Bureaucracy. Is Australia the World's Worst?
Is Australia the most hamstrung bureaucratic nation in the world? I don't ask this question completely idly or in any way facetiously, but let me return to that in a moment.
It has been plastered all over the newspapers in recent weeks the phenomena surrounding the scale of bush fires along the Eastern seaboard of Australia and indeed in WA too. The early onset of the fires, the number of the fires and severity of the fires is almost unprecedented particularly having regard to the first of my statements. In our region there have been fires too. Smoke from Toowoomba, which is 80Km away drift toward us at times, but about ten days ago a fire started about 28Km out of town. It hasn't threatened the township, but it has certainly threatened the inhabitants of the region. Two dwellings were lost and several other structures (barns, sheds etc.).
The fire brigades made their base at the showground here in town. At the height of the fire there were about thirty rural brigades involved. Local people became involved because it is a small community. People help in whatever way they can. The firefighters are eith locals in Millmerran or from surrounding communities and can also be considered "local." A group of women in Millmerran prepared food for these exhausted firefighters and took it up to the Showground where the firefighters were recuperating.
Bureaucracy stepped in, announced that the food was not prepared in a hazmat kitchen and it was all thrown away. While you are digesting that ( :rolleyes: ) I will relate a separate incident.
A friend was working a bulldozer to create a firebreak in case this same fire came closer to town. He is the farm manager for a number of properties and they have one on the outskirts of town between the town proper and the vicinity of the fire. He received another call to help out with a firebreak that was even closer to the fire. The bulldozer was taken to the area and they commenced work on another firebreak until...
WPHS stepped in and said they did not have a hard hat so they had to stop. And stop they did. When my friend's boss, who is one of the quietest people I know, heard about this he was beside himself. Myself, I don't really know what to say other than, if I was working the dozer, I may have considered going over the top of WPHS.
Regards
Paul
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