Business Resource & Lifestyle Magazine Issue #62 - Jan/Feb 2014

GWP M a g a z i n e s

S yd ney

®

B u s i n e ss

SYDNEY - Issue 62 | Jan-Feb 2014

M a g a z i n e

S i n c e

2 0 0 5

The Australia Haters Page 16

The Sydney Hills - the Year Ahead Page 18

Are you Complying with Your Obligations under the Fair Work Act? Page 24

Elie Eid & Bass Abboud

‘Impossible’

is an excuse

T o b e c o m e a c o n t r i b u t i n g w r i t e r i n B u s i n e s s R e s o u r c e & L i f e s t y l e c a ll 1 3 0 0 8 8 9 1 3 2 Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

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Editor and Publisher: Dmitry Greku Cover Story: Adrian Payne Contributing Writers: Charlie Lynn Angry Anderson Andé Kelly Stephen Frost Nat Martorano Daniel Moisyeyev Art Director: Svetlana Greku Executive Officer: Daniel Moisyeyev Director of Public Relations: Angry Anderson Cover Design and Cover Story Layout Xabier Goñi, XDesigns Photography: Francesca Surace, Stilz Fotografika Printing: Pegasus Print Group Business Resource & Lifestyle Magazine® is published by GWP Media® and GWP Magazines® ABN: 82 096 352 064 www.gwpmagazine.com.au Office Address: Unit 31, 7 Hoyle Avenue, Castle Hill, NSW 2154 International Standard Serial Number ISSN 1837-199X Advertising Enquiries p | 1300 889 132 e | info@gwpmagazine.com.au To Subscribe w | www.gwpmagazine.com.au

Copyright GWP Media® and GWP Magazines® 2011.

The opinions expressed in this journal do not necessarily reflect and are not to be regarded as the official opinion of the editor, publisher or their agents.

All information contained within this journal is provided for general information purposes only and on the understanding that none of the content herein constitutes professional advice. The editor, publisher or their agents accept no responsibility for any claim, loss or damages arising out of or in connection with any materials contained in this journal. Readers should not rely on the publications in the journal and seek appropriate professional advice in respect of their own circumstances.

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

CONTENTS

CONTENTS 20 18 Cover Story 10 Elie Eid & Bass

Abboud, Save Our Sons .... ‘Impossible’ is an Excuse Adrian Payne

Regulars Editor’s Letter

8

Can Five Cents Make a Difference?

Dmitry Greku

leadership

16 The Australia Haters

Charlie Lynn

28

Local Government

Business Advice

18 The Sydney Hills - the Year

28 Online Debit and Credit

Ahead The Hills Shire Council

20 Parramatta’s Future

Society & Life

Bolstered by Development Forums Parramatta City Council

Card Fraud Daniel Moisyeyev

32

Life Changes

Angry Anderson

21 Parramatta Square Heralds

More State of the Art Designs Parramatta City Council

Features

22 Together We Can

Business Advice

24 “I didn’t know” will not cut

26

it! Are you Complying with Your Obligations under the Fair Work Act?

Achieve More Andé Kelly

Time To Reflect and Plan Stephen Frost

Nat Martorano

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

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editor’s letter

Can Five Cents Make a Difference?

Dmitry Greku, M. Sc. - Editor and Publisher - GWP Magazines®

It’s unusual for me to give our cover stories a bit of backup in my editor’s letters, but this time I decided to depart from that policy to take an honest look at one of the most vital aspects of Australian life which we are so proud of as a nation.

We all receive ‘phone calls and visitors to our door with request after request for donations from hundreds of micro, medium and large charities. Many of them we’ve never even heard about while some are well known international ‘brands’. For me, it became a huge question as to whether they are all that great and if I could, which one should I support.

Someone once told me a story; This person used to work under my father’s management.

Apparently, about thirty five years ago a lady, who was in charge of an orphanage, came to my Dad with a plea for help. They didn’t have enough resources, and urgently needed help to feed their children and keep them warm and healthy. My Dad called a meeting with all his personnel and explained the situation. He asked if it was possible for each of them to donate all or the majority of their next wage packet to this orphanage. As the person in charge of the organisation, he promised he would arrange the repayment of all their money the next month from the proceeds of a new contract. The orphanage received their much-needed funds and his staff received their money back next month. But I learned from the person telling the story that my Dad didn’t take his own money back from the new contract, despite the fact that he had my younger sister, myself and our mum to support.

Mum wasn’t working back then as she was taking care of us at home.

It was the face-to-face contact with this lady that

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

worked and for my Dad, all was pretty clear and understandable. This was the person in charge and there really were kids who needed help. But what’s not obvious sometimes, is this person who was in charge, was suffering as well as the children.

How about when it’s all so far away and in most cases you can’t even see those who are suffering. Instead, we see big offices, with happy well fed employees and a well organised network of collectors. Let’s be honest we’ve all asked ourselves the question: “Did my help get to its destination?”

There are too many questionable situations in the charity business, but let’s not waste time on those, let’s just be more careful and thoughtful when we make our choice about where to send our hard-earned help. I once tried to offer my help to breast cancer research funding organisations having lost my Mum to the disease. Unfortunately, some people are all too comfortable sitting on their donation-funded chairs in those nice looking donation-funded offices. My calls for ways to help them didn’t even get through! These people couldn’t demonstrate their arrogance any better than by ignoring my intended generosity and then sending out ‘collection agents’ to bang on my door’ if the agents knew, even they would have been embarrassed by the behaviour of their so called management.

Now I can say that I have made my choice. About a month ago my good friend Angry Anderson suggested I talk to a couple of guys here in Sydney and perhaps provide some support for their cause through a cover story in Business Resource & Lifestyle Magazine. That’s how I met Elie Eid and Bass Abboud. There is no reason for me to talk much about them and ‘Save Our Sons’ in my letter, you can read about their great deeds in the cover story itself. I can only share with you my personal opinion about these two mates and what they do together with the support of a small

but very professional and passionate group of volunteers.

Tragic circumstances in Elie’s family brought him to devote himself to his cause. He is not a business leader, he didn’t have a great deal of important contacts, he only, I assume, planned on a happy family life with his kids and wife Nancy. But his destiny turned out to be different.

Please read the cover story and support Save Our Sons, if you think you can. I was moved by these two individuals and by such passion as I haven’t seen for many years. They can’t afford to be relaxed even for a tiny moment, otherwise this moment would be lost and the cure would be one moment delayed, which is not acceptable to them. For years, none of them took any sum of money for their own wages. Only recently when Eli had to convert his full time job to part time, so he could dedicate more of his time to achieving their goal, did his brothers and sisters in arms convince him to become a part time employee of the Foundation, so he could support his own family.

Elie and Bass don’t talk – they yell! Simply talking for them is not enough, they must deliver their message now, without any delay, misunderstanding or missed opportunities. Every second counts!

