With a flagged $4 billion to be recovered over four years, Centrelink’s demand letters over alleged debts could be just the start.
The Turnbull government’s mass invoices – constructed from data matching to claim discrepancies exist with Centrelink’s casual, disabled and vulnerable income earners – are expected to be used across the entire pensioner and social security sector. New discrepancies can be created over a recipient’s claimed asset values to substantiate invoices for ‘over-payments’.
The ‘debt’ letters are distressing many recipients, as the public outcry shows. Photo: AAP
Data matching and garnishee was originally implemented by Labor in government, but it was the Turnbull government that devised the more aggressive, presumptive and system-wide invoicing strategy.
While a responsible government has every right on behalf of taxpayers to eliminate fraud and ensure financial control in a country under deficit distress, the anecdotal hypocrisy of MPs who are extended travel allowance indulgences under lax rules adds fuel to what is becoming an explosive backlash across Australian postcodes.
A crowd funded court challenge to the legality of the alleged debt invoices is now expected.
Often stereotyped by tabloid media as dole bludgers exploiting a sense of entitlement, this time many articulate Centrelink recipients are fighting back.
Using the Not My Debtwebsite they are sharing their stories of having been coerced by the Department of Human Services to agree to fortnightly repayments even though many dispute any debt exists.
They have taken their income statements and their Centrelink letters to A Current Affair, other TV shows and Facebook to give public evidence of unfairness.
Distressed and agitated when they have received what appears to be a letter of demand, they have hit the phones to (when they can get through) dispute the claimed amount of Centrelink ‘overpayment’.
The automated matching of their Centrelink-declared casual or irregular incomes, when averaged over 12 months with the amount declared on their Australian Tax Office income tax returns, has created what appears to be a discrepancy or ‘overpayment’.
The onus of proof is immediately placed on the recipient, many of whom have to scramble to find pay slips from employers from five or more years ago, or pay their banks to recover archived bank statements showing the date and amount of income received.
Off to Dun and Bradstreet you go!
A series of Centrelink letters have initiated what looks like a ‘Catch-22’: a bureaucratic entrapment made famous by Joseph Heller’s wartime novel where a paradoxical situation is created from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules.
The recipients of the Centrelink letters seem to be damned no matter what they do – much like the fictional World War II pilots in Catch-22 who were deemed to be sane if they voiced any concern for their own sanity. Photo: AAP
The first letter logged on a recipient’s MyGov account politely asks recipients to check online that their income details are correct.
Many recipients do not regularly access their MyGov accounts. If or when no response is logged a second Centrelink/ATO data matching letter quantifying the ‘overpayment’ is dispatched. Distress quickly ensues, as the quantum of the ‘debt’, in many cases thousands of dollars, is boldly displayed in what looks like an invoice, with credit card and Biller payments options listed at the bottom.
But instead of resolving the factual accuracy of the data matched quantum, the Centrelink call centre staffer says that unless the recipient immediately agrees to at least a minimum repayment (say $15 a fortnight for three months) of the disputed amount, under DHS policy the staffer has no alternative but to send the ‘debt’ for collection to outsourced collectors Dun and Bradstreet or Probe Group. Hence, ‘Catch-22’.
These debt collectors are on multi-million-dollar contracts with DHS. It remains commercial-in-confidence whether or not these companies receive a percentage of the money successfully collected. Opposition spokesperson Linda Burney has asked for the outsourcers’ incentive details to be released.
The strategy has enabled DHS’s Hank Jongen to claim, in an ABC interview, that debt recovery is working and had “identified” up to $300 million in overpayments since 169,000 letters were dispatched.
Mr Jongen claimed eight out of 10 “customers” had thus acknowledged the “overpayment”.
This official claim from DHS will be tested in coming weeks and months. The Australian National Audit Office, which coincidentally is due to report next month on DHS, has been asked to conduct a performance audit of Centrelink’s methodology.
‘This is cruelty’
In the current clawback, Centrelink has repeated its customer risk protocol by referring any distressed recipients to Lifeline for psychological support. More petrol on the fire.
Centrelink’s response to one of the widespread complaints from distressed welfare recipients. Photo: Twitter
One Centrelink senior staffer, who asked not to be named, told The New Daily the anger and rage generated by the data matching strategy had placed counter staff under confronting pressure.
“They just want to spit on us,” he said.
He asked why DHS had not quarantined vulnerable recipients, many of whom were intellectually disabled, from the more able casual income earners.
