Wednesday 02 November 2022

As some of you may be aware Victoria is shortly to experience a state election.  Voting day is Saturday 26 November with the early voting centres opening on 14 November.

I registered with the VEC some time ago to work on the forthcoming election.  With nothing heard from the VEC since registering I have been wondering if they have by some gigantic error overlooked offering me a position.  Well, with a little over three weeks to go to the election yesterday I received an email advising me of the electoral positions available and asking me to confirm my availability.

The VEC seem to be cutting this all a bit fine.  If I get offered a position in an early voting centre I will be required to start work on 14 November, which to my mind doesn't leave a lot of time for recruitment and training.

Talking about elections, the Liberal Party opposition led by Mathew Guy seem to have done a Harry Houdini act and disappeared.  The premier and his cronies have been out about wearing brand new safety helmets and high vis vests on every building site and construction site in the state.  As well as spending a fortune on new helmets and high viz vests the government is promising buckets of money for every project that you can think of, although it is not my place here to remind you, dear and gentle reader, that every existing state run project is running hugely over budget and over time.

Mathew Guy and the Liberal opposition are struggling to gain any traction against the Daniel Andrews juggernaut, however I think that they could be trying a bit harder.

Yesterday was the premier day on the Melbourne social and sporting calendar being Melbourne Cup day.  Once again Melbourne lived up to its reputation for four seasons in one day.  The maximum temperature was 14 degrees (global warming anyone?) with the day alternating between periods of sunshine, overcast skies, heavy rain showers and at the start of the "get out stakes", (also known as the last race of the day), a short hail storm.  Notwithstanding the extreme weather the folk at the course appeared to be enjoying themselves with the usual customary Aussie bogan cup style eg; getting shitfaced, fighting, mud slides, dresses hitched up shoeless staggering ladies, blokes wearing shoes with no socks, lots of tatts on display, d,e & f grade celebrities at various pavilions, 2 x A grade celebrities being fawned over by said local d, e & f grade celebrities.  Oh, and amidst all this fun and frivolity there was some horse racing going on.


Me after betting online - "Remember to gamble responsibly"

Now, here are some recent headlines that attracted my attention;
  • Five Lions Escape from Taronga Park Zoo Enclosure (This is not a joke)
  • Tourist visiting Taronga Park Zoo Eaten by Lions (This is a joke)
  • Gina Rinehart Withdraws $15m Donation Offer to Netball Australia (This is not a joke)
  • Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews Donates $15m of Taxpayers Funds to Netball Australia (Unfortunately this is not a joke either)
  • AFL Announces Enquiry into Racism & Sexism in Hawthorn Football Club (Not a joke)
  • Complainant in HFC Racism & Sexism Matter Refuses to Contribute to AFL Enquiry (Not a joke but should be).
Some of you may have heard of a book and subsequent movies called "All Quiet on the Western Front".  The book was written by a German Great War soldier recounting his experiences on the First World War western front.  The "Term all Quiet on the Western Front" comes from the daily  reporting of the German situation and although many thousands of soldiers on both sides could be dying the upper echelons consider the situation quiet, in other words "nothing to see here".

The available covid numbers are still unreliable due to lack of reporting and recording by the Federal and State authorities.  However by a bit of educated guesswork I think that I can say that Victoria, at least, is experiencing a slight increase in covid numbers.  The Victorian daily reported covid infections have increased from 1,549 last Wednesday to 1,683 today, although I have no idea how these figures are compiled as there is no requirement to report covid infections to the health authorities.

Victorian hospital numbers are up with 172 covid related cases currently in hospital which is an increase from 139 last week.  I am assuming that these figures are reasonably accurate.

Daily deaths in Victoria averaged 7 covid related deaths for the week which is an increase on 5 per day for the previous week.

Using the same criteria as the Germans in TGW I think that I can safely say that all is quiet on the Covid Front.


Comments

  1. John the plumber2 November 2022 at 18:23

    Another great read well written

    ReplyDelete

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