QPS Weapons Licensing Application Processing

Of course, the very day AFTER I sent a somewhat ranty letter to the Minister for Police and my local MP, Steve Minikin… the long awaited for license for my son, did actually turn up in the mail.  Murphy’s Law or something, that one.

But I did get a phone call from a very nice supervisor at Weapon’s Licensing Branch yesterday, who did try and tell me that they were putting processes in place to try and streamline processing times for new applications.  A couple of the things she shared I thought were worth passing on with people who have landed here after Googling for information on Queensland Police Service Weapons Licensing Branch.

What everyone really wants to know is “Why is my firearms application taking so long!?”  Well, that actually has a really simple answer.  They are victims of, A) their own success and B) the idiocy of the average punter.  A while ago, WLB implemented an online lodgement system to streamline their application processes.  This convenient way of applying for your firearms license has made it much easier for people to lodge an application… however, it has inconveniently side stepped the police stations that used to receive applications and, importantly, it has side stepped the QPS officers and QPS administrative staff that used to CHECK that applications were complete BEFORE they made it to WLB.  This means more and more applications are turning up at WLB that are incomplete and can not be processed.  Incomplete applications are now requiring double and triple handling as Authorising Officers are going back and forth with applicants to obtain supporting documentation that should have been supplied with the original application.

Additionally, the perceived ease of lodgement situation has resulted in a 44% INCREASE in new applications over the last twelve months, but so far, (no doubt thanks the Newman Governments public service hiring policy) less than a 10% increase in staff to deal with the influx.  The work unit processing new applications is seriously understaffed and the supervisor I spoke with estimates each staff member is spending up to 25% of their day fielding phone calls from disgruntled applicants.  That’s right, calls to check on applications and people taking out their cranky on the poor admin staff who are trying to get on top of it, is considerably slowing down application processing times.  I am guilty of this one myself (most notably in the situation where my PTA application was lost and all my personal details and firearms licensing information was in the wind), and in some circumstances it is probably warranted, but if you’ve been forewarned that there is a minimum of 10-12 weeks for processing, there is probably not much point in calling up and wasting the time they could be spending actually processing your application.

So, I guess naturally, the next question is “What is WLB doing to fix the problem?”.  Well, unfortunately, it’s not as simple as what my solution would be – HIRE MORE BLOODY STAFF.  It seems they are a bit hamstrung on that one, though they are continually applying pressure to the powers that be to create more positions.  In the interim, they have (probably just after my son’s application was received) started to implement a triage system, whereby certain applications are being speed tracked, so as not to be held up with the backlog.   Applications like Minor’s Licenses, Cat H licenses, PTA’s for existing license holders, and various other “I’ve already been vetted by your people or I am 11, so am unlikely to have a criminal history”, applications are going to the top of the queue.   After that COMPLETE new applications are being processed first so as not to be delayed by incomplete applications.  Literally it sounds like anything that is received incomplete is being thrown in the ‘sigh, not again’ pile.

QLD-FA-LICENCE-V3-FSo, next logical question “What can I do to get my application processed faster?”  Well, the best thing anyone can do at the moment to try and expedite their application, is to do everything humanly possible to make sure your application is correct and complete.  Double check you’ve got your ID info together, have a suitable photo attached, make sure you attach your safety induction certification, add a copy of your SSAA membership if you are a sporting shooter, or your letters of permission if you are planning on being a rural shooter, as well as any requested medical info that may need to be supplied.  And then basically, do not send that sucker off until you have ticked all the boxes, dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s.  Best suggestion if in doubt – lodge it the old fashioned way at the Police Station so that some one can check you’ve got everything in order.

And then, there’s nothing you can do to speed things up, other than wait without calling every other week to interrupt them.  Good luck!

Joe Hockey’s Acme Inflatable Hostage

Joe Hockey’s Acme Inflatable Hostage
 by Jacinta Reid

So now the Abbott government is all about medical research? After getting rid of the Science Minister, after ensuring that an education in medicine (or any other discipline) will cost vastly more, after throwing hospital funding under a bus, after closing down a whole bunch of government departments and offices and stripping enough money from scientific organisations to fund … well, to fund moderate levels of scientific advancement in a nation of 22 million people, now they are keen for medical research to be well funded into the future?

Nah. Sorry. Not buying it.

The “Medical Research Future Fund” is a prop. It’s a common plot device in so many crime movies; the bad guy holding a gun to a hostage’s head and saying “give me what I want or the blonde gets it”. A pretty, innocent hostage with sympathetic appeal and pleading eyes. The kind of hostage that the audience would think that any hero worth their salt would be heartless and unethical not to choose to protect at any cost.

