Pete's Place

Tribute from a Social Work Colleague - Eulogy

2009-10-29T10:52:00.011+11:00

(Photo: Peter in 1983)

This is the text from the item :"Memories of Peter and Social Work" by Desley the National Manager of Social Work at Centrelink which formed part of the Memorial gathering on 15 October. For those of you who are outside Australia, Centrelink is the Australian Government department responsible for pensions, benefits and other services and used to be called the Department of Social Security up to about 1999.

I am very grateful to Desley for providing me with the text of her speech, as she was well aware that this is something Peter would have wanted to have, for his records and for posterity. I am also grateful as I learnt a few extra things about Peter, which was very precious as
he is not here to forge new memories with me so havingthe loan of someone else's memories is all I can have from now on. Thank you Desley.

"I feel very honoured to have been asked by Leanne to speak today about Peter's social work career - or at least the part that I know about.

I first met Peter when I became an Area Social Worker in the old Area South Queensland about 20 years ago. He was, at that time, the Assistant Director Social Work based in Sydney in what was then the department of Social Security. However, I did have phone contact with him for a couple of years before that when I worked in the Social Work Unit in DSS Queensland and one of my tasks was to manage a social work recording system which later became known as SWIS (Social Work Information System).

My impression of him, from the phone contact, was of someone with very strong views, a lot of knowledge about statistical analysis and even computers - which left me way out of my depth. He was also very god at identifying what was wrong with the Queensland system and how it could be improved! I was left thinking - Mmmm!! He introduced himself as a Hungarian Jew and often talked about his various investments and the decision-making behind them.

Peter was a man with very strong principles, highly ethical, an advocate for the disadvantaged and with a vision way beyond what the rest of us could comprehend. I remember him having a conversation with me in 1990 about the world of the future and how social workers would be and should be using computers. He researched and wrote prolifically about that in a time when we were still working with Wang "dumb terminals'. I laughed and said "No way, Peter!" We were still moving into an environment where we had to learn to type our own social work reports!! BUT how RIGHT he was! We couldn't imagine a workplace without computers now.

Peter was very committed to the social work profession and for many years was an active member of the Australian Association of Social Workers. He was passionate about high standards of professional practice and wrote prolifically about how to improve professional supervision. He developed a national training and professional development plan and I still have copies of these documents because they remain relevant today.

In November 2004, our Social Work service reached its 60th year milestone. peter sent me so many historical documents that he had kept over the years to ensure they were maintained for posterity. he also invited a number of eminent social workers who had worked in DSS to provide some comment on their time in the Social Work Service. While there was not a huge response, his passion remained and he was very keen to reminisce about the good and the bad old days. He was intensely loyal.

Sometimes Peter could be abrasive, dismissive and on occasion, disagreeable and he did not suffer fools gladly, but he could also be a lot of fun. He had a wicked sense of humour and took pleasure in stating the outrageous and being provocative, just to get a reaction. It usually worked and some of us needed a debrief after the odd teleconference where sparks could fly!

After Peter moved to the Social Work team in Canberra the dynamics changed there too. In talking with Margo and Jenny, who were around in the team at that time, they have many stories about the robust discussions which now occurred face-to-face rather than over the phone.

He loved Coffee lollies and kept a supply in his desk which he regularly offered to Margo and Jenny. he was the only one who liked them but they were too polite to tell him!! He used to try to bribe them with the lollies , completely unaware of their aversion to them.

If they went to his office to ask a question, they could plan to be there a long time, so they used to work out a strategy to get the other person out with a fake phone call. He loved to talk!!

Peter finally got his way when SWIS was computerised and he was heavily involved in its design and implementation. Not long after Centrelink was created Peter moved to the next stage of his career and into the IT world where he seemed to be in his element. Whenever I bumped into him he was very positive about the work he was doing. (It didn't make an ounce of sense to me - but then I guess you would expect that!!)

Photo: Peter in his office in 2003

He would also regale me with his and Leanne's travel plans as he loved to travel. I felt very privileged when they asked me to house-sit a few years ago when they went off for as few months travelling around Europe. I knew that he was keenly disappointed when he was first diagnosed because they had plans for another long trip which, in the end, could not be undertaken.

I went to see him in the hospice not long before he died and jokingly told him I needed his advice on SWIS. Despite his state of health, he immediately responded and told me that I was asking the wrong question about SWIS and I really needed to consider looking at the issues from a different perspective. He was as sharp as a tack! He then proceeded to take me to task about sending Centrelink social workers offshore in responding to (international) disasters. I had to justify how that fitted with the "real" role of social workers. I clearly gave the right answers because he then advised me that he was very suited to this role as he was such a well-travelled person. He said he would get well and I would obviously choose to deploy him. Sadly, this was not to be.

