Gillian Polack's Blog, page 191
April 26, 2012
At Parliament House
Let me start with the important thing: Parliament House still has very strong coffee and totally delicious biscuits for its meetings. I only had one biscuit, but they were very tempting.
I got the bus to just over a mile away and I walked to Parliament House through the Parliamentary Triangle. Parliamentary Triangle is an odd combination of Australian green and European autumn. There was a row of oaks in full bronze leaf and then there was an avenue of gum trees with the bark dripping down. I swished oak leaves and smiled at Magna Carta Place and discovered (again) just how very beautiful that bit of Canberra is and how few people walk it. Three blocks on is tourist central, but the walk from Commonwealth Avenue up between Old and New Parliament Houses is solitary and rather wonderful.
Nothing has changed in the set-up for meetings at Parliament House. I went straight to the desk I knew a zillion years ago and found someone waiting.
"You're the anti-racism person," I said, confidently. "You have to walk us into the committee room."
"How did you know?"
"Systems haven't changed here in fifteen years," I said, "I was on automatic the moment I walked through security." I signed my name and collected my 'escorted visitor' pass and a few more people came through security. The staff member and I talked about our work histories until enough of us had accumulated to be walked in.
I admired the fossils in the floor and we walked up the marble staircase and I waved to the Magna Carta. At the top of the staircase the staff member asked me, "How about here - has this changed?" and we went to the nearest room of all. 1R1 is its official name. A standard committee room that seats about 40 comfortably. I sat in a different place to usual.
That was the thing. It was 'usual' despite all the years. I've decided that one is the same age at a Parliament House meeting as one was when one first attended one, which means I was in my late twenties for two hours this afternoon.
The crowd has changed. I only knew one person. And there were only about thirty of us. It was staff-intensive and almost everyone else was a representative of an organisation. I wasn't, of course, and that was both good (I said different things) and bad (people kept clustering with the folks they knew).
I managed to talk to a few people both before the meeting and during the break. During the meeting I took a lot of notes. After a while my notes morphed from what people were saying and into an analysis of things. I am partway to working out a whole range of issues related to implementing the problems that were expressed today. I don't know if those things will be used - I have no responsibility of follow-up on this. How odd.
Today was supposed to be about working on strategies. The whole consultative structure that was so important under the Labor governments before Howard have been dismantled, however, and I suspect that they were not 'mantled' quickly enough under new Labor. What I heard today were a lot of people airing their (perfectly legitimate) grievances. Representative after representative gave anecdotes and incidents. There's so much hurt, and it needed space and time to be heard.
There was no airing of Jewish hurt, even though there was at least one representative of the Jewish community present* and things are tough right now. I think this is due to us having done the grievances thing before. We know that telling people about specific hurts is not going to change things and we just want to move on to substantive change. At least, that's why I think the Jewish community representative was quiet. It's why I was, way back when that representative was me. But not everyone has hurt starting back quite so far, and they are still moving through the stage of needing to explain. In fact, you could see migration patterns to Australia in what people voiced and how they described things.
I do wish that the organisers had turned the consultations into two batches: one for this essential process of having the hurt acknowledged and noted and documented and analysed ready to act on, and another for the strategy we were supposed to be working on.
This is why my notes morphed. I could see the storylines in what everyone was saying and I could put it together in terms of culture and in terms of where we are as a country and I could see what could be done to change things. I still have that part of my brain, then, even if I don't use it very often. I chatted with a couple of staffers over tea break and was sent to talk to a third. So I earned my coffee and biscuits.
We were given a quick response by the note-taking senior person and we were hustled out, as one is when Parliament House shuts at 5 pm and the officers have to clean up after us and walk us out the door. The moment we were outside the committee room, the chatting groups separated into people who knew each other outside. Someone couldn't wait to get into a conversation with the person I was talking to and so I walked out of Parliament House alone and got the dusk return walk (downhill!) through the gum trees and the oaks. I detoured via Magna Carta Place, just because I could. Also because an extra ten minutes meant I had a seat on the bus.
I so want to say something like, "And this, children, is Australian democracy at work." It wasn't a confidential meeting, though, so what I will say is I'm happy to talk more about it, if you have questions.
*Not me. I was still representing myself. That was such a strange feeling, not having constituents.