The Medical Research Future Fund is that hostage. Straight from Central Casting. Nobody is going to say that medical research funding isn’t a good thing. And anyone arguing against the GP Co-payment will run up against the hostage situation, and find that members of the Coalition will jump up and down shouting “Why do you hate medical research funding!!?” Oh the irony. And more irony, in case you were irony deficient; much medical research shows that preventive medicine and picking up ailments for early treatment not only leads to better health outcomes, it costs the nation less. So the Coalition wants to kill off universal healthcare for idealogical reasons, and it says it’s doing it because the rising cost of healthcare is unsustainable. And it’s planning to achieve this sustainable healthcare by implementing a user-pays system that demostrably, where it is implemented around the world, costs taxpayers more than universal healthcare. (And results in lots of preventable deaths, to boot.)

But whenever anyone points out the absurdity of adopting a failed strategy, Hockey whips out a pack labelled “Medical Research Future Fund” pulls the auto-inflate rip-cord and presto! The perfect hostage! Then he says “Give me what I want or I’ll kill Bambi!” or, in other words “Let me end Universal Health Care or you will be responsible for the loss of the Medical Research Future Fund!”

It’s a cruel and transparent ruse, your Acme inflatable hostage. I’m pretty sure if I read the fine print on the box it would say “Not to be used as a lifesaving device, always use under adult supervision.” And every bit of new information that comes out about it inflicts another puncture. Science advisor wasn’t consulted? Pffft. Not planned until a few weeks before the budget? Fffffft! No idea how the funds willl be allocated? Pthbthbthtt!

Sorry, Mr Hockey, but as nice as it would be to have a twenty billion dollar fund to support medical research into the future, I would prefer to maintain medical and science funding more broadly, and keep the existing healthcare system that lets Australian people, whatever their income, put to use the fruits of the good, well established research we already have.

hockey over

Australian Ballet School…

So, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth over the last few weeks regarding the LNP Australian Budget for 2014, where we have seen savage cuts to education, healthcare, pensions, unemployment benefits, deregulation of university fees, family payments, higher education loan schemes, indigenous programs… you name it – anything that might be deemed a necessary public service has been ravaged or in the case of Medicare, had a ‘co-payment’ ie: levy/fee/tax, applied to it.

Then we started seeing things in the news like the Prime Minister’s daughter getting a $60,000 scholarship to a prestigious design school that has never been published, never taken applicants and was supposedly awarded on merit.  Things like the Treasurer, Joe Hockey, protesting university fees back in 1989.  And now a crazy arsed $1M grant for the Australian Ballet School to purchase a $4.7M mansion to use for it’s boarders.

What the actual fuck, LNP Govt?  There’s supposed to be a BUDGET EMERGENCY going on, how can we be giving away even $1M measly to a ballet school?  So I did what I did with most of my political rage – to spare my actual friends on Facebook, I tend to spew most of it forth on Twitter to a bunch of like-minded strangers.

I didn’t really mean to pick a fight with the Board of the Australian Ballet this afternoon, but… oh well.

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Budget help for ballet Australian Ballet School’s new $4.7m mansion

The $4.7 million mansion in Parkville that has been purchased with the help of $1 million of taxpayer money.

The $4.7 million mansion in Parkville that has been purchased with the help of $1 million of taxpayer money.

It is one of Melbourne’s grand mansions – a sprawling century-old stately home that will be a new boarding school for Australia’s aspiring ballerinas – and it has just been purchased with $1 million of taxpayer money granted under Joe Hockey’s tough budget.

More than a few eyebrows were raised when young ballerinas emerged as rare winners on budget night, especially after the federal Treasurer declared, ”The age of entitlement is over.”  Tucked away in the budget papers was a $1 million grant for the Australian Ballet School, to help with its purchase of a new boarding residence. Armed with that taxpayer money, the school has spent more than $4.7 million on a mansion.

Set on a 2025-square-metre allotment, the Queen Anne mansion in Parkville boasts sweeping parkland views of the Royal Park Golf Course, a pool and gardens. According to Jellis Craig Kensington estate agents, the mansion is one of Melbourne’s ”last grand residences”.

”Exquisite period detail and soaring ceilings showcase gracious formal rooms and heritage splendour,” said the estate agent.  Whether ballerinas are lifters or leaners is a matter for debate, but the Ballet School seems to have been given a lift while many other arts institutions took a cut – more than $87 million of cuts over the next four years.

Screen Australia was cut by $25.1 million, while the Australia Council lost $28.2 million.

