I was in the city on a Saturday afternoon having a drink at the Globe Hotel overlooking Railway Lane. There was a pretty good vibe around in the hotel and adjoining lane, there was an older clientele around, there was a Rod Steward concert this evening, so they were in town to watch him.

Then all of a sudden, there was an influx of unaccompanied youths swarming into the area and running riot. I reckon the average age was around 10 or so with some up to 15 years old. Whilst there was a variety of ages, there were a few talker ones, they were young. Regardless, these were a bunch of youths with no parental control. So where were their parents? This is a social issue, you could see these were punks from disadvantaged families; however, their disadvantage stems from their deadbeat parents.

These punks were running riot, they were sitting at the table grabbing the food, one punk had grabbed a steak knife and was vandalising the table by carving into the wood. They were harassing patrons at the Ribs & Burgers food outlet, all the patrons had now moved inside to get away from these out of control punks. Couples and families had come out on a Saturday night for some entertainment and were now subject to undisciplined youths with no boundaries or self-control.

There were around twenty of these punks running around, one of our party was sitting with her back to the lane. There was not much of a retaining barrier to the lane, these punks were now sitting on the wall, I had my eyes glued to the space just behind her, I was watching her back. She could easily be harassed or assaulted, they could easily grab her over the retaining barrier to keep patrons in the licenced bar area.

That is when I noticed the punks had stolen the steak knives from the table and were concealing these weapons. This was highly concerning, not only were these punks using these knives to vandalise property, they looked like they had malicious intents. I left the licenced area and wandered over to ## so I could inform the manager what had occurred. I was a little taken aback by his attitude, he did not seem to be acting in the best interests of his patrons and other businesses in the vicinity.

He was not concerned as he had called security who were on their way, I was now highly concerned as these steak knives could be used on these private security guards, they needed to be warned that these youths were armed and acting in an aggressive manner. I was concerned that their steak knives would be used on the security guards, one of whom was a smallish female in both stature and size who did not look imposing. Her body language was not that she had any self-defense skills and could handle herself.

We have entered a week where we will finally have hope, there is a new beginning as a new management regime takes over. Initially, I would expect minimal changes as the new manager steps in, he should take an observation period to see what is working and what needs rectification. The damage that has been done will take years to repair, this will be a long-run turn-around situation.

Hopefully the cronyism will finally end, the leader of the three stooges has retired, this will now leave the other two exposed, their benefactor has departed and the people who they have wronged are lining up. Without this management protection, the other two would be pretty nervous right now, they know they are in for restructuring. They have been complicit in the abuses that have occurred, they have been fully compliant in the bullying, they know it and they fear retribution.

I have long argued the current management has three major failings, that is a) no quality focus, b) no regard for safety, and c) running a protection racket for their crony mates. We are discussing major compliance failings and shortcomings, this undermines the whole registration process. What individuals are now seeing is the lies espoused by the fab three. The safety aspect has been appalling, I never want to hear these two statements again, a) what is the minimum we need to do, and b) let’s not make a rod for our backs.

When it comes to safety, there is no limit, we have been reported by our clients for both quality and safety breaches, this is how we are perceived and we have lost so many clients in the process that we must now rebuild the reputation. During official inspections, we have willfully misled the safety inspector that represents the government safety regulator. We have previously been issued non-compliance [improvement] notices and every client is now aware of the reputational damage caused by the management failures. I am looking forward to this new beginning, I hope to work in a constructive manner with the new manager to restore our lost reputation and quality.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if the same person who took out Larry [not his real name] for corruption also took out his disciples a number of years later. These legacy appointments made through a corrupt process have not been repealed, the issues have not been addressed and the individuals have been emboldened to act in a manner that is detrimental to a state government organisation.

We never believed the story that Larry’s expertise in spreadsheets was required in another section, he was being promoted and was needed elsewhere. That fake story made no sense, we were the largest and most profitable section. This profitability was made possible due to years of under-investment and poor management.

