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Aussies read this!!! Dinner with Philip Connole.

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Philip Connole in the office of the Minister for Defence bought my dinner the other night. This urbane, polite gentleman is a credit to Australia, and to the Department of Defence in Australia.

My question is: Are many of your upper level governmental people this accessible to Aussies also?

If so, are they nice to the general population of their own countries? Our governmental employees are often impolite, and difficult to deal with.

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We dont take politics that seriously in AU

In reply to Aussies read this!!! Dinner with Philip Connole.

And you are quiet right about governmental employees being rude and unpleasant to deal with for the most part. In their defence if I had to do their jobs and deal with the people that walk in to places like centrelink (Social Security) or the Fines Enforcement Registry I’d be a little ticked off as well.

This being said I did have a pleasant experience at Medicare (yay socialized medicine) on friday, 15 minutes and I walked out with my own Medicare number (turns out I was still on my parents card).

As for the pollies, the lower down on the chain they are the easier it is to see them and as local elections are not mandatory they rely on people actually being motivated enough to vote.

Also the fact that we don’t take politics as seriously over here means that politicians don’t get inflated ego’s easily.

A Beaurocrat and an Amex – what fun

In reply to Aussies read this!!! Dinner with Philip Connole.

Speaking as a Kiwi in Australia, I can only echo mjwx’s comments.

Beaurocrats and politicians are not for revering or encouragement as seemingly happens in downtown USA.

They are objects of ridicule and abuse, applauded only when they slip on the dancefloor on Dancing With The Stars (or when they get shat on by the native fauna in photo-ops).

Was this genuinely a worthwhile experience? Did Philip take you to out afterwards? Go clubbing? Do the Kate Moss shuffle (come on, those credit cards are good for more than just steak and chips)? A local micro-brewery? Karaoke?

If not, friend, he clearly was only paying you lip service.

We went to the O Club at Ft. Meade.

In reply to A Beaurocrat and an Amex – what fun

Our guests for dinner were the widows of WWII veterans who were discussing Veteran benefits in Australia and the USA.

The clubbing you refer is what we do to seals… He was polite to some very old widows and answered their questions regarding widows benefits thoroughly. He is a fine gentleman. He didn’t seem to be the run of the mill politico we have in the USA…

Send him an email

In reply to We went to the O Club at Ft. Meade.

… next time, ask him about the treatment of veterans of the Melbourne accident (amongst others), and why the Australian government has spent millions of dollars fighting law suits whilst they wait for the veterans to just [b]shut up and die[/b].

Or why, unlike England, the USA or NZ, the Australian government refuses to recognise the veterans of the nuclear bomb experiments in Australia (courtesy of their British friends) as having any claim for veterans medical benefits. Their argument? “We weren’t at war so you are not actually [i]veterans[/i]”. {Ironically after forcing the British government into hundreds of millions dollars compensation to the aboriginal land owners, the Australian government says that their own military personnel were not subject to any danger whatsoever, when their safety gear consisted of a beer can and a t-shirt.}

I am sure he was brilliant dinner company and said wonderful things about Australia’s treatment and reverence of their and other’s veterans.

{edit spelling}

Philip is charming

In reply to Send him an email

I have had the pleasure to meet Philip. He was charming, real and witty. I appreciated his directness and found his hospitality both welcoming and refreshing.
Thank you Philip

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