If DHS had a genuine “customer focus” the entire casual income reporting process would be “bulletproof” for recipients so they could neither calculatedly defraud nor inadvertently fall into error. A department wanting to engender trust with Australians striving to earn sustaining incomes in a now highly casualised economy would act protectively towards them.
“One intellectually disabled bloke screamed, ‘I’ve had a go mate … I did some work’.”
Our informant said the Centrelink data matching strategy would soon be exposed as counter-productive, with recipients now likely to desist in seeking any paid work for fear of losing any of their welfare payments.
With a Newstart allowance at $34 a day and city rents now at extortionate levels, many vulnerable people had little money left with which to clothe and feed themselves.
“We are dealing with the most impoverished and vulnerable sectors of the community. This is cruelty.”
Source: Quentin Dempster is a Walkley Award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster with decades of experience. He is a veteran of the ABC newsroom and has worked with a number of print titles including the Sydney Morning Herald. He was awarded an Order of Australia in 1992 for services to journalism.
Post Brexit, the world waited to see if more European Union member countries will bid adieu to the EU. Several European leaders did call for referendums similar to the June 22 one held in the United Kingdom in their countries, but two weeks after the U.K. voted to leave the EU, it looks like the 28-member bloc is more united than ever. Predictions went awry as establishment parties are reported to have gained a significant lead over the naysayers’ in several EU countries.
Netherlands’ far-right politician Geert Wilders was one of the first European leaders to call for a EU referendum following Brexit. “We want be in charge of our own country, our own money, our own borders, and our own immigration policy,” Wilders said in a statement. “If I become prime minister, there will be a referendum in the Netherlands on leaving the European Union as well. Let the Dutch people decide.”
He reportedly pledged to make a U.K.-style referendum one of the key issues in the Dutch general election campaign next March. But recent polls show that support for the Freedom party candidate has fallen to its lowest level since last fall.
Another poll by peil.nl found that a majority were in favor of staying in the EU (46 percent to 43 percent). Voters with the lowest educational profile were more in favor of holding a referendum (69 percent) with most voting to leave (64 percent).
“If a referendum is held we would expect that, just as in Britain, the turnout among lower educated voters will be relatively high,” poll organizer Maurice de Hond said.
However, apart from the Freedom party, no other political group is enthusiastic about an EU referendum, reports said. Prime Minister Mark Rutte dismissed the idea as “utterly irresponsible.”
Meanwhile, in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s popularity rating is at a 10-month high. Merkel’s party has reportedly gained two percentage points, according to an Infratest Dimap poll. “The Brexit debate has fostered a more pro-European climate among the German population,” Infratest Dimap’s managing director Michael Kunert told the Guardian. “The government is profiting from this trend while populist, eurosceptic parties are suffering.”
Austria’s far-right presidential candidate Norbert Hofer said Friday that conducting a U.K.-style EU referendum in the country would be a “mistake.” A Gallup poll of 600 Austrians indicated that 60 percent opposed any referendum and only 30 percent favored an Austrian Exit or “Oexit.” A survey conducted by the Austrian Society for European Politics indicated that 23 percent wanted to leave the EU.
“I’m not in favor of an Austrian exit from the European Union. I’ve been annoyed for days that people have assumed I am,” Hofer reportedly said.
Denmark is overwhelmingly in favor of staying put in the EU post Brexit, polls show. The number of people wanting a similar referendum has dropped from 41 percent to 32 percent. A Voxmeter poll indicated that 69 per cent of Danish people are in favor of remaining in the EU, a ten percent rise compared to the week leading up to the Brexit.
Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen reportedly said, “We belong to the EU and I am not operating on [the belief] that we should have a referendum on that basic question.”
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had reassured the EU of Italy’s commitment post Brexit. “Europe is our home, it’s our future,” he said and added that the organization needed change “to make it more humane and more just.”
Italy’s most popular party at the moment, Five Star Movement, is in favor of remaining in the EU but is seeking a non-binding referendum on the euro. A poll carried out after Brexit found that 66 percent of Italians would vote to remain in the EU and 26 percent would vote to leave.
France’s far-right presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen’s Front National has reportedly remained fairly stable with its leader expected to get through the final round of the presidential race in 2017.
The European Union has clarified the way the UK can kick-start formal negotiations to exit the bloc following Thursday’s referendum.
It says Britain can trigger Article 50, which sets a two-year deadline for a deal, by making a formal declaration either in a letter or a speech.
