Winter has now passed and spring is upon us; the days are getting longer, warmer and with the changing of the season, the feeling of thawing begins. Spending a spring day at King’s Park is a pretty decent afternoon, especially on a Sunday when all the families are out and about.

A Sunday at Kings Park is always a good day, one immediately sees wildflowers blooming with the activity of the local bee population gathering and transferring pollen at a frantic pace. The sun was out on this magnificent Sunday afternoon; people were milling around the park lands, concerts in full flight with families partaking in picnics laid out on blankets on the grass. Like the bee population, Kings Park was alive with activity. Myself included and armed with my camera intent with capturing the moment, I focused my lens on some of the amazing wildflowers in the park. All in all, this was a pretty good Sunday.

Having completed a mature age degree in Training and Development at the University of New England; the question is now, how do I gain a competitive edge in an employment market that is increasingly crowded?

Having sought undergraduate study in Training and Development at Edith Cowan University; only to learn the course would be discontinued, I chose the highly recommended University of New England undergraduate degree course instead. I’m glad I did; it was a long process and I was very unhappy along the way but the end result is worth the pain.

Now moving into post graduate studies; my application at Edith Cowan University is for a Graduate Certificate of Business as opposed to a Graduate Certificate in Human Resources, do I seek a more generalised area to study or should I maintain a focused approach to maintain qualification progression or a change in career direction?

In private enterprise, training and development is a function of human resources, however, degree studies incorporate in a number of human resource units in the training and development qualification and one must be careful not to gain too narrow a skill set when employers now seek well developed graduates, even mid 40s workers such as myself.

Since the election, speaking to industry figures I am resoundingly informed they will begin hiring again, it has only been a week and the new Prime Minister hasn’t even been sworn in yet. It was reported major projects were left on hold during the climate of political uncertainty and looks to be resolved now, we could be entering a new growth phase, recent gains in the ASX 200 would indicate renewed confidence.

Driving down the gravel driveway from the bitumen road as I head to Upper Reach Winery, I am always looking forward to tasting and purchasing from their fine selection of fine wines, they are very accommodating and friendly. 

Just down the road are John Kosovich Wines and Mann Wines – more great value wineries. These small producers of Perth’s Swan Valley are all within a short drive of each other nestled on the banks of the meandering Swan River.

The vines maturing in the summer sun, I am still yet to attend a concert here as I sail on Saturday afternoons and just can’t attend. A number of Swan Valley and Margaret River wineries have summer concerts on their grounds and notwithstanding sailing commitments. A summer afternoon sipping a verdelho before moving onto their black bream chardonnay/verdelho blend before getting serious with their wonderful chards.

The reserve chardonnay is has been a spectacular success for Upper Reach; it is by far my favourite offering, the 2012 breaks with previous vintage traditions that had superb French vanillan oak flavours balancing their premium fruit. I prefer the older vintages of 2010, 2009 and 2008 with the creamy flavours; the result of the malolactic fermentation, the 2012 vintage is somewhat softer, lighter and some would say more refined.   

The selection of reds ranges from Petit Verdot, Tempranillo, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache and their Cabernet Merlot. My choice of red is the Cabernet Sauvignon followed by the Shiraz, a popular blend is their Cabernet Merlot but apart from tastings, I am yet to purchase. A number of times, late on a Sunday afternoon, I have sat in their restaurant enjoying a bite to eat washed down by a glass of Petit Verdot or Tempranillo overlooking the vines – Perth just made The Economist top ten livable cities and I am enjoying the lifestyle a mere 30 minutes drive from my house. 

Is it me or is road rage on the rise? We live a highly stressed society; roads are becoming more congested, people are working longer hours and time is at a premium – we are under pressure, there is no doubt about it. 

Not only are people receiving abuse on the roads; idiots are chasing cars to people’s houses to abuse them further, bicycle riders are being knocked over and even pedestrians are being run down. As a society, do we really need dickheads having punch-ups in the middle of the road? I think not.

It is now getting to the stage where guns are being pulled and shots fired – this is madness. Is it worth jail time for brain fades? Why do we have people on the roads with guns in the first place? The justice system needs to get serious, more assault charges need to be laid with serious consequences for offenders with no more excuses. Only then will we turn around this alarming trend around where people have no respect for other road users. Somebody cut you off, drove slow in the fast lane or failed to indicate – snap out of it.

Sitting up in the stands watching the fantastic tussle between the Fremantle Dockers and Port Adelaide on a calm Perth winter’s evening; the second last round of the home and away season saw defensive dominance outplay a rapidly improving and offensive Port Adelaide team.

