What makes me laugh more than anything is the second rate politics played in the government department I called home for a decade and a half. I let them play their silly games, when it counts, I make sure they feel the pain.

They think I lost, they thought I was frustrated and they thought they have defeated me – they are so wrong. Firstly, I have to thank my former manager, I say former because he was moved on. He had a habit of getting rid of the people he didn’t like – that’s true. He is gone, but I am still there; sure, he sandbagged my career – that’s true. However, what one has to learn to do is to turn defeat into victory. Whilst I won’t use his real name, Larry is the gift that keeps on giving. I chose the name Larry as that is one of the three stooges.

I can’t be fired, he broke the law and I worked it out and that is bad in the state government. What’s worse, he called me into the office and held me accountable for the Corruption and Crime Commission report – big mistake. That’s breaking the law, not only that, if I had reported him, he could be up for a two-year prison sentence. So, that buys me some goodwill; sure, I will never be promoted – I accept that. If they ever want to push the issue, I can defend myself in the Equal Opportunity Commission, the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003 clearly articulates that requirement.

However, that also makes me immune from dismissal, that’s clearly described in the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003. Poor judgement got the department in this position, their lack of leadership and management ability created this mess – this is on them. So now I am free to pursue consulting roles in the public sector and retain my role in the government – you can’t fire a whistleblower. After trying to bully me they learned that I fight back and despite defending from a perceived position of weakness – my strategy is far superior to theirs.