UK PM David Cameron has said he will step down by October to allow his successor to conduct the talks.
But EU foreign ministers have urged Britain to start the process soon.
Since Thursday’s vote there has been intense speculation about when, and how, the UK might begin formal negotiations.
A spokesman for the European Council, which defines the EU’s political direction and priorities, reiterated on Saturday that triggering Article 50 was a formal act which must be “done by the British government to the European Council”.
“It has to be done in an unequivocal manner with the explicit intent to trigger Article 50,” the spokesman said.
“It could either be a letter to the president of the European Council or an official statement at a meeting of the European Council duly noted in the official records of the meeting.”
On Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU had “no need to be particularly nasty in any way” in the negotiations with Britain.
She said that deterring other countries from leaving the EU should not be a priority in the talks.
Mrs Merkel added that she was not in favour of pushing for a speedy withdrawal.
“No need to be particularly nasty” and “It shouldn’t take forever, that’s right, but I would not fight for a short time-frame,” she said.
In other developments, UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, facing a no-confidence vote following the referendum, has sacked shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she will seek “immediate discussions” with Brussels to “protect Scotland’s place in the EU”
A petition calling for a second referendum on UK’s membership of the EU has gained more than two million signatures
There are warnings British financial institutions could lose their prized access to the EU if the UK leaves the single market
Britain’s European Commissioner, Lord Hill, who oversees financial services, is to resign
Mrs Merkel was speaking after several EU foreign ministers, including Germany’s, had urged Britain to quickly implement its exit.
“This process should get under way as soon as possible so that we are not left in limbo but rather can concentrate on the future of Europe,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.
His Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders said the continent could not accept a political vacuum, saying “this will not be business as usual”.
Speaking later to the BBC, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said he didn’t think it was “even legally possible” to force the UK to speed up the exit process.
“I understand it is very difficult for Prime Minister Cameron, who was against leaving the European Union, to now go ahead and do this,” he told the BBC World Service’s Newshour program.
“I think we should give them time; let them decide how quickly they want to do it.”
He described Britain’s exit from the bloc as “a disaster” saying Estonia had often aligned itself with the UK and had counted on Britain to present their shared views.
The UK’s decision to leave the EU has sent shock-waves across the continent with leaders of Eurosceptic parties in France, the Netherlands and Italy demanding referendums in their own countries.
New road map
In response, some EU politicians have called for speedy reforms to quell further unrest.
French economy minister Emmanuel Macron suggested a new mission statement should be drafted and put to a referendum of all EU citizens.
“We’ve never had the courage to organise a true European referendum in its real sense,” he told a conference.
“We would first build this new project with European peoples and then submit this new road map, this new project, to a referendum [across the bloc].”
The first summit of EU leaders with no British representation will be held on Wednesday, a day after Mr Cameron holds talks with members.
Global stock markets and the pound fell heavily on the news of the so-called “Brexit”, while credit rating agency Moody’s cut the UK’s outlook to “negative”.
What comes next?
Image caption The process to take the UK out of the European Union starts with invoking Article 50 and will take at least two years from that point
Brexit: What happens now? What is Article 50 of the EU Treaty?
In force since 2009 but never tested
Allows governments to notify intent to leave.
Talks then begin on a range of issues between the leaving nation and other EU members.
If no deal is reached, membership will automatically cease two years after notification.
The article is only a basic template for leaving, settling the date and some other matters. It does not automatically include issues such as movement of people or trade. The latter could take years to conclude.
Concorde, one of only two commercial supersonic jets ever created, may take to the skies again if an ambitious and dedicated crew of enthusiasts is successful in bringing it back from the dead. Club Concorde, as the group is called, is comprised of former pilots and frequent Concorde fliers and charterers that have kept the spirit of the plane alive over the years. The group now thinks it has enough cash in the bank from private investment to both open a Concorde tourist attraction in London and restore another Concorde for use in air shows and for private charters, according to a report in The Telegraph today.
Concorde, constructed by French aerospace company Aérospatiale and British Aircraft Corporation, was retired after 27 years of commercial service in 2003 due to a number of factors. Those included the plane’s only crash in 2000 and Airbus, the successor to Aérospatiale, ultimately deciding to stop maintenance on the aircraft. A handful of the planes have since become idle displays at airports in the United Kingdom and France. Concorde Club, with around £160 million, wants to purchase two planes located in Paris airports. The first would be turned into a £16-a-person tourist attraction near the London Eye ferris wheel on the waterfront of the River Thames. The proposed attraction would include a restaurant featuring meals originally served on Concorde flights.