The lights shone brilliantly over Paterson’s Stadium; the home of Western Australian football, Fremantle’s forwards shone even brighter this evening kicking 21 goals to 9 in a masterful display. The pressure applied to Port’s young midfield was relentless; however, Port learning from this experience overcome an arrogant Collingwood in the elimination final a couple of weeks later causing another great upset in the Australian Football League finals series. Fremantle caused the first upset of the series taking down an experienced Geelong in the first final to be played at Simonds Stadium in over 100 years; a day later Carlton took down Richmond in front of crowd exceeding 94,000 fans to throw the first week of the finals into overdrive.

With the election result likely to be known Saturday night, initial polling will indicate the state of play and possible losses to be encountered for the Labor party. What will the future hold for Prime Minister Keven Rudd? Will Kev remain as opposition leader until the 2016 federal election – not likely. Rudd is no certainty to win his Brisbane seat of Griffith, but most expect him to be victorious albeit with a slim majority.

Will Treasurer Chris Bowen take the reins post Rudd? Bowen has been a staunch supporter of Rudd, the undermining of the Gillard administration and won’t exactly be post Rudd. Has Bill Shorten displayed leadership qualities? Shorten deposed two sitting Prime Ministers after all and may lack the respect of his colleagues, he however does have strong union ties. Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the other hand is a logical choice, but once Rudd goes, does he have the support of the party?

If the result is as devastating as it is expected to be, will Kev’s colleagues be in a forgiving mood or will the party move swiftly to distance itself from the dysfunctional KRudd era? Will the once touted saviour of the Labor party be relegated to villain? Despised by all within the party for not only the election loss, but the annihilation of the party. Kevin Rudd won the election for Labor after nearly 12 years in the political wilderness, he could win an election from a longstanding Prime Minister but it very quickly became apparent that he was unable to effectively govern.

Pundits are even starting to raise the question, should the party have gone to the election with Julia Gillard instead? Kevin’s rock star appeal waned pretty quickly, he was after all sacked by his peers in 2010 for being incapable to perform his Prime Ministerial duties. However, Rudd is not alone, Bob Hawke was deposed by his party in 1991 by Paul Keating whilst still in office. John Gorton in 1971 and Billy Hughes in 1923 were also deposed whilst holding power. I get the feeling we will be finding out pretty quickly, I don’t think Kevin Rudd will last more than two weeks post election.

As we head into the finals series for the Australian Football League, I reflect back to the pre-season competition where the teams travel around the country playing at smaller local venues. The advantage is that instead of large cheering crowds, grandstands, full stadiums, cheer squads and entertainment at the main break – the match has a more intimate feel with people seated on bench seats around the boundary cheering on. Fremantle captain, Matthew Pavlich (29) in a marking dual in the forward line – the advantage of these pre-season games is you are seated right on the boundary in the thick of the action viewing the game as the players do. You see the game from a player’s perspective, viewing contests and duals instead of looking down on the game from the stands during the main season.

Taking control of the ball after disposing of his opponent, Pavlich well outside the 50 metre arc pumps the ball long towards the goals. A booming kick, Pavlich regularly kicks goals from outside the 50, today he was lucky to play on only one opponent, all throughout his decorated career, he has been double teamed.

Midfielder David Mundy (16) attempting to take possession while feeling the pressure of his close checking Western Bulldogs opponent.

Mundy breaking free in the centre square kicking to a contest in the forward line. While pre-season games don\’t really count for much, Fremantle bought a near full strength side down to Rushton Park in Mandurah as this was the last hit-out prior to the premiership season. This was the final chance to give players a run under match conditions trying new tactics before the first game of the season – the Western derby.

I brought my Olympus E-410 DSLR camera fitted with a 70 mm – 300 mm zoom lens to capture contests throughout the game. I wasn’t disappointed because despite the score; the game felt much closer than the scoreboard indicated and was played predominantly man-on-man with little zoning or flooding tactics applied. I watched the game with my 12 year old nephew, he hasn’t had the opportunity to go to many premiership games and this was a great opportunity to see star players close up. It reminded my of the local WAFL competition where I would watch the stars of East Fremantle and South Fremantle play in similar circumstances prior to the formation of the national competition.

Further studies saw him complete a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Melbourne, some would argue the best business school in Australia strengthening his business acumen. Its pretty unusual for a high ranking union official to hold an MBA when it is more customary to hold a golden gloves title, cricket bat or 4 x 2 lump of jarrah.

