2011 hasn’t started well in many parts of Australia. Not even two weeks in and it’s been a fairly wild start to the new year.
Here in Western Australia we’re dealing with destructive fire in our south and floods in our north.
Across the country in Queensland the devastating floods continue. The vision coming out of Toowoomba is astounding.
Check out the amateur video above as a couple of people capture the storm waters swelling and dragging car after car out of a car park and sending them down what moments earlier was just a small creek. At this time, eight people are dead and dozens are missing in that part of Queensland. It’s hard to get your head around the scale of the devastation.
The floods have not yet reached their peak and thousands of people are still being evacuated as the scale of the disaster grows.
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested in Britain after an international warrant was issued for him last week, London’s Metropolitan Police said. – ABC News
I’m sure that there are many points of view regarding WikiLeaks and its recently arrested founder Julian Assange. Some believe that releasing previously confidential documents will aid in openness and accountability. They would say that we as the people of democratic countries have the right to know what our elected governments are doing. Others are going as far as saying that publishing classified military documents online amounts to treason and that lives have been put at risk.
What do you think? Can there even be a simple answer or are you still unsure what to think of the revelations that have hit the internet and our news services recently?
Well over 500 mirror sites have already been created for WikiLeaks so the information being released isn’t about to go away any time soon.
Closer to home
The whole situation has me thinking a little closer to home. Do we have the right to know everything? Are there reasons that things should be kept from us? If so, who should make the decision about what is out in the open and what is kept confidential?
Should we expect to know everything that goes on in our workplace, even when it doesn’t concern us? Should boards of management, CEOs and others in senior positions reveal everything about their dealings with everyone inside and even outside the company? Would you be happy to have your employment records and complete pay details online for all to see? I imagine that it wouldn’t bother some people but others would find it a little more concerning.
It seems interesting to me that at the same time that many are calling for greater privacy there is a great deal of support to reveal government details. There was a huge uproar when people felt that Facebook didn’t regard their privacy highly enough. Now we want to expose private conversations between heads of state which may have far greater consequences.
Caught in between
To be honest, I’m caught in between. I think there should be a great deal of openness and accountability within government, especially when those governments are acting on our behalf, but on the other hand, I think there’s a lot to be said for electing a government and then handing over the responsibility of government to those we have chosen to represent us.
Getting personal
Making it even more personal, I’m glad that every conversation I have, every email I write and every thought that goes through my mind isn’t splashed across the web. I try to keep my conversations honourable but I know that sometimes I mess up and say things that should never have left my lips. I’m glad that some people don’t hear those words. When I’m writing emails I do my best to be careful with what I say but I must admit that I have, on occasion, sent emails which have been less than helpful. When it comes to my thoughts …. I’m ashamed at what goes through my mind at times. I’m glad that between the time I think about something and the time I act on my thoughts I have the opportunity to censor myself and filter my reactions.
I’m glad that every thought, word and deed by every person isn’t displayed around the world. I believe we all need to be careful about the way we conduct ourselves in public or in private. We need accountability. We need transparency and openness. But I’m wondering if in calling for confidential details of government conversations to become public property, we’re holding others to a standard we would refuse to be held to ourselves.
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On Monday I wrote a post titled Kmart Sucks. It was about the application Kmart had made to trade early on ANZAC Day.
In my original post I said, “I think that Kmart has seriously misjudged the mood of the Australian population on this one and I truly hope that not only will their application fail but that Kmart will issue an apology for their insensitivity.”
Thankfully Kmart’s Managing Director, Guy Russo, has listened to the public and withdrawn its application for longer trading. He has also apologised for getting it wrong.
Having listened to the strength of feeling from our customers and the broader community I will withdraw Kmart’s application for early trading on Anzac Day.
To best serve our customers my intent is for Kmart to be open when it most suits them.
This was the reason for our application for additional trading hours.
I got this one wrong and on behalf of Kmart, I apologise to the RSL, retired and current members of the Australian Defence Force and the wider community for any offence that this application has caused. – Kmart Managing Director Guy Russo
I don’t understand how they got it so wrong in the first place but it’s wonderful to see them putting their hand up and admitting the mistake. Well done.
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In the brilliant 1988 movie Rain Man, the character of Raymond Babbit says, “Kmart sucks”. Raymond might have a bit more support for his statement now that Kmart in Australia has applied to open their doors early on ANZAC Day.
For those outside Australia and New Zealand, ANZAC Day is a day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand observed on the 25th of April every year to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. Over the years it has broadened its purpose, becoming a day that commemorates all those who died and served in military operations for their countries.
News.com.au is now reporting that Kmart has applied to the New South Wales government for permission to trade before the traditional opening time on ANZAC Day of 1:00 p.m. (Thankfully shops in Perth don’t open at all on ANZAC Day.)
Their submission contends that staying closed for a morning to remember those who fought and died for our countries may inconvenience their shoppers.
Kmart submits that there is a desire within the community to see our stores open before 1pm on ANZAC Day.
Customers who are used to being able to shop at any time would potentially be severely inconvenienced by our closure. In short, they would not be able to obtain necessity items when they want.
Seriously? Your customers would potentially be severely inconvenienced by your closure for one morning? Do you think that the men and women who travelled overseas to protect our country, many of whom never returned, weren’t just a little more inconvenienced than not being able to shop for a few hours one morning a year? They were prepared to risk their lives and you’re not even prepared to give up a few hours profit? Do you think that your customers are really so stupid that they can’t plan a day ahead to buy ‘necessity items’?
War is never a good thing but surely those who gave their lives for our freedom didn’t do it only to give us freedom of shopping hours.
The application claims that shopping is “an important leisure activity” and that it “provides for the opportunity for families to come together . . . and gives them reason to spend special time with one another.”
Has shopping become that much of a god to us? Are our lives so empty that we consider a visit to the shopping centre as ‘family time’?
I think that Kmart has seriously misjudged the mood of the Australian population on this one and I truly hope that not only will their application fail but that Kmart will issue an apology for their insensitivity.
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It’s a story we know all too well. Just before 5:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday the 12th of January this year a major earthquake hit just outside Port-au-Prince, the capital of the impoverished nation of Haiti. Within the first fortnight after that event, at least 52 major aftershocks had been recorded.
An estimated three million people have affected by the quake. The Haitian Government reports that between 217,000 and 230,000 people have been identified as dead, an estimated 300,000 injured, and an estimated 1,000,000 homeless.
While we heard story after story about the tragedy in the weeks immediately following the earthquake, the plight of the Haitian people is already beginning to fade from our TV screens and newspapers.
Compassion International has been working in Haiti for over forty years so they were one of the first aid agencies to begin helping the people of the affected area. They’re committed to the people of Haiti and they’ll continue to help them in the years and even decades that it will take to return life to what we might consider normal.
To find out what’s been happening and continues to happen in Haiti I spoke to DJ Konz of Compassion Australia during my morning programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM this morning.
You can hear our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.
There is still so very much to do so please donate generously to Compassion to help those in Haiti. Click here to give through Compassion International. If you’re in Australia, click here to donate through Compassion Australia.
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In the brilliant 1988 movie Rain Man, the character of Raymond Babbit says, “Kmart sucks”. Raymond might have a bit more support for his statement now that Kmart in Australia has applied to open their doors early on 