I urge you to read the Save Our Sons (SOS) story and support them ASAP. Your support is desperately needed, it will be deeply appreciated and well managed. Even if it’s just five cents.

Have a great day. Take care of yourselves and your clients. G

e | editor@gwpmagazine.com.au

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1300 889 132 Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

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Proudly Presented by

Elie Eid & Bass Abboud

‘Impossible’ is an excuse 10

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | January Jan/Feb 2014 2014

great australian People Save Our Sons 2011 Winter Wonderland Gala Dinner Luna Park

by Adrian Payne

Elie Eid and Bass Abboud are mates. They were two mates who grew up in the Inner West suburb of Marrickville NSW), both got married, and went out into the world from their respective Australian family homes and got on with their lives. Elie as a Train Driver and Bass as a house-painter. Elie’s family happen to have a Christian background and Bass had a Muslim upbringing. But they share a passion for humanity.

One day in 2006 Elie’s firstborn son EmIlio, was sent by their family doctor for some tests, he was just eighteen months old at the time and suffering from a virus. The hospital was asked to conduct a comprehensive series of blood tests.

Something wasn’t right. His Creatine Kinase (CK) level was fifteen thousand units. The elevation of CK is an indication of damage to muscle tissue.

A normal reading in a children should be around one hundred and eighty to two hundred units.(will confirm) The doctors though, wouldn’t explain their concerns and suspicions to Elie and his wife Nancy, but insisted that they remain at the hospital.

Business Business Resource Resource && Lifestyle Lifestyle || Issue Issue 62 62 || Jan/Feb January 2014

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Proudly Presented by

Founder Elie Eid Winter Wonderland 2011

was your own?” What would you do then? “This is no different”. If he can save Emilio, then all the other children who have DMD will be saved too.

His charitable foundation began two years after the diagnosis and he set about organising a function to raise money. His first event was a poker night, where poker was played not for real dollars but for play money and prizes that he got donated. The Jackie O show on Today FM donated twenty thousand dollars worth of advertising and as a result, six hundred and eighty people turned up to the Revesby Workers Club to play poker, meet some celebrities and raise forty thousand dollars for the cause.

Bass remembers he came to that night’s event to ‘surprise’ his mate Elie... (they had lost touch in recent years). Days later, over the kitchen table at Bass’ house, Elie told Bass the whole story. Elie says about Bass’ response “Australia is built on mateship”, and it’s that which brought Bass to make a personal commitment to Elie’s cause and

Having arrived there at eight o’clock on Sunday morning, it was now eleven o’clock in the evening. They were taken to Emilio where he was in bed in a children’s ward and distressed by all that was going on. Many of the children had shaved heads and Elie feared that this was a cancer ward and putting that together with the blood tests, thought that Emilio may have leukaemia. Still the doctors held their piece, saying that more tests were needed... among them a muscle biopsy. They said then, that they suspected muscular dystrophy. Elie had no idea of the implications back then. He asked if his son would ever have children as Steroids are the only drug given to children with DMD . He now imagines that the doctor in front of him might have been thinking... ‘this child isn’t going to live long enough to have kids!’

After a month, they still didn’t have the results, and were beginning to think that ‘no news was good news!’ When they were finally called into the hospital, in the room was the professor leading the case, a psychologist and two other people. The atmosphere was palpable. While waiting for the results, and with only the words ‘muscular dystrophy’ to go on, Nancy had done a great deal of research and knew a lot about what it was and the implications, at least in a broad sense and she had told Elie what she had learned. As the doctor began explaining the detail of the disease, Nancy interrupted, and simply said “please - cut to the chase, does Emilio have muscular dystrophy?”

They said “yes”... Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy ( one of the worst strains) Elie remembers his head dropping to his chest, feeling numb with the certainty of having their fears confirmed.

Perhaps the worst part of the news was that the particular type of the disease is called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). It is a form of muscular dystrophy ( a muscle wasting condition) characterised by aggressive muscle degeneration, leading to the inability to walk

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | January Jan/Feb 2014 2014

and eventually death. Some make it into their twenties, many more only make it into their teens before their quality of life becomes rapidly poor and a young life is lost.

Elie remembers that they went from the hospital in a daze... They spent over twelve months considering the implications. He says that Nancy is Dealing with it better and is set about making Emelio’s life as comfortable and happy as a loving mother could. Elie in contrast says that he still doesn’t accept it! Not that he’s in denial, he just doesn’t accept that nothing can be done to at least halt the disease if not cure it.

So Elie got himself a different kind of train to drive. One that would have stops and starts along the way, but he knew where it was going. So he let off the brakes and began an amazing journey.

His mate Bass, seeing what Elie was doing, soon jumped on board and bit by bit people began to get on with them, not just for the ride, but to help do something that only love and passion to help children in trouble can achieve. The route and the time it will take is uncertain, but the destination is a treatment to halt the disease... then a cure.

Save Our Sons is Elie’s charity foundation, formed to raise money for muscular dystrophy research and in particular for human trials of new drugs. He hopes above all else that there will be a result in time to halt the progress of Emilio’s disease. But he is realistic, and thinks every day that the journey will ultimately benefit yet unborn children with the disease. The name ‘Save Our Sons’ came from Emilio’s mother Nancy. (Ninetynine percent of children with DMD are boys).

AlthougH Save Our Sons have not forgotten our Girls and are fighting for all children who are affected with DMD Elie explains what he’s doing by asking a question. “As a father if you saw a child was drowning what would you do?... what if that child

Joe Hachem - Save Our Sons Play for a Cure 2012

be there for him and Save Our Sons.

Elie and Bass, and a group of dedicated volunteers work from an old two-room office. The walls need a good paint job, and the furniture has been scrounged from wherever they could get it.

But getting the office ship-shape isn’t a priority.

Kids are dying out there, and there’s no time for fresh paint and comfortable chairs!

In December 2011 the charity held their second Gala Dinner at Luna Park’s Big Top. The gala that year was an amazing evening with Alan Jones hosting the night and fantastic entertainment performances by Anthony Callea, Wendy Matthews, Stan Walker, Liam Burrows and Ben

great australian People Price. Over $250,000 was raised at that event alone. In five years they have raised over one point five million dollars nett.

constitution that the funds could be used to help any sick child, saying “who’s more worthy?, who deserves to live one more than another?”.

In May 2013 part five of the ‘Play for a cure’ poker series was held at the Australian Technology Park.

This was their biggest event to date with over fourteen hundred people in attendance

Emilio is nine years old this year. Between driving a train and driving the foundation, Elie is working around eighty hours a week. Nancy he says, is his ‘rock’, keeping him grounded. He has so little time with Emilio but is finding a balance as his son is now older and more aware of his condition, one day he says he will have to tell his son the whole truth, but not until the time is right. Emilio knows that his muscles are weak and he understands that Dad is out there looking for a medicine that will help him to run fast, like other kids.