I got the bus to just over a mile away and I walked to Parliament House through the Parliamentary Triangle. Parliamentary Triangle is an odd combination of Australian green and European autumn. There was a row of oaks in full bronze leaf and then there was an avenue of gum trees with the bark dripping down. I swished oak leaves and smiled at Magna Carta Place and discovered (again) just how very beautiful that bit of Canberra is and how few people walk it. Three blocks on is tourist central, but the walk from Commonwealth Avenue up between Old and New Parliament Houses is solitary and rather wonderful.
Nothing has changed in the set-up for meetings at Parliament House. I went straight to the desk I knew a zillion years ago and found someone waiting.
"You're the anti-racism person," I said, confidently. "You have to walk us into the committee room."
"How did you know?"
"Systems haven't changed here in fifteen years," I said, "I was on automatic the moment I walked through security." I signed my name and collected my 'escorted visitor' pass and a few more people came through security. The staff member and I talked about our work histories until enough of us had accumulated to be walked in.
I admired the fossils in the floor and we walked up the marble staircase and I waved to the Magna Carta. At the top of the staircase the staff member asked me, "How about here - has this changed?" and we went to the nearest room of all. 1R1 is its official name. A standard committee room that seats about 40 comfortably. I sat in a different place to usual.
That was the thing. It was 'usual' despite all the years. I've decided that one is the same age at a Parliament House meeting as one was when one first attended one, which means I was in my late twenties for two hours this afternoon.
The crowd has changed. I only knew one person. And there were only about thirty of us. It was staff-intensive and almost everyone else was a representative of an organisation. I wasn't, of course, and that was both good (I said different things) and bad (people kept clustering with the folks they knew).
I managed to talk to a few people both before the meeting and during the break. During the meeting I took a lot of notes. After a while my notes morphed from what people were saying and into an analysis of things. I am partway to working out a whole range of issues related to implementing the problems that were expressed today. I don't know if those things will be used - I have no responsibility of follow-up on this. How odd.
Today was supposed to be about working on strategies. The whole consultative structure that was so important under the Labor governments before Howard have been dismantled, however, and I suspect that they were not 'mantled' quickly enough under new Labor. What I heard today were a lot of people airing their (perfectly legitimate) grievances. Representative after representative gave anecdotes and incidents. There's so much hurt, and it needed space and time to be heard.
There was no airing of Jewish hurt, even though there was at least one representative of the Jewish community present* and things are tough right now. I think this is due to us having done the grievances thing before. We know that telling people about specific hurts is not going to change things and we just want to move on to substantive change. At least, that's why I think the Jewish community representative was quiet. It's why I was, way back when that representative was me. But not everyone has hurt starting back quite so far, and they are still moving through the stage of needing to explain. In fact, you could see migration patterns to Australia in what people voiced and how they described things.
I do wish that the organisers had turned the consultations into two batches: one for this essential process of having the hurt acknowledged and noted and documented and analysed ready to act on, and another for the strategy we were supposed to be working on.
This is why my notes morphed. I could see the storylines in what everyone was saying and I could put it together in terms of culture and in terms of where we are as a country and I could see what could be done to change things. I still have that part of my brain, then, even if I don't use it very often. I chatted with a couple of staffers over tea break and was sent to talk to a third. So I earned my coffee and biscuits.
We were given a quick response by the note-taking senior person and we were hustled out, as one is when Parliament House shuts at 5 pm and the officers have to clean up after us and walk us out the door. The moment we were outside the committee room, the chatting groups separated into people who knew each other outside. Someone couldn't wait to get into a conversation with the person I was talking to and so I walked out of Parliament House alone and got the dusk return walk (downhill!) through the gum trees and the oaks. I detoured via Magna Carta Place, just because I could. Also because an extra ten minutes meant I had a seat on the bus.
I so want to say something like, "And this, children, is Australian democracy at work." It wasn't a confidential meeting, though, so what I will say is I'm happy to talk more about it, if you have questions.
*Not me. I was still representing myself. That was such a strange feeling, not having constituents.
April 25, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-04-26T11:36:00
I'm not getting dressed until lunchtime.