As the National Secretary for the Australian Workers Union from 2001 – 2007, Shorten held a very high profile position, none more so than during the Beaconsfield mine disaster when he became the public face of the rescue. The more cynical would associate disaster management with the current state of the Australian Labor Party, in such a case, he is well credentialed.

Acting as a director for the Victorian Funds Management Corporation from 2005 – 2007 and Australian Super from 1998 – 2007, Shorten has established himself as the leader the right faction of the Australian Labor Party. However, I get the feeling he didn’t fare too well in the MBA leadership unit; I’m pretty sure they don’t teach knifing leaders at Melbourne Business School. Being a very prominent figure in the Keven Rudd axing in 2010.

Shorten then withdrew his support for Julia Gillard less than 30 minutes before the leadership ballot returning Kevin Rudd to power in June – Shorten has effectively assassinated two sitting Prime Ministers. Most expect Labor to be at least a two term opposition so he would be in no rush to become opposition leader any time soon, however, his high profile assassinations might well prevent him from becoming a leader with any moral credibility.

Politicians retire before elections, this has happened in many election cycles and will continue to happen. However, the forthcoming federal election is rather interesting due to the experience of the candidates who announced retirements after the Julia Gillard Kevin Rudd leadership spill earlier this year.

This was surprisingly after the election had been announced, although in all fairness, it was the longest election cycle in Australia\’s history. What is interesting is the skills and experience retiring in such a short space of time, guys like Martin Fergurson and Simon Crean are well respected on both sides of parliament; both strong performers, their knowledge and experience will be missed.

Stephen Smith performed well in foreign affairs before Kevin Rudd got his position in compensation for the Prime Minister’s position he lost in the knifing. Some would also argue Kev liked the jet-set lifestyle and as Foreign Minister would spend more time out of the country (causing less problems) leaving Gillard and Swan free to do as they wish. However, despite his ongoing assurances, Wayne Swan was never able to balance the accounts and post a surplus in his time as Treasurer, instead presiding over huge debts and inefficiencies. Likewise, Peter Garrett lurched from one disaster to another.

Greg Combet on the other hand was the biggest surprise for me, I had expected him to lead the party in the future, if polling is to be believed, between 20 – 25 seats could be lost in this election and I thought he would be the one to lead the party out of opposition. Lets see who has departed:

Julia Gillard – former Prime Minister, ousted in a leadership ballot after gaining the Prime Minister in leadership spill and then formed a minority government in 2010.

Wayne Swan – former Treasurer.

Stephen Smith – former Foreign Minister and Defense Minister.

Craig Emerson – former Minister for Trade and Competitiveness and Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research.

Peter Garrett – former rock star, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts and the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth.

Greg Combet – former Minister for Climate Change, Industry and Innovation.

Stephen Conroy – former Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

Martin Fergurson – former Minister for Resources and Energy and Minister for Tourism.

Chris Evans – former Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs, Science and Research.

Simon Crean – former Leader of the Opposition, Minister for Science and Technology, Minister for Primary Industries and Energy, Minister for Employment, Education and Training, Minister for Trade, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Minister for Education and Minister for the Arts.

Nicola Roxon – former Minister for Health and Ageing and Attorney General of Australia.

Robert McClelland – former Attorney General of Australia.

The question remains, did all this experience depart in such a short time frame because they felt they are unable to work together with Kevin Rudd or do they feel the government\’s time is up and they don’t wish to spend a couple of terms in opposition?

Navigating the Philippine Airlines booking site looking for flights from Perth; noticing Perth was no longer represented on the drop-down menu, I went looking for answers only to find the service was no longer running. After only three months of operation, Philippine Airlines has already cancelled its Perth to Manila service – what has happened here?

Flying to Manila via Darwin was a hassle, spending an hour on the ground was a case of get off the plane, buggerise around and get back on. Whilst stopped at Darwin airport, the transit lounge was pretty ordinary, but with budget flying, you didn’t mind too much. It appears this service didn’t really get off the ground, was the choice of aircraft incorrect? Was the lack of advertising the reason why seats were left unfilled? Surely, in the planning stage, multiple scenarios would be analysed – this appears to be a monumental failure of planning.

The aircraft flying between Perth and Darwin were largely unfilled, the flight filled between Darwin gaining more passengers but still looking unprofitable, maybe cargo can add some revenue to the flight? Either way, the chance of flights being restored seem very unlikely as is the chance of wide body aircraft flying directly to Manila. What started with optimism only a few months back has turned to tears in just three short months; visions of Manila becoming a regional transport hub vanishing into obscurity.