Just how the Ballet School came to be a beneficiary amid the cuts remains a mystery, but already many in Canberra – including some within the Liberal Party – are pointing out that it’s often not what you know, but who you know.  On the board of the Australian Ballet School is Daniele Kemp, the high-profile wife of former Liberal arts minister Rod Kemp, a predecessor of George Brandis as arts minister. Mr Kemp is now the chairman of the Institute of Public Affairs, a right-wing lobby group.

Mr Kemp and Mr Brandis are said to speak regularly, but Ms Kemp on Tuesday denied that she had any private discussions with the Arts Minister about the $1 million grant.  ”We [the ballet school] applied for the grant, and we met with Mr Brandis as a board,” Ms Kemp said.  ”He [Brandis] did come to Melbourne to visit and meet with us, but I was just one board member at that meeting.”

A senior Liberal told Fairfax Media the timing of the purchase ”does not good look” as cabinet tried to sell its tough budget. ”This school is pretty much a creche for some rich kids in [the seats of] Higgins, Melbourne Ports and Goldstein, and it had enough cash to come up with more than $3.5 million on its own. I admit, it doesn’t look good,” the source said.  It will take substantial renovations to turn the six-bedroom home into a boarding residence capable of housing 28 students.

Mr Brandis confirmed he visited the school in February and the decision ”is another clear indication of the Coalition’s support for the arts even when facing such challenges with the budget”.

Read more: 

A Reminder of Why Australia Was Great.

An Impassioned Story on Facebook by Nhuy Lam*

Screen Shot 2014-05-14 at 9.48.30 pm“I never really use Facebook to make long, heartfelt posts because I try not to bother people. I will this time, though, so here goes nothing. I’m sorry if thereare typos and I’m sorry if I offend anyone… it’s like.. super late right now as I’m typing this.

After the release about the budget, I’m really freaking out about the state of the country. LOL. Isn’t everyone?

My parents and I are refugees. When I was a child, they told me that Australia is a wonderful country. It’s a country where the government is kind and will look after its people; that’s why it’s called the lucky country. My parents got divorced, something very normal in this day and age. Being a child at the time, it was a big thing for me, because suddenly dad was no longer there and my mum was in a deep depression. We were surviving on her disability pension. Hmm… There were days where I my little brother and I would go hungry. Those were bad times, but the school came to the rescue and were wonderful enough to provide us with food (funding for that got cut in my senior year, I think.)

There was another time, when I was younger… in year 7, I guess. So, 11-12 or so? My little brother got very sick and we had to walk to the doctor’s. I clutched my mother’s green health care card in my hand like a lifeline because that flimsy plastic card was what allowed my little brother to see a doctor without the money we didn’t have. I remember I scrounged up 10 dollars that day so I could buy him cough medicine and have a bit left over for cough drops. I wonder what will happen to people in my shoes now that you need to pay money to see a doctor. Seven dollars means a lot to a family in need.

At 16, I applied for Youth Allowance and got it! I was over the moon! I could buy groceries! I could help my mother pay for bills and going hungry would be a distant memory. If I was very, very lucky then I would have enough money left over to spoil my little brother.

I cried in my senior year. I was worried I couldn’t go to university because I couldn’t afford the books. It was like a weight was lifted off my chest when I was told about HECS, about the extra bonus that would be used to pay for books. I couldn’t wait to go to university, to grow up and pay taxes (yes, yes… taxes) just so I could return the money to the country that has held my hand for so long. A country that protected me and allowed me the privilege of an education. I wanted to grow up and pay taxes so the money could be used to help other people in my shoes.

My friends from overseas tell me about how bad their country is, how heartless, and I would think to myself, “Australia isn’t perfect. But at least it cares for the people. That’s what matters.”

WELL. That went out the flippin’ window.

Australia’s coat of arms is a kangaroo and an emu. I thought this is because they are the two animals that are unable to take steps backwards. It was meant to show that Australia is a progressive country, and that it will always continue to move forward.

Tony Abbott has ruined that. He’s ruined so many core aspects of being human, he can’t even be considered Australian. I refuse to consider him as such because no human being would destroy the lives of so many in the name of a surplus to fight against a crisis that isn’t even real.

For as long as I can remember, I was proud of my country. I had faith in my country. I’ve lost that now and I blame him, I really do. It might be unreasonable of me to blame a single person or their political party, but… at night I worry about not being able to find a job straight after uni, of six months in limbo and having no money while I look for a job. I’m not a religious person, but I’m definitely praying to someone or anyone to put a stop to this.

