person who earns a living selling and renting a property in the river city!

My memory of earlier experiences is no better. Buying and selling is like dealing with Piranhas, and renting is a minefield.

In Townsville back in the eighties, we rented a home to live in prior to buying. When it came time to leave, my wife and I farmed off our two infant kids to relatives, and spent two full days cleaning the house before the agent’s inspection. By the time we’d finished, it gleamed, and was a damn sight cleaner than when we moved in.

Imagine my surprise when a cleaning fee was deducted from our bond. I personally fronted the agent asking for an explanation. I was told by the receptionist that there was dust on the upper side of one of the ceiling fans in one of the bedrooms.

Being unconvinced by this, I insisted in seeing the manager. I was then confronted by two large and swarthy individuals who told me in no uncertain terms that I had better leave if I wanted all my limbs to remain intact.

At that time, with wife and children in tow, it wasn’t advisable to make an issue of it. When I made a formal complaint to the REIQ, I was told that this was common practice on the part of this agent, and there was nothing they could do, despite the REIQ accreditation.

As far as I know this agent is still renting property in Townsville.

My brother has made a great deal of money buying and selling property, but won’t use agents, referring to them as “snakes”. He’s not far off the mark.

In the end, it’s a parasitic unnecessary industry.

When I lived in Mount Isa, my family was in public service accommodation. There were literally hundreds of teachers and their families in this situation, and the whole shooting match was managed part-time by an administrative assistant who had many other tasks. Any grievances went to the accommodation committee. In my five years there, there were never more than one or two grievances heard by the committee. It puts the lie to the assertion that private industry manages more efficiently.

Diehard

Watching Wilson Tuckey foaming at the mouth over the apology to the stolen generations reminded me of the sorry (excuse the pun) record of this excuse for a parliamentarian.

He has been described in the past by his colleagues - including the ex-Prime Minister - as a a "fool" and "an embarrassment to his colleagues".

But Wilson Tuckey still became a federal minister in the Howard government.

His behaviour is not surprising given that he used to believe that belting someone with a piece of 100 amp cable is OK. For this action in 1967 he was convicted of assault. The fact that this person was aboriginal and was being held down at the time is revealing in the context of Wednesday's interview.

His recent form is interesting. In 2003 he tried to get his son off a traffic fine by heavying the South Australian Police Minister, Patrick Conlon, and then lying to parliament about it on more than one occasion.

He also defended James Hardie – the building products company which was embroiled in controversy over its failure to make proper reparations to pay compensation to victims of its asbestos products.

And despite the fact that he routinely sledges the National Party, it’s a fact that he ran as a Nationals candidate in the 1974 state election for the seat of Gascoyne.

Tuckey uses smear and intimidation as a matter of course, and is an exponent of the politics of hate and fear.

At least he's on the opposition benches, so his capacity to wield power is diminished.

Apology

We each have our own unique view of today’s apology to the Stolen Generations.

I saw it as long overdue, but in the end a very simple process. The media hype has been over the top, which was I suppose to be expected.

I wasn’t there, but was able to watch the direct telecast. It reminded me (viewing it on the small screen) of the “Welcome Home” march in 1987.

What these two events had in common was their symbolism, the recognition of a small but very identifiable group by the wider community, and the deep emotionality of each occasion. Australians are not prone to mass displays of emotion, so when they do occur, they’re noteworthy.

The most significant theme of each activity was a quest for reconciliation. This quest is of critical importance, because without achieving it we won’t move on.

It happened today.

Wet Feet

I’ve just returned from my latest bush trip feeling cranky. There are two reasons for this. One is that the Leichhardt Highway was flooded on Tuesday and Wednesday which messed up my itinerary more than somewhat. The other is that I was thoroughly chewed by sandflies (midges) breeding in these same floodwaters, and I’m allergic to their bites. The consequent physical irritation doesn’t do much for peace and harmony.

In addition, I’m becoming increasingly aware of the drying-up of basic services (Physiotherapy – to name one) to people who have the temerity to live more than two hundred kilometres from Brisbane. Physiotherapists these days can earn a fortune ministering to footballers and baby boomers in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Consequently, they can’t be recruited west of Dalby.

Maybe it’s time realistic tax concessions were applied to rural communities. A measure of their standard of access to basic services could be computed, and tax concessions geared to this. Mind you – it would never fly politically. There are no longer votes in the bush.

Abject Evil

Disturbing news today of an atrocity in Baghdad involving two women with Down Syndrome (ABC On-line) -

An Iraqi official said explosives strapped to two mentally handicapped women were triggered by remote control in coordinated blasts that killed at least 64 people.

"Both women were mentally impaired. They were wearing belts containing 15 kilograms of explosives," said Major General Qasim Ata, spokesman for the Baghdad security plan.”

