QolEdge

In this age of Megaprojects (Australia especially but not exclusively) we need decision makers and planners who are both ethical and smart.

When you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice, you may know that your society is doomed ~ Ayn Rand

Supervisors in the workplace, please take note, you could be liable and labelled for inaction -

A failure to investigate can be bullying: Lessons in triaging employee complaints - Worklogic This blog post discusses the importance of understanding the requirements of company policies before undertaking a workplace investigation.

Need advice on workplace bullying? Read the Human Rights guidance. We will be posting case study material which will include failures of supervisors to respond to complaints in accordance with the law and with professed/ published policy.

One small key point - never get coerced into what others deem ‘appropriate’ as that is a subjective overused term often employed to avoid taking action.

Workplace bullying: Violence, Harassment and Bullying Fact sheet | Australian Human Rights Commission If you are being bullied at work and need support, you can read this factsheet and go to the Get Help section. If you know or see someone being bullied you can go to the Supportive Bystander FactSheet to find out how to help them.

Institutional bullying - that chain of harrasment - is all too common in Australia.

BULLYING AT UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE Bullying at the University of Newcastle, AUSTRALIA has destroyed many good people. The only way to stop it is to stand together and say "it is not OK". Most ...

Time for the reckoning?....The Damage Done: Dealing with Narcissists in the Workplace

The Damage Done: Dealing with Narcissists in the Workplace Narcissistic behavior on the job can arise at any time, with troubling results. One new study showed that narcissists can significantly damage workplace team performance. Another reveals the short-term and long-term damage done by narcissistic managers.

Extraordinary demand to change facial appearance? Is this a true reflection of misplaced vanity among women in Perth?
“Instead of looking beautiful, they’re looking creepy”.

WA women DENIED ‘Instaface’ surgery Experts reveal ‘Snapchat dysmorphia’ is driving young people to invest in unnecessary cosmetic surgery procedures — and reveal the most sought-after surgeries.

Underbelly Perth: The Rental Market Trap

The Western World of the 21st century has seemingly become so obsessed with perceived, real and/or misconstrued accounts of ‘racism’ we have unwittingly, and foolishly, created a shield which protects the undeserving, even criminal, elements in society.

Kyle Lawler, an 18-year-old security guard working at the Manchester UK Ariana Grande concert in October 2017 failed to initiate investigation of a suspicious looking individual of ‘Asian’ appearance carrying a large bulky rucksack, whom a member of the public reported as “dodgy”. Lawler later said that he was afraid of being labelled a ‘racist’. That suspicious individual was Salman Abedi, a Manchester born 22-year-old of Libyan parentage. He subsequently denotated his su***de rucksack bomb, murdering 22 concert-goers and injuring hundreds more.

Kyle Lawler arguably had good reason to fear being labelled as racist. Citing just one of many cases: Three years earlier the BBC reported A fear of being viewed as racist has been cited as one of the reasons why child sexual exploitation in Rotherham was allowed to proliferate for 16 years.

What has this to do with Perth, Western Australia?
The account which follows is a recent experience related by my friend, Carla du Pernati -

Recently, I was shocked and angered to hear of some landlords choosing to act in an unscrupulous manner abusing the rights of vulnerable tenants. Their actions are illegal. They put their tenant’s health at risk. But they do not seem to care, thinking a tenant will put up with such conditions just to have a roof over their head. Then, I was made aware of a young female international university student’s situation. The landlord she was paying was female and of Asian descent. She was subletting her and two other international students a triplex unit, where she was also resident. The owner who lives in Sydney was aware of the current situation. She reportedly has the property on the market. No formal contracts were drawn up, then additional demands via text message were made after a verbal agreement and bond was paid. The conditions set were extreme, tantamount to emotional torture posing great risk to all three student’s physical and mental wellbeing. However, their managing landlord said, ‘if you do not like it leave but your bond most likely will not be returned’. One young resident talked to her neighbours who said that many renters had come and gone from the property, no one stayed for long. Then she told me some of the reasons why.

First, some background.
Perth’s rental vacancy rate is extremely low at 0.8% (Dec 2020), with the rental moratorium set to end in March 2021 rents are tipped to increase by up to 20% and many tenants are worried about homelessness yet being able to afford their rent. The median rent in Perth is $375 per week currently, and the state housing wait list had 14,000 families waiting pre COVID-19, Perth’s rental crisis is very real and finding an affordable, available property is met with great competition in applications. It is common knowledge that having a safe, clean, affordable place to live has a profoundly positive effect on one’s physical and mental health outcomes.

