denecessary

As many of you may be aware, my contract with Queensland Urban Utilities has not been renewed.

My last day will be the 31 December 2012.


I commenced my career at Queensland Urban Utilities as an Audit and Compliance Officer, checking on safety and quality of water and sewerage construction projects including sewer main upgrades and water main pipe bursting. It was not long before I was seconded into the Contract Management of the construction of an additional overflow channel for the Luggage Point Sewage Treatment Plant.  

I really enjoyed the opportunity to manage the contracts for upgrades to regional lagoons, in some cases from procurement right through to construction. I also appreciate having the opportunity to be involved in a team working strategically to embed ecological and business sustainability principles into Queensland Urban Utilities’ procurement processes.

In the short term, I will be looking for another opportunity somewhere in the local, Australian Water industry.  I would be grateful, if anyone has some suggestions.


In the longer term, I shall be pursuing opportunities in International Development Assistance for water and sanitation in developing communities.


I will continue to seek support from Queensland Urban Utilities to assist reinventing the toilet and/or to work on local projects to improve access to toilets.


I have really enjoyed working at Queensland Urban Utilities. 

Labor's Identity crisis

I may be everything that John Birmhingham thinks makes the Labor party doomed (doomed he says).

 My grandparents were fair dinkum working class.  Dad's dad was a Firey.  Mum's dad worked for the water board.  My grandmothers could not vote or could not drink in a public bar.  Once they married, it was expected that they would give up their careers and stay at home to raise my respective parents, my Aunts & my Uncles.

My parents climbed the ladders of opportunity.  Dad obtained a cadetship and worked as a Health Inspector, eventually climbing to run Building and Town Planning sections of Municipal Authorities.

Mum also climbed a ladder. She gained a scholarship to be a teacher.

As a child, I watched Mum bang her head on glass ceilings.  She needed twice the experience and three times the qualifications to break into administration.  She taught by day and studied at night.

My siblings and I (through no fault of our own) were the kids of professionals. The lower tiers of our maslow's hierarchy of human needs was met.   We were raised in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, on a farm, surrounded by rainforest & close to beaches & all sorts of wilderness.

My parents took me off to Sunday School, where I learnt about Missionaries.  I watched slides shows of poor people in developing communities.  I did not want to save them.  I did want them to access to clean water and designated, sustainable places to poo.

So as an adult, I must be what JB refers to as soft left!  I am a Greenie (though not a Green). I am a humanitarian.  I work as a mercenary contractor for a Municipal Authority and run a floundering social enterprise.

So on Labor Day, 2012.  I am working from home, with the dual responsibilities of child care & provider.  I would have liked to have marched with the Labour movement today, but I am not sure I belong.

Social Enterprise

Today's blog post is based on my own navel gazing as I seek to find ways to earn a livelihood, whilst solving social and/or environmental problems. For me there is no such thing as work/life balance.......it is all LIFE.

My problem seems to be more economic: I have a floundering social enterprise.

It does not cost me much to keep it ticking over, but it is not returning on my investments of time or money either.

I attended a lecture this morning at the Ideas Festival titled: Inclusive Australia: Is there a place for profit in social enterprise?

Simon McKeon is amongst other things the Chairman of the CSIRO and a board member of World Vision. He is also Australian of the Year.

Simon was engaging & interesting. He said lots of things about including women, aging populations & people with disabilities & disadvantages into the workforce......but the workforce he described seemed quite entrenched in modern paradigms.

He was hopeful that using genetically altered plants to produce omega 3 fatty acids was going to reduce dependence on wild fish stocks. Simon seemed to think GM is a really good idea. I am not so sure.

There has been a lot of talk in recent years about Corporate Social Responsibility. I struggle with the concept of business who are seeking to be socially responsible when their core businesses &/or mission statements are socially destructive (like fossil fuels or tobacco or industrial food).

I have not refined my concept of a Social Enterprise but I am seeking models of enterprise that are a little different.......I am looking for ways that I (and others) can meet our humans needs and/or provide for our dependents & achieve social objectives.

I love the work that Food Connect are doing. My challenge (for myself) is to find commercial solutions for environmental problems. I would love to be part of a business that employs stay-at-home parents, semi-retired professionals & people with disabilities.

I love the work of Hub Melbourne and/or the School of Social Entrepreneurs and/or Think Act Live