Parliament in full swing

PARLIAMENT is in full swing and for two more weeks I will be busy with my parliamentary duties, as well as keeping up to date with my office on matters in my electorate.

A reminder, the office, at 76 Forrest Street, remains closed whilst renovations are being completed. The temporary office at unit 9, 13 Forrest Street, is open on Mondays and Thursdays from 9am to 4.30pm and my staff remain contactable by email or phone during normal office hours.

CONGRATULATIONS to the Shire of Collie for receiving a 2023 Youth WA Grant to present their Youth Week Festival, celebrating the youth of Collie.

The McGowan Labor Government provided 40 community organisations and local governments with grants ranging from $1,500 to $3,000 to support staging of youth-focused events during Youth Week WA, from April 14 to 21.

I FEATURED Graham, Lorna and the team at Boulevard Café on my Small Business Shout Out on Sunday, with many also offering their own kind words.

Fun fact – the Premier, Mark McGowan, also highly rates the Boulevard Café; his personal favourite is the tuna pattie with a chocolate milkshake.

AS PART of the McGowan Government’s Every Club Grant Scheme, I am thrilled to announce the Shire of Collie will receive $93,000 over three years for club development and support.

This will include development of a resource hub at Roche Park Recreation Centre, support from a Club Support Officer, consultants and mentors for Collie’s sporting and recreation groups to build capacity and develop stronger clubs.

FINALLY, wishing the Collie Senior High School staff and students a magical night for the 2023 School Ball happening on Saturday night. Parents remember to bring the tissues for the arrivals.

THERE was a time when I could not work out what made old blokes get so grumpy.

Many of these blokes seemed to be hassled by something and always had something to gripe about.

I’d often think they could save themselves some angst by just getting on with life - couldn’t they?

Well, as I get older and qualify for “old bloke” status, I am starting to review these old whingers and I’m finding that I have a lot more in common with them than I thought would ever be the case.

A recent trip to the big village - also known as Perth - brought home to me just how cranky I am getting and just how easily I can justify my whingeing.

You see, I am not in tune with what many people call “progress”. I like things the way they were, why do I have to change?

However, change was exactly what I had to do when attending a tennis event at what was the Perth Entertainment Centre but now has a new moniker, the RAC Arena.

In the good old days, buying food or a drink at the venue was not a problem, as long as you had a few dollars in your pocket. Fast forward to 2023 and this is no longer the case.

Imagine my feelings when, fully loaded up with junk food and drinks, I was told by a young woman that I needed a credit card to make the purchase.

“Well, I don’t have a credit card,” I told her. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say, “your problem, not mine”.

This is where the old whingeing bloke comes out.

“What’s wrong with my money?” I asked, as the queue behind me started to build up.

But there was no way the young woman was going to give ground.

“Look if you don’t have a credit card all you have to do is go down the steps to the ground floor, go to the administration office and use your cash to buy vouchers which can be used up here,” she advised.

“If I can do that down there, why can’t you just take my money up here?”

I asked. “I just can’t, the rules are the rules, we don’t take cash,” she responded as she turned away to serve the next person in the queue.

What did I do, what could I do?

I swallowed my pride. I left the food and drink on the counter and rushed back to my seat where my wife and friends were waiting for their eats. Fortunately, my wife is always carrying credit cards, both hers and mine, and has made a virtue of using them as “it makes things easier”. Say that again!

Back to the young woman at the food outlet and fully equipped with a credit card.

“See it wasn’t that hard,” she said as I swiped my credit card.

Reality is that it was not that hard, but the sting was in the tail. A couple of weeks later we received our credit card statement and discovered that the sale had gone through, together with a surcharge for the privilege of having used the credit card.