Sure, record numbers of apprentices rolled through the doors, they unfortunately were not serviced to the betterment of engineering trades, their employers and the primary industry where they are employed. The profits from this primary job was being skimmed to prop up underperforming areas, it just doesn’t make sense.

So here we are, we have a number of non-performing people being carried by a performing area. They behave like a state government department is a private business concern, this will always end badly, they promote those who agree with them, the ones they can control so they maintain their unethical status – not that they see it that way.

However, when you white-ant others, you tend to make enemies, especially with those who are ethical. What I see is ethical people tend to be organised, they keep accurate records, accurate record keeping is not the domain of those who are cheating the system, that tends to be incriminating, so you look for inaccuracies and falsified statements and entries – then you have them.

The mean girls of Australian politics have been named as Kristina Keneally, Penny Wong and Katy Gallagher. Described as the cantankerous cabal, Keneally, Wong and Gallagher have lowered parliamentary standards and brought into serious question why female quotas are required in parliament when this behaviour manifests on pretty much a daily basis. 

What happened to Kimberley Kitching was just deplorable, this is a classic deflection, the behaviour of Katy Gallagher at the Senate Estimates Committee questioning Senator Linda Reynolds smacks of double standards. Whilst Kimberley’s funeral was a sedate affair, her husband Andrew Landeryou lashed out at the cantankerous cabal, that was a pretty good sledge. 

Senator Wong is the Foreign Minister so this is a real credibility issue for her. Since Senator Wong was involved in the questioning of Senator Linda Reynolds in the Senate Estimates Committee, she has now been tainted with the misconduct charges levelled against Senator Katy Gallagher.  As Penny Wong was asking questions under parliamentary privilege, there is a real concern of collaboration and abuse of power.

When I look at retirement, that is early retirement, I think of age 60 in Australia as that is the earliest age a person born after 1963 can retire. For non-baby boomers like me, unless we have a very good reason such as personal hardship, the soonest we can unlock our retirement funds is age 60. If you hit age 60 and have the funds, then retirement is clearly the best option, if you are fit enough, then you should enjoy ýour retirement.

So if you look to delay your retirement, there had better be a very good reason, such as personal hardship. Ultimately, there is the time value of money to consider, then, more importantly is the value of time. No matter how much wealth you possess, the value you place in your time is what is valued in your life. Being financially secure is important, you need money to enjoy activities and your time, for me scuba diving, sailing, kayaking, mountain bike riding, hiking and boating.

So, for me I am looking to travel and write, I intend to become a digital nomad. I need to find a way to supplement my income. Yes, I will be living off my retirement benefit, I also seek to perform some part time work to earn some income to reduce the draw down on my retirement benefit whilst still enjoying the benefit of becoming semi-retired. I will look to generate an income from my digital activities and I am looking forward to it.

Now I have turned 55, I have an increased interest in superannuation and retirement if I want to meet my goal of retiring at age 60. In Australia, if you are able to support yourself, you can gain access to your superannuation and begin retirement. Likewise, you can also transition to retirement and reduce your working hours and move to part-time employment.

The challenge is now to manage the final decade of my career to retire debt free with more than adequate funds in my retirement account to give me a 20 year retirement account beginning at 60. Naturally I wish to live above the poverty line, there is no value retiring early and then having to live a life of poverty unable to experience life. In such a scenario, I would be better off remaining in the workforce because at least then I would hold a degree of financial freedom.

As an individual with no net debt, the critical criteria is to remain debt free during that period. For me, that’s not going to happen as I need to upgrade my motor vehicle. So I would expect to undertake a 3 year motor vehicle loan during that period. Fortunately, I have no mortgage as my primary residence is owned and I just need to finance the outgoings in my retirement. I want to enjoy retirement just like everyone and that will include travel, I have to travel cheaply – that’s the challenge.

I won’t qualify for a pensioner card until I at least turn 65, that should be 5 years into my retirement so I won’t receive discounts on state government charges such as water, electricity and rates until then. Really, the final decade of my career should be to maximise my earning potential, remain largely debt free during that period and to ensure I make maximum contributions to my retirement account during that period.