This is because today I have to wear clothes suitable for Parliament House. The one time I went there wearing unsuitable clothes, I met Carmen Lawrence - she sat on a coffee table and I sat on a comfie chair and I was wearing my most comfortable top and was aware of every single hole in it - I was supposed to be there for the launch of an anti-racism resource, but Helen Leonard (who I miss so much) grabbed Veronica Wensing and me after the launch and dragged us all sorts of places ("You're both signed in and have your visitors' IDs, I have my consultant's ID and will be with you the whole time - stop worrying about us being outside the public zone, Gillian - it's all perfectly fine") and we did some amazing things* and I was wearing a top that had holes and I was wearing leggings. Since then I have worn more respectable clothes and nothing nearly as exciting has happened to me. This is much safer.
What's fascinating about today is that it's an entirely different anti-racism effort. What we were launching that day way-back-then was an NGO manual. I think I might still have an e-copy of it. I didn't do anything much on it - that was Amrita DasVarma. But I was there for bits of it and I was working with Amrita on related things and I was invited and so I decided I should break with my usual custom of avoiding launches** and should turn up for moral support. Helen said that it would be a good idea, and Helen was the sort of person who knew so very much that when she said jump, you'd be stupid not to ask "How high?" Except I have a streak of foolishness and I honestly thought I could get away with sitting in the back and sneaking out the moment I could. So I wore whatever I was wearing that day at home (I didn't want to disrupt my day more than I had to - in and out, that was my plan, with no-one even noticing me). I was wearing my then-favourite big cotton top and a pair of leggings. My leggings didn't have holes, at least. The wrists of the top were, however, decaying interestingly. And I met Lawrence and Albanese and a bunch of others, in the private cafe and in the corridors and outside the Labor Women's Caucus and the only one who seemed to notice just how underdressed I was (or who seemed to care) was Albanese. Albanese was very relieved when we moved on.
This afternoon is going to be far more ordinary. It's one of the consultations for the new anti-racism strategy. Someone junior will be meeting with community and we will be in and out and nothing exciting will happen.
It's been a while since I've done this kind of thing, so I'm glad this is one of those basic consultations and nothing spectacular. It'd take a lot of persuasion to get me back into the hamster wheel. It takes the exact energies I use for writing and there's a lot of hard work without many results. My end of it was always unpaid and mostly unseen, too, which means I get to be entertained at cons when young turks tell me how to think on racism, on gender issues, on equity. Drabbit, I just realised. Now that I'm talking about it openly, I won't get overtalked as often. I may lose a source of entertainment!
At the moment (still in my PJs, as I said) I'm trying to remember if the 1R1 is one of the committee rooms that I need to be signed in for or not. It's on the Reps side (which really doesn't matter, because the bus drops me where the bus drops me).
I shall do what I always do (for I've never been able to remember signing in at Parliament House and go to the main entrance and ask a nice person at a desk. And I shall be dressed respectably, sadly.
* I've put a bit of this into Secret Jewish Women's Business, but had to tone it down because it just didn't read as real
** I go to booklaunches where I can, but that's different.
This is because today I have to wear clothes suitable for Parliament House. The one time I went there wearing unsuitable clothes, I met Carmen Lawrence - she sat on a coffee table and I sat on a comfie chair and I was wearing my most comfortable top and was aware of every single hole in it - I was supposed to be there for the launch of an anti-racism resource, but Helen Leonard (who I miss so much) grabbed Veronica Wensing and me after the launch and dragged us all sorts of places ("You're both signed in and have your visitors' IDs, I have my consultant's ID and will be with you the whole time - stop worrying about us being outside the public zone, Gillian - it's all perfectly fine") and we did some amazing things* and I was wearing a top that had holes and I was wearing leggings. Since then I have worn more respectable clothes and nothing nearly as exciting has happened to me. This is much safer.
What's fascinating about today is that it's an entirely different anti-racism effort. What we were launching that day way-back-then was an NGO manual. I think I might still have an e-copy of it. I didn't do anything much on it - that was Amrita DasVarma. But I was there for bits of it and I was working with Amrita on related things and I was invited and so I decided I should break with my usual custom of avoiding launches** and should turn up for moral support. Helen said that it would be a good idea, and Helen was the sort of person who knew so very much that when she said jump, you'd be stupid not to ask "How high?" Except I have a streak of foolishness and I honestly thought I could get away with sitting in the back and sneaking out the moment I could. So I wore whatever I was wearing that day at home (I didn't want to disrupt my day more than I had to - in and out, that was my plan, with no-one even noticing me). I was wearing my then-favourite big cotton top and a pair of leggings. My leggings didn't have holes, at least. The wrists of the top were, however, decaying interestingly. And I met Lawrence and Albanese and a bunch of others, in the private cafe and in the corridors and outside the Labor Women's Caucus and the only one who seemed to notice just how underdressed I was (or who seemed to care) was Albanese. Albanese was very relieved when we moved on.