Concorde (G-BOAF) – Photo provided by The Verge
Supersonic flights are gaining newfound momentum
The more ambitious initiative is to purchase the second plane, have it restored, and get it in the air once more. Concorde Club president Paul James is aiming to resume flights by 2019, while the tourist attraction would be opened around 2017 if all goes according to plan. British Airways and Air France have no plans to resume commercial Concorde flights, meaning it would likely cost quite a lot of money to grab a private ticket if and when the plane gets off the ground again.
There are a good number of near-flight-ready Concorde aircraft out there, making a Concorde revival more realistic than it sounds. Granted, groups in the past have tried and failed to revive Concorde. Helping the cause this time around are a number of other aviation companies that have begun toying with the idea of supersonic flights. Airbus is looking into a “Concorde Mark 2” supersonic jet that would ferry passengers between New York and London in an hour. Meanwhile, Boston-based Spike Aerospace’s S-512 supersonic jet project, which would encase the interior of a $80 million jet with curved displays, is supposed to enter the manufacturing phase by 2018.
In the wake of the “entitlements” scandal now involving more coalition MPs than just the Speaker, this is how some of Australia’s best cartoonists recorded the proceedings.
What MPs have to realise is that they are not “entitled” to anything. Their job is to serve their constituents. Remember them? They are the ones that elected you! Most seem to have forgotten this, until re-election time. There should be no automatic entitlement. Family holidays at the taxpayer’s expense? I’d would like to see if I can get onto that sort of junket? I think not! Politicians should pay their expenses out of their own pocket and then claim reimbursement. If they don’t pass the community expectation test, they don’t get reimbursed. There should also be limits on expenses commensurate with the politician’s position in the parliament.
In real terms politicians will only review this issue in a half-hearted manner, as they all stand to lose as a result of any review carried out. They just want this matter to go away so they can get their snouts back into the public purse.
The Trough – Cartoon by Golding SMH 9/08/2015
Now we have an action before the High Court, with a number of retired politicians wanting to increase their entitlements! Even when they are separated from public office or politics, their snouts are still in the trough! Heaven forbid!
United – Cartoon by Alan Moir
Both sides of parliament are likely to be affected by any change in entitlements. This is one of the only things that both sides of the House would be “united” on.
Cartoon by Andrew Fyfe
Just when you thought Bronwyn had finished with outrageous travel. Cartoon by Warren
My friend and colleague Fr. Andrew Doohanhad this to say regarding the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives today. I fully support his comments.
So today the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia has announced the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives from her Office.
Good, I say.
Such a shame, however, that it took weeks for the question to be resolved and, realistically, the revelation of the serial nature of the Speaker’s profligate spending of public monies for the Speaker to do ‘the right thing’.
It leaves unresolved, however, the next step which, if the current Federal Government was consistent on these matters, would see an investigation by the Australian Federal Police, the potential launching of criminal proceedings for any potential charges of defrauding the Commonwealth through her actions, and the associated public hounding that seems to be nature of the behaviour of the current Federal Government towards Speakers who get it wrong.
What is also interesting is that in announcing the resignation of the Speaker, the Prime Minister doesn’t appear to have conceded that she had done anything wrong, blaming instead the system by saying:
What has become apparent is the problem is not any one particular person, the problem is the rules. So the problem is not with the people that make excessive expenses claims; the problem is that expenses claims can be made.
and:
Clearly we have a situation where spending is arguably inside the rules but plainly outside of community expectations.
It is the system of parliamentary entitlements that will now be reviewed rather than the behaviour of the now former Speaker of the House of Representatives.
I disagree Mr Prime Minister.
What we have here is someone who, despite knowing better, was focussed on using the entitlements system in such a way as to benefit herself. Not only was the behaviour outside community expectations it also appears to have been playing fast and loose with those rules for personal benefit. While it is arguable that the parliamentary entitlements should be reviewed, the behaviour of the Member of Mackellar can not be allowed to go unreviewed regardless of what might happen as a result.
After all, if a recipient of welfare benefits via Centrelink were caught in similar situations the outcome would result in investigation and potential prosecution.