This will also include maximising employer contributions in this period, that will require full employment and minimising sick leave. That might be a little harder to plan, who knows where I will be physically in 8 years time, I have to keep fit and healthy. Finally, reducing income tax along with maximising tax efficient investments during the decade under the continuing onslaught of federal government changes to the superannuation system. That is the challenge, the government changes.

The Breitling Exospace B55 is an interesting take on a smartwatch, this is a quartz watch with three analog hands and a digital readout. So we could consider the Exospace B55 as a hybrid timepiece, a digital/analogue wristwatch. 

A handshake agreement is the highest form of business respect, a handshake agreement is an unwritten example of trust and confidence. Yet, a handshake agreement is worth little as so many individuals do not value the ethics of a handshake agreement.  

I have learnt, a handshake agreement is worthless unless supported by a document trail – this is unfortunate. That being said, I personally honour the handshake agreements I make. I believe I have personal honour, so a handshake agreement is as good as a written contract in my view. You never back down from a handshake agreement even if you have a loss-making deal, sometimes you just need to wear it. Sometimes you just need to get on with it regardless. 

So why do so many people refuse to acknowledge a handshake agreement as a binding contract?  Certainly, I wish to document details, this removes ambiguity leading to future misunderstandings, a written agreement is easy to interpret. However, once the details are agreed upon, personal values and integrity must take precedence. You make a verbal agreement, then you need to honour that agreement – no matter what. You should be as good as your word, you need to back up your actions. It really isn’t that difficult.

I have no issue with discrimination laws, they have to be fair and just, they need to offer protection to vulnerable people and they need to be applied equally. Racism is bad, yet there is no such thing as reverse racism, there is racism, it is as easy as that. Racial vilification laws in Western Australia were brought in when white supremacists targeted a range of people.

This white supremacist group is a bunch of morons, there is no argument here, they are pathetic bigots. I despise white supremacist groups and I have no issue with these particular laws being brought in front of Parliament to be used as a tool to stop these idiots. What I do have an issue with is these laws being used selectively.

They are laws to equalise society after all, and as I am a firm believer in equality. So we need to move to the next pertinent point, these laws need to be applied equally to be fair. So when a case arose where a young white female was physically assaulted and racially abused, do these laws not apply?

In Kalgoorlie, an outback city with a wild west reputation was a textbook example of laws not being applied equally. At the end of the day, racial abuse is racial abuse so the laws must be applied equally. An attack occurred where Melissa Blackney was sitting in a car on a street outside a house waiting for her mother when she was approached by two girls, one fourteen and one fifteen and a woman aged twenty one.

A rock was thrown at the vehicle and an altercation occurred where Ms Blackney was attacked by the group. She was kicked on the ground by the thirteen year old and given sixty hours community service and four months of intensive supervision. The charge of racial vilification was dismissed as common street language against the fifteen year old who urged her sister on as “patois of the street” by the Magistrate.

There were three people involved in an altercation with one person, who was sitting in her vehicle when an unprovoked attack occurred. According to the report Ms Blackney did not request racial vilification laws to be applied, this occurred when the police arrived and abuse was hurled at her in front of police officers. Whilst the Human Rights Commission attempted to tarnish the reputation of Ms Blackney, there is no evidence to support their claims, so they really need to pull their heads in and just deal in facts.

What the world saw when the Russian forces massed in a long convoy on the road to Kyiv was the destruction of Russian armour on a scale not seen in a long time. The javelin missile saved Kyiv from certain destruction with shells of burnt out tanks littering the highway. Then there was the logistics failures and even the maintenance of the support vehicles.

Whilst Russian forces were defeated and the invasion was stopped dead, the destruction of Russian tanks continues. Ukrainian drone pilots and grenades dropped through open hatches igniting the shells in the turret resulting in firstly a cookoff and the turret launched into the lower atmosphere. This is not just one or two tanks, this has been a constant cause of Russian losses – brilliant.