The top fifty from the Revesby Workers poker tournament in March had automatic entry into the final round of the series. This event was hosted

by Joe Hachem and other guests included Jeff Fenech, Tahir, Adam Reynolds, Robbie Farrah, Erin Molan, Jonsie & Amanda, Mikey Robbins, Mark Geyer, Sam Burgess, Anthony Mundine, Ada Nicodemou, Lynne McGranger, Paul Dunn, Rob Shehadie, Mark Bosnich, Gus Worland, Anthony Minichiello, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Jared WaereaHargreaves, Bill Harrigan, and John Steffensen.

Alan Jones repeatedly gives his talent and his time to MC Save our Sons events. He is only one

They have now helped to fund three human trials Elie says that’s the focus, helping with research is a slow process where human trials may bring real results in a shorter period of time. Naturally Emilio’s clock is ticking loudly in his ear.

There are a number of promising research

Jacob Lancaster (DMD sufferer) with his brother - 2013 Save Our Sons Casino Royale.

Save Our Sons Play for a Cure 2012 - Revesby Workers Club

of many celebrity performers who unreservedly support the cause whenever they can.

Save Our Sons also runs golf days. One year Elie received a call from a stranger. The caller explained that his daughter had leukaemia and he’d heard about the fundraising that Save Our Sons had done. He simply asked for some tips to run an event to raise some money to help his daughter. Instead, and without hesitation Elie pledged the stranger half the money raised from the coming golf day. Two weeks before the event, the little girl died. Elie still sent the money.

The family would not have been able to afford a funeral for her but for Elie’s unselfish generosity.

Bass says that it was deliberately put in the

programs being carried out both in Australia and overseas. These range from steroid breakthroughs, where improved muscle growth is being achieved, to the genetic repair of the DNA deficiencies that block dystrophin production. But due to the different types of muscular dystrophy, there is no one-size fits all cure.

As time is of the essence for any child with DMD, Save Our Sons is supporting The Cooperative International Neuromuscular Research Group (CINRG). CINRG is a cooperative group of twenty-four research facilities across the world with access to over 4,000 DMD patients. They are researching a genetic solution to improve the life of DMD sufferers and hopefully find a cure.

Save Our Sons Ambassadors - LFL Players Play for a Cure 2012 Researchers believe that increasing a naturally occurring protein called Utrophin - very similar to

Business Business Resource Resource && Lifestyle Lifestyle || Issue Issue 62 62 || Jan/Feb January 2014

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Proudly Presented by

Paulini - Save Our Sons Gala Dinner 20 13 - Royale Randwick Ra cecourse

e thony Calleja and Vic Founder Elie Eid, An Winter ns So r Ou ve Sa boud President Bass Ab Wonderland 2011.

Dystrophin, could prove to be a viable treatment for DMD. Utrophin is present in the body while in the foetal stages, but these cells turn off as time for the birth approaches. Tests have shown that if Dystrophin is taken away after birth, there is a natural spreading of Utrophin around the body but at present, not enough to make any difference in DMD boys.

A new drug C1100 has recently successfully passed Phase 1 Human Clinical Trials, it is an organic molecule and works by overriding the body’s natural message to switch off Utrophin production. Researchers are now currently working to run a Phase 2 clinical trial and Save Our Sons is negotiating ways to fund areas of this research. $500,000 has already been donated by Save Our Sons towards the cost of manufacturing the drug. They are raising a further $750,000 to secure an Australian site for afflicted Aussie children to participate in these trials.

Elie is also in discussions to fund components

Sufferer) Alex Scollard (DMD r 2013 ne Din la Ga Save Our Sons cecourse Ra k wic nd Ra yal - Ro

Sam Burgess, Anthony Minichello, Dean Halatau - Save Our So ns Play Casino Royale 2013

of a major breakthrough in the area of Synthetic Steroids.

synthetic steroids have the potential to enhance and extend life even for the most extreme cases.

Treatment with current types of steroids (glucocorticoids) are considered a standard of care for DMD patients and result in strength improvement and prolonged mobility. However, side effects such as fragile bones, stunted growth and even psychological effects can be serious.

Elie and Bass are very excited with the preliminary results which indicate exceptional improved muscle function and anti-inflammatory activity with minimal if any side effects. Save Our Sons is allocating significant sums of money raised to help fund further human clinical trials of this synthetic steroid.

Recently the US government held a competition to find the most promising new drugs for any type of rare disorder, including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. There were over a hundred applications of which four were considered to be the most promising and offering most potential. Among these four is a synthetic steroid designed to improve the treatment of muscular dystrophy by improving muscle function and repair. Synthetic steroids work without the side effects. Long-term use of an effective steroid programme can reduce the speed at which muscular dystrophy develops through its different stages. The trials of these

To date $200,000 has been handed over by Save Our Sons. They have committed to raising at least Two million dollars over four years for their part in these trials. The remaining one point eight million they have pledged will progressively be paid over the next four years of the trial schedule.

Save Our Sons have raised $1.5m, almost half the money needed to fund clinical trials that could put an end to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The petition is a call for the Australian Government to step up and match these funds. They had a

Save Our Sons Annual Charity Golf Day 2013

Mark Bouris 2012 Play for a Cure - Le Montage

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | January Jan/Feb 2014 2014

great australian People Proud Sponsor of

Ada Nicodemou Amanda Keller and sino Royal 2013 Ca - Save Our Sons

Founder Elie Eid and Ada Nicodemou - Save Our Sons Winter Won derland 2011

byonic arm built, that could reproduce a verifiable signature through facebook. Including a signature for DMD children who can no longer pick up a pen.

It became known as ‘The Most Powerful Arm’ and it signed over 32,000 names to the petition.

Neither Elie nor Bass see themselves as ‘businessmen’... But their ability to get out there and market their cause would in any other environment bring a business enterprise remarkable success. Train drivers and house painters don’t at first sight fit the mould! But they have a never ending store of great ideas. They asked themselves ... when did you last spend a five cent piece? It almost never happens these days, but we get them as small change all the time. They end up in a tin at the bottom of the wardrobe! Wherever they have been allowed to do so, Save our Sons are placing jars on counters to collect all those redundant five cent pieces that none of us will miss. Fives for Live’s (Have you got some spare counter space?)

Save our Sons has been driven by one hundred percent volunteer effort for the last Four Years and having been working at what amounted to two full-time jobs, Elie adjusted his train-driving roster to part-time status. Of course his personal income was cut too. Bass and other volunteers suggested to Elie that he should make up the loss of income to his family by paying himself the missing salary from fund-raising resources.

Elie was dead against it having vowed that everything donated would go to the cause. But

and Ada Lynne McGranger o Royale 2013 sin Ca Nicodemou

Bass reasoned that whatever small amount Elie would draw for his family’s survival would be doubled at least by the extra time Elie would be spending fundraising rather than driving a train.