Repayment of the expenses claimed is not the end of the matter. That’s like saying if I return the money I stole from a bank, there is no crime. Defrauding the Commonwealth is a crime and the matter should be referred to the AFP and dealt with accordingly. For as long as the Member for McKellar remains cosy with Prime Minister, this is not likely to happen. He states that the Speaker’s action are arguably within the rules, but in my opinion that means that the actions are also arguably outside the rules. Nothing will happen from the PM unless public and media pressure make the issue too hot to ignore. He has a demonstrated track record in this regard. But then again, the PM can’t see that she has done anything wrong. This is just another example of the PM demonstrating that he is out of touch with realistic community expectations. A full review of parliamentary entitlements is long overdue, starting with the Life Gold Pass issued to long serving politicians who continue to dip into the public purse long after leaving political life!
All that is needed now is for her to resign as the Member for McKellar.
BRONWYN Bishop today quit as Speaker as her mate Tony Abbott blamed the MPs’ expenses system and not her big-spending for close to a month of embarrassing revelations about travel costs.
The Prime Minister maintained the obstinate defence of Mrs Bishop’s documented and free-wheeling use of taxpayer funds.
And while voters will welcome the spending review he announced today, Mr Abbott appeared to be saying that if Mrs Bishop was going down, everyone was going to suffer.
The Prime Minister said Mrs Bishop had “by and large” obeyed the rules when she chartered aircraft to attend Liberal Party functions, or hired limos for $1000 a trip when the ComCar Transport service was available to her in Sydney.
He said similar expenses had been claimed by MPs “on both sides of the fence”.
“What has become apparent, particularly over the past few days, is that the problem is not any particular individual. The problem is the entitlement system more generally,” said Mr Abbott.
He argued Mrs Bishop’s notorious spending had been within guidelines but outside “community expectations”.
The Prime Minister and the Speaker during happier days for the government. Source: News Corp Australia
The Prime Minister announced a wide-ranging review and promised “fundamental reform” of when and how members of Parliament could spend taxpayer money on travel.
It could mean members of Parliament will no longer fly at the pointy end of then plane but back in economy.
The inquiry will be conducted by businessman and president of the MPs’ Remuneration Tribunal John Conde, and David Tune, who resigned as head of the Finance Department in 2014.
“This will not be a quickie review, because there have been quickie reviews in the past,” said Mr Abbott.
He said: “So it’s very important we have a system which is independent, which is accountable, which is transparent and which is workable.”
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten backed the inquiry but wasn’t as kind towards Mrs Bishop.
“The resignation of Mrs Bishop from the position of Speaker, like her apology, was overdue and unrepentant,” Mr Shorten said in a statement.
“Unfortunately Tony Abbott still won’t accept that Bronwyn Bishop has done anything wrong. Mr Abbott has blamed the system, but it was Mrs Bishop’s addiction to privilege that was the real culprit.”
The Prime Minister’s move effectively absolves Mrs Bishop of accusations she abused the expenses system while Speaker, and when she was a back bencher who charged the taxpayer for trips to friends’ weddings.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott delivered the news in Sydney on Sunday. Picture: Adam Taylor Source: News Corp Australia
And it depicts her as being unfairly made the target of voter outrage over expense claims other MPs had also made.
But it also ended weeks of voter uproar over Mrs Bishop’s use of public money for private travel which was rattling the Government and angering ministers who were pressing for her removal as Speaker because the controversy was smothering their efforts.
The row also was damaging Mr Abbott personally which charges his defence of Mrs Bishop showed he was out of touch.
They are electoral neighbours and old friends and the Prime Minister appeared to be putting that friendship ahead of what was best for the Government, voters and the Parliament.
He had effectively chosen her as Speaker and refused to criticise her after reports of spending excesses. Mrs Bishop called Mr Abbott today to report she had given her resignation to Governor-general Peter Cosgrove.
The Coalition now will have to find a replacement as Speaker. Deputy Speaker is Bruce Scott but as he is a National, a Liberal is likely to be chosen.
But there is a precedent with former Nationals MP Ian Sinclair serving as Speaker in the Howard Government.
Mrs Bishop has indicated she will stay in Parliament as member for Mackellar.
“It has been a very difficult day for Bronwyn Bishop and I think we should respect the fact that it has been a very difficult day for her,” said Mr Abbott.
The table below indicates the salaries of various senior politicians, with the Speaker receiving $341,477 (as of 1/07/2013), which does not include other travel and electoral entitlements. Australia has one of the highest rates of pay for politicians in the world.