This afternoon is going to be far more ordinary. It's one of the consultations for the new anti-racism strategy. Someone junior will be meeting with community and we will be in and out and nothing exciting will happen.
It's been a while since I've done this kind of thing, so I'm glad this is one of those basic consultations and nothing spectacular. It'd take a lot of persuasion to get me back into the hamster wheel. It takes the exact energies I use for writing and there's a lot of hard work without many results. My end of it was always unpaid and mostly unseen, too, which means I get to be entertained at cons when young turks tell me how to think on racism, on gender issues, on equity. Drabbit, I just realised. Now that I'm talking about it openly, I won't get overtalked as often. I may lose a source of entertainment!
At the moment (still in my PJs, as I said) I'm trying to remember if the 1R1 is one of the committee rooms that I need to be signed in for or not. It's on the Reps side (which really doesn't matter, because the bus drops me where the bus drops me).
I shall do what I always do (for I've never been able to remember signing in at Parliament House and go to the main entrance and ask a nice person at a desk. And I shall be dressed respectably, sadly.
* I've put a bit of this into Secret Jewish Women's Business, but had to tone it down because it just didn't read as real
** I go to booklaunches where I can, but that's different.
gillpolack @ 2012-04-25T21:57:00
What a wonderful birthday I've had. I not only got to see some of my dear friends, but they gave me presents. One of the presents was the opening screening of The Avengers. People turned up in costume and one Iron Man not only got a round of applause as he walked in, but then told all of us to enjoy his movie.
My presents are very Gillianish. I have goose fat, for instance, and ROD The TV (my favourite anime of all time) and a book and notebook and steampunk scarf and roses and chocolate and bookmarks and a pencil and Han Solo in carbonite moulds (which should make rather good-looking chocolate, especially if I can get the colour right). Apparently there are more presents on the way, too, which is rather magic.
Kaaron Warren made me an ANZAC birthday cake, and her daughter decorated it. I have two lovely pictures (from Donna and Griff) but I can't seem to save them to disk and transfer them to LJ. If I work out how (or someone knows how to get more options in Picture Viewer) I shall post them for your envy. The cake itself is all gone and was delicious.
Thank you everyone, for your good wishes and for being just being there. Part of the joy of this birthday was coming online and finding friends in lurk.
My presents are very Gillianish. I have goose fat, for instance, and ROD The TV (my favourite anime of all time) and a book and notebook and steampunk scarf and roses and chocolate and bookmarks and a pencil and Han Solo in carbonite moulds (which should make rather good-looking chocolate, especially if I can get the colour right). Apparently there are more presents on the way, too, which is rather magic.
Kaaron Warren made me an ANZAC birthday cake, and her daughter decorated it. I have two lovely pictures (from Donna and Griff) but I can't seem to save them to disk and transfer them to LJ. If I work out how (or someone knows how to get more options in Picture Viewer) I shall post them for your envy. The cake itself is all gone and was delicious.
Thank you everyone, for your good wishes and for being just being there. Part of the joy of this birthday was coming online and finding friends in lurk.
April 24, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-04-25T08:49:00
My bread is rising and so I'm taking a computer break to say 'hi.' When I've rested, I shall make cupcakes. Then, I guess, I might have to do housework. I so don't want to do housework. I wish my friends could just eat the bread and cake without needing the place in half-order and clean.
gillpolack @ 2012-04-24T23:27:00
I didn't get much work done tonight. I tried watching Prince Valiant, but it was easier to wash dishes. Fortunately, I had a lot of dishes to wash. Now I only have a few. And, thankfully, no more Prince Valiant.
No work now until Thursday. Wednesday morning is all the housework and cooking I forgot about tonight. And Wednesday afternoon and evening are going to be fun! See you all on the far side, when I will magically be sophisticated and mature.