Elie was reluctantly persuaded. So Elie set up a Corporate Sponsor pack which secures an income and covers running costs. This way any persons donating to the Charity can have 100 percent of their donations going towards Human Clinical Trials and Sick Children When Elie and Bass speak about their work, and Save Our Sons, their enthusiasm and sense of urgency for what they are doing is infectious. It’s not difficult to see why so many celebrities have hitched their wagons to Elie’s train... They know where he’s going, they know what’s at the end of the journey and I don’t think they’ll be getting off until Elie and Bass get them past all the holdups and at last draw alongside a platform that supports the cure for DMD. G

Alan Jones Save Our Sons Gal a Dinner 2013 Royal Randw ick

CONTRACTOR

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Save Our Sons Ambassadors - Anthony Mundine, Gus Worland, Rob Shehadie, Sam Burgess, Jeff Fenech, Tahir, Amanda Keller and Angry Anderson.

parramatta

Scarborough Transport ship, the First Fleet, marine artist Frank Allen Business Business Resource Resource && Lifestyle Lifestyle || Issue Issue 62 62 || Jan/Feb January 2014

15

Leadership

The Australia Haters

The Hon. Charlie Lynn - Member of the Legislative Council

As we prepare to commemorate the centenary of Anzac there will be much discussion about events that shaped our national character. We were a teenage nation when Australian volunteers landed on the beaches of Gallipoli with our Kiwi cousins in an ill-fated military expedition against the Turks. Later in the war our Anzacs played a significant role in decisive battles on the Western Front.

Until then we were regarded as a small British appendage in a distant southern hemisphere.

Our sacrifice as a small nation of less than five million earned us a seat at the international table of powerbrokers after the war. We had paid a heavy price for our Anzac identity with 61,250 killed, 156,000 wounded and a countless number physically scarred and psychologically damaged for life.

As our forebears began the task of rebuilding they were soon confronted with another adversity in the form of the Great Depression. Their dreams and aspirations were often reduced to the provision of the next meal on the table for hungry families.

A decade later the world was at war again and once again they answered the call in the fight against fascism in Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia and the Pacific. Battle Honours proudly emblazoned on unit banners during Anzac Day marches remind us of the debt we owe them.

These proud traditions of service and sacrifice continued in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and a myriad of peacekeeping roles around the world.

The Centenary of Anzac will remind us that we have much to be proud of as the sons and daughters of Anzacs. And we are just as proud of our extended Anzac family who fled their homelands for a better life under the umbrella of democracy within our egalitarian society.

A common thread in our national development since Federation is adversity. Those who have experienced fear, hunger and insecurity will

16

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

never forget the sacrifice it took to overcome them. They will always value every possession and achievement because they know the price they paid for each one – the home, the car, the furniture and their child’s education.

Ironically an increasing number of those who have had their lifestyle gifted to them via inheritance, parental success or government largesse seem to now be on a search for meaning. They often consider themselves to be intellectually superior, socially progressive and politically correct. Some have actually met a blackfella and a few know somebody who knows a refugee. Others have relatives who live in the Western Suburbs.

Their success guilt is easily exploited by fifth columnists who mask their ideals of communism and socialism under a new cloak of environmentalism and do-gooderism.

Historically the fifth columnists have always been among us as Hal Colebach reveals in his recent book on Australia’s Secret War. Colebach describes how left-wing unions undermined our troops in World War II by sabotaging aircraft, tanks and artillery and refusing to load food and ammunition for our troops fighting in the jungles of New Guinea. Starving Prisoners of War were left anchored off-shore because wharfies wouldn’t allow their ships to berth. American servicemen who came to our aid often had to fix bayonets to get them to work.

‘These wharfies would be the greatest lot of mongrels ever’. ‘The lowest breed on earth’.

‘These wharfies are lounging on the wharf – we informed them of their mongrel ancestry’.

Nicholas Monsarrat wrote ‘the wharfies were protected, pampered, paid far higher rates than any servicemen and their reciprocity took the form of making the sump of a Cairo brothel look like an unfair comparison.’ ’We regarded the wharfies as a traitorous crowd of malingerers and, if given permission, we would have made the seditious bastards work at gun-point.’

Vietnam veterans suffered the same fate and harboured the same disgust at the treachery of wharfies, moratorium marchers and student radicals.

Those who check their ancestry and find their grandfather was a wharfie would be excused for wanting to spit on his grave, change their surname or join the sorry chorus.

The recent treachery of the ABC in trying to sabotage our relationship with Indonesia is a timely reminder that Australia haters are well embedded within taxpayer funded institutions and will be working like termites to undermine our Anzac heritage during the upcoming commemorative period. G

The full story of this dark side of history is yet to be told but Colebach has lifted the scab enough to reveal that not everybody in Australia will be commemorating the Centenary of Anzac. Indeed we can expect Australian haters from the left to do their best to undermine the commemorative period by seeking to disprove the myth of Anzac, decrying the glorification of war and arguing for a republic.

They might have second thoughts if they bother to read what our diggers really thought of their ideological forebears. ‘Who needs enemies when Australia has wharfies’ wrote Len Myles. Another wrote ‘Like many other combat troops, I think the waterside workers were responsible for more hardships, shortages and deaths than the Japs...

Those gutless traitors!’

Other quotes recorded by Colebach are scathing.

For more topics and to contact Charlie Lynn, please visit www.charlielynn.com.au/blog.

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17

LOCAL Government

The Sydney Hills - the Year Ahead 2014 is shaping up to be a big year for The Sydney Hills.

New location for Council The Hills Shire Council is now conducting business at 3 Columbia Court, Norwest Business Park, Baulkham Hills (next door to Crowne Plaza).

Residents and businesses can expect the same high standard of customer service.

Services available at Columbia Court are:

· The office of the Mayor and Councillors · Council Chambers · Customer contact centre · Administration services · Hills Community Care (Meals on Wheels) · Place Management

Many Council transactions can be conducted online including paying rates, making a customer enquiry, lodgement of development applications, booking a community venue or tennis court, reserving a library book and more. Residents can also conduct most Council business at their local library branch.

Council’s PO Box address is now 7064, Baulkham Hills BC 2153.

Council’s phone number 02 9843 0555 is unchanged, and the website remains the same www.thehills.nsw.gov.au

North West Rail As well as further preliminary works, 2014 will see the first tunnel boring machines enter the ground, making the start of this massive infrastructure project.

The impact of the North West Rail on business will be enormous. Two new railway stations are planned in Norwest, which in turn will bring more residents, more commercial activity and more shopping.

Improved access to the Sydney CBD will create benefits for both employees and businesses, and skilled workers will travel more easily to Norwest.

There will be an additional 15,000 jobs in Norwest Business Park over the next decade, and a number of those workers will be able to travel from other parts of Sydney on the new rail line.

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

Council’s new home – 3 Columbia Court, Norwest Business Park, Baulkham Hills

Planning is also underway for new employment lands (areas such as nearby Box Hill) which will be home to 18,000 jobs in new areas with similar zonings to Castle Hill Industrial Park and Norwest Business Park, and be surrounded by quality new housing developments.