Newcastle City Council has just issued its 2015-2016 rate notices. Contained therein was a brochure explaining “Your rates”. It states:
In May the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) approved Council’s application to increase its total rate rate income by 8% for a period of 5 years ie 2015/2016 to 2019/2020. This increase includes a rate cap increase of 2.4% for 2015/2016.
This means trhe everage residential rate will increase by approximately $86 in the 2015/2016 year.
The brochure goes on to state that the additional revenue will be used to accelerate trhe completion of projects and substantial reductions in infrastructure. It further cites that facilities, roads, footpaths, sportsgrounds, parks and playgrounds will be in better condition.
What the brochure does not exactly say is that there will be an increase in rates of 8% every year until 2019/2020 meaning that the total rate rise over the next five years will be 46.9%. This is done for obvious reasons. No council wants to state to their ratepayers that they are raising rates by nearly 50%. This of course could be construed as being misleading by not clearly setting out exactly what the rate rises actually are.
Council needs to put in place or improve efficiences in all aspects of its operations to ensure reductions in expenditure. They cannot just expect the ratepayers to continue to fund councils which continue to operate with inefficient, outdated and expensive work practices.
Newcastle Labour councillors have backed a plan to support same-sex marriage, provide more “safe” places for gay and lesbian people and to create a permanent “rainbow pedestrian crossing” in a Newcastle street or park.
While these may be admirable ideals, they would seem to have no place in local government management. Furthermore, while Newcastle Council is proposing a 46.9% rate rise over the next five years, many see this plan as a waste of rate-payers money.
The Newcastle Herald cartoonist, Lewis saw it this way:
Australians love a scandal, and Speaker Bronwyn Bishop’s expenses scandal – which began when it was revealed that she taken a $5227 helicopter charter flight from Melbourne to Geelong to attend a Liberal Party fundraiser – is no exception.
Referred to as “Choppergate”, the scandal has since expanded to include allegations of two more similar charter flights and a $90,000 fortnight in Europe, were she was seeking another job, during which Mrs Bishop charged taxpayers nearly $1,000 a day to travel in luxurious private limousines, and $4,000 for phones and calls.
The internet has continued to lampoon her, even though Mrs Bishop agreed to repay the cost of the charter flight (what about the other flights), plus a $1,300 penalty, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott declaring on Monday that Mrs Bishop has been put “on probation”. What exactly does that mean?
A full review of Mrs Bishop’s expenses is long overdue.
George Brown is a decorated soldier and health professional and 40 year veteran in the field of emergency nursing and paramedical practice, both military and civilian areas. He has senior management positions in the delivery of paramedical services. Opinions expressed in these columns are solely those of the author and should not be construed as being those of any organization to which he may be connected.
He was born in the UK of Scottish ancestry from Aberdeen and a member of the Clan MacDougall. He is a member of the Macedonian community in Newcastle, and speaks fluent Macedonian. While this may seem a contradiction, it is his wife who is Macedonian, and as a result he embraced the Macedonian language and the Orthodox faith.
His interests include aviation and digital photography, and he always enjoys the opportunity to combine the two. Navigate to his Flickr site to see recent additions to his photo library.
Џорџ Браун е украсени војник и професионално здравствено лице и 40 годишен ветеран во областа на за итни случаи старечки и парамедицински пракса, двете воени и цивилни области. Тој има високи менаџерски позиции во испораката на парамедицински услуги. Мислењата изразени во овие колумни се исклучиво на авторот и не треба да се толкува како оние на било која организација тој може да биде поврзан.
Тој е роден во Велика Британија на шкотскиот потекло од Абердин и член на Kланот MacDougall. Тој е член на македонската заедница во Њукасл, и зборува течно македонски. Иако ова можеби изгледа контрадикција, тоа е неговата сопруга кој е македонски, и како резултат научил македонскиот јазик и ја примија православната вера.
Неговите интереси вклучуваат авијација и дигитална фотографија, и тој секогаш ужива во можност да се комбинираат двете. Отиди до неговиот Фликр сајт да видите последните дополнувања на неговата слика библиотека.
Discussion on the law that applies to or affects Australia's emergency services and emergency management, by Michael Eburn, PhD, Australian Lawyer. Email: meburn@australianemergencylaw.com
Oh, let's see...distinguished Gen-X'er, frustrated writer and mom living in the confines of a small town that thinks it's a big deal. And have I mentioned Walmart yet?
Words, By George! 