These are just a few of the rules that the students were required to follow.
• The reverse cycle air conditioner was not to be turned on as it made the electricity bill too high,
• The carport was only to be used by the landlady for her small car, as it was newer and more valuable,
• The oven could be used once a week only for cooking to keep costs down
• One pre-approved visitor per week who could visit between certain hours and no overnight guests,
• No noise was to be made after 9.30pm under any circumstances.

These were only a few of the rules relayed to me. There were many more and given the current heat wave the ban on using the air conditioner concerned me greatly. Given that this winter we were going through the first wave of COVID-19 and several serious respiratory infections were present in Perth, the lack of heating, inability to cook healthy hot meals and visitors were not able to check on them more than once per week, the risks and consequences indeed have been serious.

While it is true to observe that there are complaints systems and pathways to (theoretically) resolving such cruel and unlawful landlord/landlady and rental owner conduct, reality from innumerable ‘street-level’ contact conversations reminds us that renters are afraid to report abuses for fear of retribution, including that all too easy accusation of being a racist. Ironically, many of our most vulnerable international students are of the same or related ethnicity to the offending individuals. Is that a deliberate exploitation tactic, knowing they are so far from their family home, placing these young people temporarily living in Australia in fear of penalties, becoming homeless and almost destitute?

Carla du Pernati

With thanks to Carla, this is an opener on the subject of ‘invisible quality of life issues’ in Western Australia, especially in the Perth suburbs where so many of our students live. From wider research across Australia we note that due to the impact of Covid 19 and the fall in international student numbers and therefore renters, a growing number of ‘foreign’ and ‘domestic’ investors in the rental market, especially ‘over east’, are trying to sell their Australian properties. This tends to make such reports of abuse inexplicable. Surely maintaining wellbeing support, renter trust and rent income flow is vital? But perhaps the financial squeeze on investors who are stretched to meet their investor mortgage loans is creating a narrow-minded, tunnel-vision penny-pinching culture such as disclosed by Carla’s acquaintances?

We will return to this subject over time, and place some focus on ‘safer’ more confident, ways of achieving just outcomes.

Therapy Time: My PUMPKIN CHILI BEAN CASSEROLE –
Actually it started out from a very basic web recipe but quickly refined and steadily improved over the years, sufficient to claim it is DF unique.

Thanks to my son-in-law DW, a prolific home garden vegetable grower, this cooking exercise began with his generous gift of a 3.3kg summer squash (pumpkin). Not sure of the variety/type, as it is (was!) gourd-shaped, but unlike the Butternut, the outer skin was pale yellowy-green, and the seeds occupy the centre of the vegetable, not just one end. Bright yellow flesh – as you will see.

The photos here depict a double bash – two separate batches cooked simultaneously…yet only half of the pumpkin was needed! Test taste? Dare I say – superb, flavoursome –and yes, this is a vegetarian dish.

A last comment – I portioned off enough for one meal which requires that extra bit of chilli heat, for my other son-in-law, BT, a lover of hot spicy stuff. Now I am wondering – did I tweak it a little too much or not enough? Will soon find out….

1. Large shallow baking dishes containing chopped pumpkin, lightly sprayed with olive oil then sprinkled with finely chopped fresh garlic and ginger.
2. and 3. Sliced onion, diced celery and carrot start the preparatory base, followed by chopped tomatoes and a ‘special’ herbs and spices sauce home creation; then a mixed and black beans combination in the stockpot.
4. Roasted squash added to the stockpot.
5. Final mix of the casserole. (PS Great for freezing in meal portions, saving time later).

DYING TO EAT OR… EATING TO DIE?
A study of almost 45,000 middle-aged people found that deaths from heart disease, cancer and other illnesses were linked to the consumption of 'ultra-processed food'.
These include: chips, white bread, ready meals, sausages, sugary cereals and fizzy drinks - essentially any product involving an industrial procedure.

Eating 'ultra-processed foods' increases risk of fatal diseases Experts at Paris-Sorbonne University found that deaths from heart disease, cancer and other illnesses were directly linked to the consumption of 'ultra-processed food'.