New Year, New Skills, New Workshops Council’s popular suite of business workshops has expanded and has a new name. The Smart Biz program now includes four separate workshop series tailored to the needs of different businesses, both new and existing in the Sydney Hills.

The Smart Start program is all about giving new businesses and start-ups an introduction to the area, local business figures and business people as well as letting people know how Council can help.

The Smart Home workshops are designed for home businesses – giving businesspeople a few pointers in running a business from home and making sure they’re up to speed with all their regulatory and legal requirements.

Feeling a bit intimidated by the daunting digital world? Learn how to use the web and the growing world of social media to run and market your business to a wider audience at the Smart Digital workshop.

And the Smart Marketing workshop teaches businesspeople to put together a marketing

strategy and get their name out to potential customers.

Interested in attending? Go to www.thehills.nsw. gov.au, click on the ‘Business and Industry’ tab and select Business Workshops from the dropdown menu.

Sign up for business e-news Make it a resolution this year to sign up for all the latest business news, facts and information from Council. To subscribe, simply click on the Business e-newsletter link on the home page of Council’s website. G Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or visit Council’s website www.thehills.nsw.gov.au for more information.

The Hills Shire Council p | 02 9762 1108 e | enquiries@sydneyhills.com.au w | www.sydneyhills.com.au

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Smart investors are starting to realise that Norwest Business Park presents a significant investment opportunity with the construction of the North west rail.

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jobs

Photo: Norwest Lake located in the centre of Norwest Business Park

the charts below show the expected employment and dwellings growth within 800m of the new Bella Vista and Norwest Stations in Norwest Business Park.

2012

2036

Growth

REsidEntiaL

2012

2036

Growth

Commercial

18,000

42,450

24,450

Single Detached

2,800

3,200

400

retail

2,000

3,750

1,750

townhouse

100

2,200

2,100

Bulky Goods

2,500

0

-2,500

3-6 Storey Apartment

200

4,700

4,500

Industrial

0

0

0

7-12 Storey Apartment

0

1,750

1,750

total jobs

22,500

46,200

23,700

3,100

11,850

8,750

total dwellings

Source: North west rail Link Corridor Strategy

Like a FREE tour? Call 02 9762 1108 or email enquiries@sydneyhills.com.au | www.sydneyhills.com.au Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

19

LOCAL Government

Parramatta’s future bolstered by development forums

F

eedback from some of Parramatta’s key business and government stakeholders will help shape the future growth and development of the CBD.

The forums which have been hosted by Parramatta City Council Lord Mayor Cr John Chedid were attended by 80 senior level stakeholders, including leading business and government representatives, as well as influential designers and planners.

The forums asked participants how Parramatta City Council could assist in developing and implementing a planning framework to help fuel future growth, development and business opportunities in Parramatta CBD. Participants also discussed the feasibility of a dedicated commercial core with developments that could activate the public domain, as well as the need for improved transport networks and access to the CBD. Lord Mayor of Parramatta Cr John Chedid said the forums offered valuable insight into a range of development opportunities for the City.

“The existing size and the expected growth of Parramatta’s centre present development opportunities that are not available anywhere else,” Cr Chedid said.

“It’s therefore essential that we carefully explore our options and evaluate which ideas will best facilitate the future growth of the CBD. “We want to ensure that all of those with an interest in Parramatta, whether they live, work or play here, are engaged in this journey of ours to maximise the potential for development in our City.”

Based on the feedback generated from the forums, Council will soon work with consultants to review its planning framework. Further details on future works, particularly in Church Street Mall and the public domain will be announced in the coming months.

Parramatta Council’s development drive has been in full swing recently, with concepts and plans for Parramatta Square, in the heart of the

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

LOCAL Government CBD, attracting plenty of interest. The precinct will elevate the City’s status as a thriving hub of Western Sydney with a mix of commercial, residential and civic developments.

Parramatta Square heralds more state of the art designs Parramatta’s skyline is set to be transformed, with striking twin towers featuring up to 140,000 square metres of office space winning Parramatta City Council’s Parramatta Square Stage 5 & 6 design competition.

When constructed, the commercial towers will function as two of the key centrepieces of the three hectare Parramatta Square site in the heart of the CBD. Among the 53-storey buildings’ key features are: a cantilevering double-height sky terrace on the 25th floor; a double-height sky lobby on the 27th floor accommodating public and semi-public spaces; an edge-defining retail podium along the southern edge of the future Square; and a clear, accessible and active link between Parramatta transport interchange and Parramatta Square.

Projects announced to date include Stage 1 - a commercial building at 169 Macquarie Street, awarded to Architectus, Stage 2 - the Aspire residential tower at 160 Church Street, awarded to Grimshaw Architects and Stage 3 - community/ Council facilities and commercial space, awarded to Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp. G

Parramatta City Council p | 02 9806 5730 e | seggert@parracity.nsw.gov.au

Announcing the winner in December, Lord Mayor Cr John Chedid said the inspiring design by Sydney firm Johnson Pilton Walker had been unanimously chosen by a jury of industry experts.

The design for twin commercial towers was chosen from four shortlisted designs following a process that saw 73 submissions from leading architects worldwide.

“This project is essential to the revitalisation of the Parramatta town centre and to the safe, easy, pleasant delivery of pedestrians from the transport interchange to the civic heart of Parramatta,” Cr Chedid.

“Council is delighted with the outcome and Johnson Pilton Walker’s design solutions. We’re confident their proposal for two beautifully linked buildings will complement all aspects of Parramatta Square, and be of premier appeal to national and international tenants.”

JPW now joins a range of internationally recognised architecture firms already appointed to design other landmark buildings within the Parramatta Square precinct.

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

21

Feature

Together We Can Achieve More Andé Kelly - Senior Training Consultant, TAFE NSW – Western Sydney Institute

It is common for many organisations to hold their competitive secrets so close to their chests that they do not consider the possibility of pooling resources with others.

When it comes to staff training, you may not want to team up with the competition but there may be options for working with an organisation that operates in a different industry but has similar staff roles. Take for example administration roles – these are held by people in a whole range of businesses which are not competing for the same customers.

My role at OTEN, Open Training and Education Network, (a part of TAFE NSW – Western Sydney Institute) sees me have contact with a number of organisations, many of which are looking for customised training solutions with a distance education component.

Recently we customised some training for two very different organisations that discovered they could achieve economies of scale by teaming up for training.

OTEN was initially approached by independent day and boarding school for girls, Pymble Ladies College (PLC), to deliver training in Conservation Land Management to a group of their grounds staff. PLC requested tailored training which could provide recognition of prior learning for their staff who had a range of relevant qualifications and considerable workplace experience. PLC also requested that training workshops be delivered onsite and tailored to their specific land management issues.