No work now until Thursday. Wednesday morning is all the housework and cooking I forgot about tonight. And Wednesday afternoon and evening are going to be fun! See you all on the far side, when I will magically be sophisticated and mature.
gillpolack @ 2012-04-24T20:42:00
I just got in from class and I promised one of my students I'd take an hour off before I did any work. Another student brought in biscuits and gave me a flower, so it was a lovely night. It always is with these students. I'll be very sad next week, which is my last week with them.
Before I taught, I finished the last of the research left over post-burglary. This means I'm up to a week after the burglary with my dissertation and entirely caught up with my novel. I'm still a couple of weeks behind with other things, but if I can keep catching up on things then one day I shall cease being Red Queen and return to being Gillian. I have until 9 May for this wonder to happen, for from 9 May until the dental work is all done I won't have much time for work. Or rather, I shall be doing different work. I shall meet my Sydney publisher for instance and teach a completely different group to the usual the week after. Still, that and the teeth are two weeks away and I only have one medical appointment between now and then, from memory.
And I'm babbling. I think this means I might need dinner. Also, I may put the heater on, given the air is a bit chilly. Then I'll ponder the possibilities of work...
Before I taught, I finished the last of the research left over post-burglary. This means I'm up to a week after the burglary with my dissertation and entirely caught up with my novel. I'm still a couple of weeks behind with other things, but if I can keep catching up on things then one day I shall cease being Red Queen and return to being Gillian. I have until 9 May for this wonder to happen, for from 9 May until the dental work is all done I won't have much time for work. Or rather, I shall be doing different work. I shall meet my Sydney publisher for instance and teach a completely different group to the usual the week after. Still, that and the teeth are two weeks away and I only have one medical appointment between now and then, from memory.
And I'm babbling. I think this means I might need dinner. Also, I may put the heater on, given the air is a bit chilly. Then I'll ponder the possibilities of work...
April 23, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-04-24T10:23:00
I've done my novel edits. Now I need to leave it for a few days and then revisit. That's when I'll make the chapter titles less quirky. I shall miss quirky chapter titles!
The rest of the day is wildly bookish, except when I teach. If I'm really clever, I'll actually finish the reading for Chapter Six of the dissertation and be caught up on one more of the tasks that fell behind. It's a lot of reading, but I'll feel *so* much better when it's done. I'd better get on with it!
The rest of the day is wildly bookish, except when I teach. If I'm really clever, I'll actually finish the reading for Chapter Six of the dissertation and be caught up on one more of the tasks that fell behind. It's a lot of reading, but I'll feel *so* much better when it's done. I'd better get on with it!
gillpolack @ 2012-04-23T23:33:00
Burglary is the gift that keeps on giving: I discovered more missing things tonight. Nothing end-of-worldish. Just another bit of sorting that must be done.
gillpolack @ 2012-04-23T18:04:00
No more medical appointments ALL WEEK! And I've nearly finished the novel edits. By 'nearly' I mean that the four episodes that were all too much for me still remain and my chapter headings need fixing - I like headings that bear no relation to the chapter and apparently this is not such a good thing. And I've read 200 pages for BiblioBuffet articles and finished with a whole stack of notes for the PhD.
Also, I have refrained from watching my new DVD. I may not watch it until I am all caught up, because I can't see myself doing work while watching...
I have to visit two libraries tomorrow.
My neighbour gave me a lift home from the supermarket.
I was rained upon, very much, on the way to the specialist. This didn't matter so much because it was the kind of specialist one strips off for (I was having an echocardiogram) and so my clothes dried (mostly) before I put them on again.
There has only been one crisis ALL DAY.
And that was your 6 pm news update.
Also, I have refrained from watching my new DVD. I may not watch it until I am all caught up, because I can't see myself doing work while watching...
I have to visit two libraries tomorrow.
My neighbour gave me a lift home from the supermarket.
I was rained upon, very much, on the way to the specialist. This didn't matter so much because it was the kind of specialist one strips off for (I was having an echocardiogram) and so my clothes dried (mostly) before I put them on again.
There has only been one crisis ALL DAY.
And that was your 6 pm news update.
April 22, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-04-23T09:15:00
My parcel is exciting! It's the last two books I needed for chapter six (the ones that were unobtainable in Australia) and it's my birthday present to myself. Thierry la Fronde! Integrale!! 52 episodes in in glorious black and white. Chantez avec moi!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSDQSqe6T_E