Guys, it’s not Facebook Likes that the government hears. That button does nothing but make people feel as if they’re doing something. It’s action, standing up and protecting your rights that gets you heard. It’s screaming (peacefully) at the top of your lungs that this isn’t right that gets you heard.

I know I’m not alone in this. I’m one Australian of millions who will be affected by the cuts and changes proposed for the 2014 Budget, whose lives were made better by a government that helped provide for our education, that took care of us when we were ill and had nowhere else to turn to. They gave us a brighter future when all else seemed bleak, and now we don’t have even that.

If you feel the same way – share your stories too, speak up. So we can reach out to others like us, to move others to action, to make a difference.

So let’s do it. Let’s get heard.”

*For some reason, Facebook wouldn’t let me share this status, but I really wanted to keep it to remind myself of the ideology Australia is founded on and the precepts we hold dear, and the government that has currently decided that these things, and these people, no longer matter.

Salem Witches and JFK. No segue.

Arrive safely in Boston, to a cool but beautiful afternoon. Traffic here not as alarming as LA, but roadworks made Sondra really work for it. We are staying a basement apartment Massachuessets Avenue, which is on the south side. There whole areas is dominated by apartment blocks that are in rows that seem to go on forever. They look really cool actually, love the slate looking roofs and interesting window seats and stuff.mass-ave-boston.jpghorticultural-society.jpg