Realising that their close neighbours, Pymble Golf Club (PGC) also shared the same land management issues, the college approached PGC to join forces to increase participant numbers in their training venture. The two organisations teamed up and yet retained the tailored training that each required. As a result, the per-head cost was reduced, the benefits of the training will go to both organisations and hosting responsibilities shared.

One of the land management issues for both sites is the significant remnant Sydney Blue

22

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

Gum High Forest. This endangered ecological plant community of the Sydney basin is of high conservation status and with that status comes a responsibility to engage in sustainable and specific land management practices.

Accordingly, both sites also share a history of utilising contractors to implement natural area restoration works at significant cost.

for businesses looking for training which will slot in with existing work routines. Training can also commence at any time in the year. We are not at all limited by semester sessions, so when a training need arises, we are able to provide a solution.

OTEN stands for Open Training and Education Network. It is the largest non-classroom (distance) education provider in Australia and a world leader in the use of cutting edge technologies and media in education.

By engaging OTEN to deliver training, the two groups hope to manage the natural areas of each site independently and to continue to expand the project work over time, keeping their future land management costs down.

This project is now in full swing after a consultation process which established goals and led to individual training programs for each participant.

Training will occur over a 12 month period and will include face-to-face sessions onsite at PLC, access to Adobe Connect tutorial sessions and the My Tutor online tutorial service and OTEN teacher support. The two organisations are looking forward to successful outcomes both short and long term.

OTEN stands for Open Training and Education Network. It is the largest non-classroom (distance) education provider in Australia and a world leader in the use of cutting edge technologies and media in education. As can be seen in the PLC and PGC example, we are also able to provide face-to-face training and to customise training so that it fits the needs of businesses. Training is highly individualised and student-centred.

The flexible nature of OTEN’s course delivery means that students can study at a time and place of their convenience. This makes it ideal

Graduates receive nationally recognised qualifications through the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) which are highly valued by industry and the wider community in Australia and internationally. Our distance education model includes online learning systems, social networking, blogs and wikis in addition to realtime online and telephone support.

I am always happy to discuss training needs and also to find ways to help businesses to fund their training. Like PLC it might be a matter of teaming up with another organisation or there are a number of government and other funding sources which we can help businesses to access. G

TAFE NSW - Western Sydney Institute (WSI) p | 02 9715 8089 e | ande.kelly1@tafensw.edu.au w | wsi.tafensw.edu.au

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23

Business Advice

“I didn’t know” will not cut it!

Are You Complying with Your Obligations Under the Fair Work Act? Nat Martorano, Consulting Manager – The HR Department

Many small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) consider that they are largely unaffected by the changes brought about by the Fair Work Act 2009.

The major issue is the lack of specialist HR skills within businesses. The result is being unable to identify what in the Act is relevant and what must be done to comply.

Businesses must understand that the Act may be complex but compliance is not an option - it is the law. Every day businesses are fined thousands of dollars and pay thousands more in back pay to their employees because they failed to comply with the requirements of the new modern Awards.

Today I will focus more on the critical changes impacting SMEs. These comments attempt to explain the law in plain English and are not meant to be a substitute for reading the Fair Work Act and/or accessing independent advice.

24

The States (except WA) completed this Federal takeover of industrial relations by referring all of their industrial powers to the Federal Parliament effective from 1 February 2011. The States retained power only over their own and local government employees.

National Employment Standards (NES) The Fair Work Act introduced 10 standards called the National Employment Standards. They apply to all workers irrespective of salary and terms of employment.

The more prominent NES cover Hours of Work, Parental Leave, Annual Leave, Personal/ Carer’s Leave, Public Holidays, Termination of Employment and Redundancy.

Corporations, partnerships, sole traders etc. employing staff must provide conditions which are no less than those contained in the NES. Breaching the standards can subject you to fines and recovery action normally taken of behalf of the employee by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Employment legislation has undergone revolutionary changes over the last ten years with the major changes being:

Modern Awards Modern Awards took effect from 1 January 2010 and replaced all State Awards and existing Federal Awards.

a) Federal Industrial Coverage b) National Employment Standards c) Modern Awards d) Unfair Dismissal e) Fair Work Ombudsman

Modern Awards are either industry based (i.e.

Manufacturing, Black Coal Mining) or occupation based (Clerks, Architects). Most employees other than senior managers are likely to be covered by an Award.

Federal Industrial Coverage In 2006 the Federal Government took the bold step of basing its industrial relations legislation on the corporation’s power of the Australian Constitution rather than the industrial relations power. Effectively this meant that if you were a company, the Federal Parliament could now pass laws regulating the terms upon which you employed your workers. This legislation is now known as the Fair Work Act.

The Awards provide minimum wages and conditions for employees and any contract or agreement must provide terms which are equal to or better than the relevant Award. If the employee is not better off, the employer is not compliant with the Fair Work Act.

Previous State laws and Awards applying to corporations became ineffective and had to be carried over into the Federal jurisdiction and were given effect by what were referred to as Notional Agreements Preserving State Awards (or NAPSAs).

Unfair Dismissal Employees with twelve months or more service, (if the business employs less than fifteen employees) or six months service, (if the business employs fifteen or more employees) can apply to Fair Work Australia if they consider they have been unfairly dismissed.

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

It is critical for businesses to identify what award applies to their employees and determine if they are complying with the terms of the award.

If the Fair Work Commission finds that the employee has been unfairly dismissed it can order reinstatement with no loss of pay or compensation of up to 26 weeks pay if it considers that reinstatement is not appropriate.

Businesses must ensure they follow a fair process in disciplining and terminating their employees otherwise they can find themselves before the Fair Work Commission being ordered to reinstate the employee and/or pay them compensation.

Business need to be aware that Unfair Dismissal provisions of the Fair Work Act apply to all employees irrespective of the size of the business (subject to exceptions identified in the Act which include earning an annual salary of more than $129,300, or being employed as an irregular casual, or employed on a fixed term contract).

Fair Work Ombudsman The Fair Work Ombudsman investigates allegations from employees that an employer has failed to honor its obligations under an Award, or Industrial Agreement or the NES. The jurisdiction of Fair Work will also extend to deal with bullying claims from 1 January 2014.

Fair Work Inspectors have extensive powers to obtain records as part of their investigations and significant fines are imposed on employers who fail to meet their obligations. G The HR Department has extensive experience in dealing with employment legislation and advising businesses on what they need to do to meet their legislative obligations.

If you want to confirm that you are compliant with Fair Work legislation contact the team at The HR Department and we can conduct a HR Audit of your business.

The HR Department p | 02 8850 6124 e | erin@theHRdepartment.com.au w | www.theHRdepartment.com.au

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

25

Feature

Take Time To Reflect and Plan Stephen Frost, Managing Director – BREED Inc

Over the Christmas New Year period I took some time off to recharge my well drained batteries and catch up on the growing list of domestic tasks that have suffered from the lack of “personal” time throughout the year. It was also an opportunity to take some time to reflect and conduct a SWOT on 2013 and consider what changes need to be made for an improved 2014.