It is difficult to fathom the level of depravity involved in this kind of abuse. The mindset of these terrorists is something beyond the pale, as far as I’m concerned. Having worked with kids with disabilities and their families for nearly forty years, I can’t begin to comprehend how any member of the species Homo Sapiens can conceive and carry out such an operation.

They also don’t read the Koran - “There is acknowledged right for the needy and the destitute” (51:19). For more on this see –

http://www.haworthpress.com/store/ArticleAbstract.asp?ID=5802

Abuse of people with disabilities is not unprecedented as a political statement of course (Aktion T4) in Nazi Germany is an example –

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-4_Euthanasia_Program

I’d hope that the horrific nature of this act would lose these psychopaths any residual support they may have in Iraq or elsewhere.

BIM

Yesterday I attended the BIM (Brisbane International Motor Show). This is an annual ritual that I must complete in order to maintain my petrol head status. It’s a bit like the Haj for a Muslim.

I had another excuse. Two of my offspring were in Brisbane sussing out bus routes to their college from their respective accommodations, and I needed a place to be in Brisbane whilst waiting to return them to Toowoomba. (Actually getting the keys to their respective accommodations is another story – reflecting very poorly on the Real Estate industry – but I’ll discuss that in a different post).

There was a different atmosphere (excuse the pun) inside the exhibition hall this year, which can only be put down to anxiety over global warming.

The vehicles claiming the most attention were those promoted with green credentials, hybrids, diesels etc. There was one Hummer which sat lonely and forlorn on the periphery – no one seemed interested.

I guess it shows the power of fear. I’m not coming into the argument of how real the threat is – I’m not qualified, and depend on the scientists, but note the effect it’s having on the average punter’s view of what’s good for him/her in the automotive scene.

Besides, these vehicles are technically fascinating. My experience with Hybrids is gleaned from a number of journeys out west – some of them very extensive – in a number of fleet Toyota Prius*. This is an impressive piece of engineering, and whilst not engaging to drive, very refined, roomy and comfortable.

The Citroen C4 Diesel is another technically fascinating set of wheels that returns about the same fuel consumption as the Prius.

The highlight for me was the 1953 Volkswagen Beetle in the Shannon’s display. It brought about an attack of nostalgia – reminding me of my first car (see left).

Given the VW's tendency towards terminal oversteer, and my driving skills at the time, I wonder how I survived.

*Does anyone know the plural of Prius?

Curriculum

Patricia Karvelas (Political correspondent) writing in today’s Oz –

Kevin Rudd has handed a Melbourne academic the "for­midable challenge" of leading the creation of a new national schools curriculum.

The Prime Minister yesterday named Barry McGaw as head of the new National Curriculum Board, to be established by January 1 next year with a mission of forging a single national curriculum.

The Labor Government's nat­ional curriculum, which will be implemented in 2011, will init­ially cover English, mathematics, science and history from kinder­garten through to the end of high school.

It’s obvious that Karvelas is a Political rather than an Educational Correspondent, as she seems to have a less than clear understanding of the term “curriculum”.

I found this definition (among others) on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curriculum

Curriculum means two things: (i) the range of courses from which students choose what subject matters to study, and (ii) a specific learning program. In the latter case, the curriculum collectively describes the teaching, learning, and assessment materials available for a given course of study.

The other definitions include the lived experience of the student, and this extra component is critical, but beyond the capacity of government to fashion, so the more limited concept works for this discussion. Using this definition, it’s clear that Curriculum is both what is learned (the range of courses from which students choose what subject matters to study) and how it is taught (a specific learning program).

Karvelas is talking only about the first component – what is learned. The notion that this should be uniform across the country is positive, for a range of obvious reasons, but if the new government is earnest about true educational reform, it’s only part of the story.

National pay and qualification benchmarks and national consistency in regards to teacher preparation are just as important. These factors influence the “how” of curriculum, and action on them must be included in any reform.

Mr Rudd warned that it would be difficult to put a national curriculum in place because the states were attached to their own systems and had resisted adopt­ing new approaches.

"In terms of the task ahead, it's formidable. This is an area of work which historically has been paved with good intentions, but with very little outcome," Mr Rudd said.

"Our intention is to make a difference, but it's going to be very hard and we recognise that. It's a three-year task — it'll be tough and intensive work. The nation hasn't done this before, so I'm being entirely up-front with you about how complex I think it's going to be."

With the national workforce increasingly mobile, the Prime Minister said, it was illogical that 80.000 children whose parents moved last year had to face a new curriculum at new schools this week.

He warned that the education system was not world-class be­cause of the different curriculums across the country.

"You could argue that we're small enough to do things as a whole," he said.

Professor McGaw said the states had never used the oppor­tunity of having different curriculums to drive improvements.

I couldn’t agree more – but by itself universal content is not going to change much for the better. Get it right while you’re at it, Kevin, and introduce reform that takes all these other factors into account. The chance may not come again.