We went for a drive out to Salem this morning in search of 17th century witch hunting history. Sensibly the first stop always seem to be a town’s Visitors Centre, where you can normally pick up on all the info that will help you get around and see as much stuff as you can. Fortunately Salem appears to be largely open for business (unlike a lot of New Haven and Plymouth that was ‘closed for the season… yeah, I wouldn’t want to work in that sort of weather either – but what do they do for money over the winter?)salem-visitors-centre.jpgThe Visitors Centre pointed us in the direction of the Salem Witch Museum which seems to be the biggest/most visited witchy attraction in Salem, so off we went. Outside we saw a statue of Roger Conant, the first person to settle in Salem in 1620 – can’t figure out whether he did anything else remarkable but there is a statue to the guy outside the Witch Museum nonetheless.
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Now, where to start with the Salem Witch Museum? It is built in an old gothic style church and I have to say, it is tackier than a black velvet Elvis painting! We got ushered into a large room, (no doubt previously the main room of the church) and were ‘spoonfed’ the history of the Salem witch trials through the use of a spooky voiced over dialogue and sequentially lit dioramas! No shit, we were sitting in the middle of a room, and there was the devil lit up red in the corner talking about how the pilgrims were obsessed with pleasing God and avoiding the devil, then that light went out and another lit up a black slave woman, named Tituba, filling the bored young girls of Salem’s heads full of voodoo, black magic and devils and nonsense. The girls became hysterical, the local quack diagnosed witchcraft and the rest became weird and tragic history. Over 200 people were prosecuted with witchcraft in the couple of years this nonsense was going on, 19 people were hung, a couple were tortured, all Medieval-like, and plenty ended up languishing in goal. After the ‘presentation’ we went through an exhibit that discussed the history of witches and perceptions thereof, starting with pagans through to Halloween and Wizard of Oz style witches to modern day Wiccans. There was a huge timeline on one wall of the exhibit which was intended to display the history of ‘outbreaks’ of witchcraft and witch persecution, but they included Joan of Arc who was charged with ‘heresy’ (this is not even remotely related to witchcraft) and left off Anne Boleyn was definitely WAS accused of witchcraft at one point due to her possession of an extra finger. So the accuracy of the museum exhibits was a bit of the light side? Meh, there’s plenty of well written books on this – it obviously continues to fascinate people. Aside from these obvious failings, I found the $9 admission fee was money well spent – you can’t find this sort of tacky just anywhere, you know! 🙂
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After that we went for a wander around Boston Common and went to find the Salem Witch Village – which I had high hopes would have very little to do with historical witchcraft/witches. On the way, we saw the Church of the Immaculate Conception, (beautiful building) and I noticed in the front yard of the church, a monument of sorts containing the Ten Commandments… which tickled my fancy enormously as I thought the peoples around there way back when, needed to pay a little more attention to the 8th Commandment, in my humble opinion!
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We found the Witch Village, right around the corner from the local WitchCraft Beer Brewing Company, and the Salem Pirate Museum (alas, closed for the ‘season’). The Village contained a memorial park, another museum AND (wait for it!) a wax museum… so not going in there!! So instead we wandered around the memorial park and had a good look through the old cemetery, which contained many headstones from the original residents of Salem. I’ve always found old cemeteries rather sad, but fascinating.
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After the cemetery, we went down the Salem’s waterfront area which was nigh on deserted – I can imagine it’s extremely busy in summer, as there are heaps of little shops and restaurants, many of which were open, but looking very closed still in this weather.
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In the bay is The Friendship of Salem which is a 171-foot replica of a 1797 East Indiaman, built in New York, in 2000. The boat/ship thingy functions as a stationary museum during most of the year, however the ship is a fully functioning United States Coast Guard vessel capable of proper passenger and crew voyages, and occasionally sets sail. The name is a little twee, but the ship is pretty cool.
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We found ourselves at The Capts Seafood Grill for lunch right by The Friendship overlooking the harbour which was really pleasant. I had to try the lobster risotto – so much lobster and so cheap! – and after kicking aside all the overpower capers, found it to be absolutely delicious. First meal I have had that was in a regular sized portion for one to enjoy an elegant sufficiency and not leave half your meal on your plate!
losbster-risotto.jpgcapers-yuck.jpgIt was delicious, except for the whole drowning in bloody capers bit! Capers indeed!
After lunch we headed up Hawthorne Street towards the Hawthorne Hotel (there’s lots of Hawthorne around here, especially in the cemetery!), and saw a statue dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne himself.
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The only other thing that really stood out in Salem, other than the overwhelming number of new age shops selling incense, crystals, and all things Wicca and pagan, was the sheer number of tarot readers, psychic readers, palm readers and divination type people. There were sooo many shops full of people offering to read your future. I don’t know if Salem breeds them like this, or if the nutters are attracted to Salem to make a living, but they were everywhere! Weird. Made me wonder if it was a particularly ‘when in Rome’ thing to do – go to Salem, have your fortunes told?! Who knows.
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Oh, and I am totally sick of seeing this everywhere – massive piles of unmelted snow left over from two weeks ago… it’s so cold, the snow doesn’t want to melt. 🙁
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After the tacky tacky delights of Salem, the most Touristy Historical Place Ever, we made our way to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
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The tour of the museum started with a film presentation of JFK’s early life and his love of the sea, life growing up in Cape Cod, and his intention to be a writer and a teacher, through to his naval career and early political career. There was plenty of casual footage of JFK and his family – himself and his 8 brothers and sisters – as well as his marriage to Jackie and their own two children. His early political career seemed to run smoothly, though it sounds like he never had any intentions of entering politics, and his father had originally earmarked his older brother Joe for a public life, but with Joe’s death, JFK ran for the House of Reps and won, and then the Senate and won that too, before eventually running for the Presidency in 1960. They have lots of memorabilia surrounding his election campaign on display in the museum there –
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This is a reconstruction of the tally room where Walter Cronkite narrated the votes coming in across the country for the 1960 presidential elections, and a map showing the final counts-
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JFK was enormously popular with his young bride beside him, I don’t think we have ever seen anything quite like it before or since… and certainly never seen anything like it in Australia. It is mind boggling to think how different history might have been if he wasn’t assassinated and if he had served two terms as President. I wonder what that would have looked like?
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I found this amusing, JFK was presented with a replica of the desk set used to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776, by the White House News Correspondents and Photographers – a replica of the same desk set we had seen in Philadelphia only a couple of days ago.
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This thing was incredibly beautiful, so I had to take a photograph of it. It is a solid gold purse with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, that was presented to Jackie Kennedy by King Hussan of Morocco in 1963. So many of the gifts that the Kennedys received while in office were either commissioned by various statesmen, or beguilingly were actual treasures from the donating country – for example they were given a 3rd century BC statue from a representative of Afghanistan… who goes around giving away pieces of their nation’s own history? That makes no sense to me.
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Also in the library/museum is a large portion of the Berlin Wall, to commemorate JFK’s extensive involvement in Berlin during his short tenure as President… very cool.
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The Presidential Library and Museum itself is really quite impressive. Built in 1977 with Jackie Kennedy having approved the site and the plans, it is a very imposing structure well placed on Columbia Point and well worth a visit. The museum section itself is designed to look like you are walking through White House corridors and artefacts and information line the walls and various rooms off the corridors. They also have an awesome gift shop.
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One thing I did notice was the way the museum completely glosses over JFK’s assassination… no mention of it at all. No newspaper clippings, no news reel footage, no magazine covers. Nothing. For such an important moment in American history – everyone remembers where they were when they heard, apparently – it seems an odd omission. The only reference at all to his death was a newsreel running footage of his funeral and burial at Arlington Cemetery. I guess it seems a sensitive way to deal with this very painful chapter of America’s recent history, but I feel that younger foreigners who may not be aware of what happened to JFK could potentially miss something very important by their choosing to leave it out.