Too often we don’t take time to reflect on our successes, how we can capitalise on these and what to do about our not so successful activities. Events and activities often take over and the important but not urgent activities often get forgotten, they say it is the “squeaky wheel that gets the oil”.

So what should we do?

•

Could you utilise a School Based Apprentice or Trainee (SBAT) working one day a week in your business or a school or TAFE HSC Vocational Education and Training (VET) student on a one week work placement; Commit to exploring a new initiative you can be proud of in your business.

Like a new year’s resolution, your 2014 plans are more likely to be achieved if you commit them to paper and put it where you see it regularly and tell someone who will help keep you on task. Well I hope by telling thousands of readers of Business Resource & Lifestyle Magazine I will be kept on task and achieve my 2014 plans. G

As Richard Branson says, ‘... For me, building a business is all about doing something to be proud of, bringing talented people together and creating something that’s going to make a real difference to other people’s lives.’

Make a list of things to do and look forward to crossing them off when completed, these include: • Write down what you want to do again, include action dates and who is tasked to get them done; • List important dates on your calendar and if you are using an electronic calendar use the reminder function; • Check your website, is it still relevant, does your introduction, frequently asked questions, key personnel, and copyright year need updating? Check all your links and ensure they still work; • Is your antivirus software up-to-date with the latest virus definition patch installed; • Have you checked your IT back-up and tried a test document retrieval; it is no good backing up your data if it cannot be reinstalled on your system; • Review your marketing strategy, what worked in 2013 and what didn’t you get a return on your investment; • Go through the pile of business cards you have collected but have not acted upon, follow up with a 2014 catch-up call or letter; yes letter, emails are increasingly skipped over and not read; • Take time to share your vision with your Team and take on their input to your 2014 strategy; • Are you considering expanding your team?

26

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

As Richard Branson says, ‘... For me, building a business is all about doing something to be proud of, bringing talented people together and creating something that’s going to make a real difference to other people’s lives.’

You can link Richard Branson’s concept of building a business of creating something that will make a difference in other people’s life into your organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) objectives. This can involve local charities, sporting clubs or schools. Whilst being good for the local community it is a good way to engage staff, build brand awareness and loyalty.

So after my reflection time, what do I intend to change this year? There are three main areas: • Time management; manage my time better and be more organised making deadlines less stressful, • CSR; I intend to be more strategic with my CSR initiatives, working in partnership to maximise the return for all concerned, • Email; whilst it may sound trivial; tame my email “in box” so I do not loose important emails amongst the increasing number of newsletters, automatic notifications and advertising.

Stephen Frost is the Managing Director of BREED: Education, Employment and Economic Development.

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Business Advice

Online Debit and Credit Card Fraud Daniel Moisyeyev, Web Developer – GWP Media

It was only a recent occurrence that virtually everyone was paranoid about giving out their credit card details online. 10 years ago no vendor could convince the public that properly designed online transactions are safe, but today nobody thinks twice before sending out credit card details via email! As both web developer and somebody who has experienced unauthorised credit card transactions personally, I will explain in this article the ins and outs of safety of credit card details on the web.

business process that will communicate with the vendor’s bank and will pass on the debit/credit card details further. The bank replies with a success or failure and …

5. … you receive the final confirmation in the form of a web page if the payment went through or not.

Debit and Credit Card transactions carried over the internet are most often processed by the vendor’s bank via the VISA or MasterCard network.

Where does a breach usually occur?

If a web developer carries out the process in the straightforward and elementary manner as

As long as the card details are properly encrypted, the chance of this happening is small. However, some web developers may omit the encryption and decryption process for credit card details already obtained from the user of the website – in this case a simple access to the vendor’s web hosting account will be enough to retrieve the personal information of all current clients.

Online Bank Transactions using an Intermediary The problems outlined above can be solved by avoiding supplying your credit card details directly to vendors and opting to use a payment intermediary.

How Elementary Online Bank Transactions Work First, I would like to explain what actually happens behind the scenes when you finish your online shopping and checkout as series of steps: 1. You complete the checkout process on a website and get to the stage where a website asks you for your debit/credit card number and expiry date.

2. The communications between you and the web server at this point takes place over an additional secure protocol known as SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and logical process known as public-key cryptography. This protocol enables safe encryption and decryption of your personal information while it is being transmitted from your computer to the

vendor’s web server. The protocol uses a special certificate for authentication of the vendor – you can see this vendor’s certificate if you click a padlock key that often appears in the web browser while using a page secured in this way.

3. Public-key cryptography is incredibly safe. It is pretty much impossible to decrypt your personal details if a third party obtains them while they are being transmitted – the computing power requirement to carry this out is phenomenal.

4. Once the vendor’s web server receives the transmission, it is decrypted and served to the

28

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

described above, the only situation where your credit card details appear unencrypted and vulnerable, is in the memory of the business process while the software is preparing to send a request to the bank for processing and confirmation. It is prohibitively difficult to obtain the details from memory storage in a running application.

The most common way credit card details are stolen, is if the vendor designs software in such a way that credit card details are stored in a database on or linked to the web server. If you use a website that remembers your card details, they can in theory be stolen.

Without a doubt, the most widely known payment intermediary is Paypal.

When you complete a payment transaction through Paypal, you are only enabling your vendor to carry out one particular transaction that is generally tied to a particular purchase. The vendor never sees your debit/credit card details – they only receive an approved token for a particular amount that they can choose to execute with Paypal. The vendor also does not receive your Paypal login details – the login and approval action takes place on Paypal’s site and not the vendors.

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Norwest Business Park $480 + GST per run ($450 + GST per additional flyer) GWP MEDIA速 info@gwpmagazine.com.au www.flyerdeliveryguys.com.au

Macquarie Business Park + Lane Cove West $480 + GST per run

($450 + GST per additional flyer) Please contact Daniel

1300 889 132 Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

29

Business Advice

Web developers can elect to design a website for vendors using Paypal’s premier checkout service – “Express Checkout”. This also doubles as protection for the product or service supplier as there can never be an investigation lodged against the vendor for initiating unauthorised transactions or failing to safeguard a database of 1000 debit/ credit cards.

Payment intermediaries make their money from transaction fees – hence some businesses choose to avoid using these services to maximise profits.

However, the safety net provided by using a payment intermediary will never be matched by even the most qualified and experienced web developer.

Why can’t I send debit/credit card details and other personal information by email?

Sending card details over email is a total act of carelessness when it comes to safeguarding against fraud.

Email is not a secure protocol. The protocol described earlier (SSL) is not used when transmitting an email message.

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on your PC by a rogue operator and is actively monitoring what you are transmitting, your details may be immediately stolen.

• The email message may be stored on your email server for a duration while your server attempts to redirect the message to the recipients mail server.

• The email message may be stored on the recipients email server for an indefinite amount of time.

• Will your email message get to the intended recipient? That paperwork you filled out with your credit card details may inadvertently get redirected to someone else.

• Will your email message end up on the recipient’s phone, tablet and other myriad of devices where they have their email account setup?

• Finally, your credit card details will likely be stored on the recipients PC for a long period – in that time they may be accessible by somebody else.

What do I do if I have been charged without authorisation?

Contact your bank immediately! There are usually conditions in place that protect credit card holders from unauthorised transactions and charges.

These are just some of the situations where your details may be stolen:

Statistics Card fraud is more common thank you would think.

For financial year ending 2013 June (1):

• While transmitting the email message. If an application such as a “packet sniffer” is installed

• 1,373,025 fraudulent transactions occurred • Fraudulent transactions were valued at

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

$280,505,562 • 0.0234% of total transactions were regarded as fraudulent • In stark contrast to card fraud, there were only 770 illicit cheque transactions. G (1) Source: http://www.apca.com.au/payment-statistics/ fraud-statistics/2013-financial-year

If you are interested in a real-time debit/credit card transaction system for your website, or a Paypal Express Checkout system, please contact GWP Media to discuss.

GWP Media p | 1300 889 132 e | daniel@gwpmagazine.com.au w | www.gwpmedia.com.au

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

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Society & Life

Life Changes Angry Anderson

Yes it does and yes there are!

Something for all of us to ponder, absorb and hopefully learn from.

Shopping is always a chore, not always fun but mostly entertaining, I have noticed more and more, these last couple of weeks, the goings on or should I say the behaviour of people at the local malls and shopping centres, not always good but for the most part entertaining or at the very least informative. Like many older people in recent years I have mourned the loss or lack of good old fashioned manners and common courtesy in our young but in recent times I have been made aware of the appalling lack of these in members of the older generation as well, “so that’s where they get it from”.

I am constantly amused by most of the young some very young and some not so young girls, young women and some not so young women that seem to struggle with the fashions of today. Young girls of today are being constantly encouraged to wear as little as is possible. Living in a beach side suburb this is not out of character but so do their older sisters and in some cases their mothers. A very common sight is their constant pulling down on hems or the hoiking up or adjustment of plunging necklines, Girls and women that are wearing the skimpiest of tops or the shortest of dresses, skirts or shorts are constantly adjusting these garments in an effort at modesty or at least in an effort to not afford passers-by, namely males, any free glimpse of their overly exposed flesh. I have been glared at by mothers and daughters for stepping onto an escalator behind females wearing as little as is possible in regards common decency as if I am the one in the wrong here. I make no judgement of them wearing these ridiculous fashions - if that is their choice, then so be it, but don’t be expecting me to feel somehow guilty about being there or being male and noticing that they are so scantily clad.

Oscar Wilde once made the observation upon being asked about his ‘fashion of clothing’ that his was not fashion but style, his observation on ‘fashion’ was along the lines of “fashion is such a hideous concept that they have to change it every six months”. Not much has changed dear Oscar it would seem.

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

Girls, you cannot have it both ways, you can’t, as they say, have it all. I fear the same can be said of the commonly held belief that somehow because we live in the modern enlightened world that we can ‘have it all’. I feel that to ‘have it all’ as with everything, there is a price that must be paid.

Suffice to say I do not prescribe to the notion that anyone can ‘have it all’, not without having to pay a hefty price for the so called privilege. Again I think that our ‘New World Way’ is sending the wrong messages to our young. I will never believe anyone was meant to ‘have it all’ ...life is about having to make choices based on not wants but needs, real life is about growing to know what it is that is important, that which we need to fulfil our life with true spiritual and physical enrichment, not about wanting and having it all. Enough said on that.

educating and freeing people not with yet more rules and restrictions and regulations. The sceptic in me is suspicious of their motives, more rules, more control, more restrictions, less freedom, more regulations and more obedience. More regulations, of course, means you need more regulators, more bureaucracy, more bureaucrats, more government, maybe that what the ‘Greens’ and Labor really mean when they say that going with the UN’s global plan will bring more jobs, i.e. the energy industry or ‘Green’ industry. The price to pay for having a ‘Perfect’ world, of course, is our personal freedom.

I will resist with all my might any attempt to enslave me and yes I will give up my life if I have to defend, truly, our rights and liberties, this was the oath sworn at Eureka. Something the loony

To be strong is to be feared, to be strong in character is to be respected. No one is respected for being weak or bowing to any others unless out of respect. The way forward in our region is to be strong, be strong of character and doggedly determined in our resolve.

I read with interest the other day that the UN has once again poked its unwanted nose into our personal business, that is to say that they do not think that we are capable of raising our own children in our own way. Sadly it is true that some misguided individuals are not equipped or deserving of having and raising their own children but they are not the mainstream, these are the ones that the department needs to address not the rest of us, the interference came, as it often does, in the guise of making our world a better place, ..i.e. We should all vote for and support legislation to make it punishable by law if you smack your kids, in other words taking yet more responsibility and therefore control away from us. I have said before and will keep on saying as long as I have breath and as long as these loony, lefty, socialists keep trying to take control of our lives away from us, that we can only bring about a better world by

left Labor socialists seem to have comfortably forgotten. It irks me to see so called Australians wearing that symbol, the Southern Cross, while defending and supporting a political party that is determined to follow the ‘One World Order’ ideology of stripping us of our rights and liberties.

That symbol of freedom does not belong to any political party it belongs to the Australian people.

I will fight against all and any that I perceive to be a threat or danger to the freedoms of the Australian people.

There has been much hooh-hah in the press of recent times about our standing with our closest neighbours, we will never have any respect from our Oriental neighbours/allies if it can be perceived that we are incapable of defending or upholding our own Australian sovereignty.

To be strong is to be feared, to be strong in character is to be respected. No one is respected for being weak or bowing to any others unless out of respect. The way forward in our region is to be strong, be strong of character and doggedly determined in our resolve.

If ‘Get Up’ and their ilk want to be any real use to humanity, as they so often proclaim they are, then I challenge them to take on a more formidable foe than that of local shop keepers, a permanent siege/sit in outside any and all embassies of governments that are guilty of the abuse of human rights and I mean the real abuses, ..i.e. the slaughter of innocents throughout Africa. Some of our Oriental neighbours/allies would have to be included in any such list or is that just too hard for the professional agitator, is just too easy to play it safe and just protest about the Governments stand on border protection, which I hasten to add just may be saving real lives at sea and curtailing an illegal, immoral trade in human cargo.

Anyway enough of my meanderings and musings over this year past, we cast our eyes forward to see the future not backwards. For behind us is only the past. We, singly, may not be able to change the world’s wrongs but change ourselves and we do indeed change everything.

I am at peace with my God; I hope you are with yours. Always your friend and brother, Angry. G

Commercial/Industrial/ Retail & Bulky Goods Asset Management Investment Land Sales Project Marketing

Ph 9680 9200 www.hillscommercial.com.au info@hillscommercial.com.au

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 62 | Jan/Feb 2014

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