To the last he was incredibly positive and optimistic - a real fighter determined not to give in.

I really enjoyed working with Peter and respected him highly even when he was being difficult! We did not always agree but I found he was always prepared to listen, consider, provide advice and,occasionally, to change his viewpoint. He was a man of integrity. His legacy in the Social Work Service will continue.

I am grateful for the time that I had to work with him. He taught me much and we will all miss him."

Desley (15.10.2009)

I just want to add that Peter was very grateful that Desley had taken the time out of her very busy schedule to visit him that evening in the hospice. Later, he asked me whether I thought she was being honest when she said to him that he was widely remembered and had made a great impact on the Social Work Service in Centrelink. I replied that Desley would not have said it if it was not true and I thought that he underestimated the impact he had on a vast number of people and services throughout his life. He cogitated on that for a few moments and said that he hoped it was true because otherwise he had wasted his life. I told him that nothing is ever wasted especially the kind of work he had done.

I hope this is true, too, Peter.

Leanne

Eulogy - Part 4

2009-10-24T08:59:00.003+11:00

Relationships
Peter said his father once told him not to worry too much about girls, as, like buses, if you miss out on one there will always be another along in a short time!!

I know Peter enjoyed many short and longer term relationships from his teenage years onwards and I say “good luck to you Peter”. It is, therefore, important to mention that Peter married Gabriella C in 1976 and they were divorced in 1980. After which he remained in Bondi, travelled overseas and met Gitte S, living with her in Salzburg. We caught up with Gitte in 2005 and I could see why she and Peter had hit it off.

He did not “settle down” again until some years later when we met.

Our 16 years together
Peter and I met in 1987 at a job interview, when he was the head social worker for DSS in NSW and also the President of the AASW. So it was a bit daunting to meet him, but for other reasons, I gave probably the worst interview of my career. Hence I didn't get the job. But when Peter contacted me to give me feedback he said: “Well you know you didn't get the job don't you because you “effed” up the interview?” Of course he was right, but after that he gave very constructive and honest feedback.

Photo: Peter and Gabriella

The next time we spoke, was in 1993, when he rang me to ask me whether I would consider taking on the role of Treasurer for the Australian Association of Social Workers in NSW, of which he was still the President and I was a member. After meeting and speaking with him a couple of times about the request, I declined on the grounds that I didn't need more work, but more personal balance in my life. Whereupon, to my surprise, he asked me out the following weekend! I have to say I did hesitate......But we took a chance and went out for lunch, to the movies and spent the afternoon at Darling Harbour in and around the Japanese Garden.

Photo: Peter August 1993

So our relationship dates from then – 31 July 1993. The first year or so were filled with challenges as we came to understand the differences in our family, cultural and religious experiences and yet we had such similar views on so many important areas of life and work. We both learnt more about each other over the years and I know we both came to appreciate the areas of difference, the expertise of the other and were grateful that we had each other. In this case opposites attracted and then continued to add “colour and movement” as we gently grew together after the initial turmoil, and understood each other more. I know we both were very intrigued and amazed by those personal and historical differences but we both valued them in the other all the more for being different to our own experience.

It was when we went to Europe travelling together for the first time in 1996, that it all suddenly clicked into place for me that Peter seemed to fit so easily into Austrian and Hungarian life. That, in fact, he was so Australian and yet so European at the same time and ultimately neither one nor the other, but both, which I have subsequently seen with other friends who are first generation refugees or migrants. From then on I certainly understood him much more and we became closer as a result.

Our time together was spent largely in working and when we had a break, in long holidays, camping around Europe in a tiny 2 person tent. We shared similar values about travelling, namely that to spend a long time away, accommodation didn't need to be luxurious. So, we spent many months in our 2 person dome tent, with a small folding table and 2 chairs, a gas burner and a car. When that wasn't possible we sometimes found ourselves in very basic youth hostels and ,only occasionally, in 1 or 2 star motels when the weather was very bleak or there was no camping ground nearby.

During those sojourns, we met some of the best people with whom we have remained in contact and become good friends. This was usually because Peter would do a “reccy” around the campsite while I was finalising the set-up and he would report back to me about who was whom. His maxim about people was: “I find them, you keep them!”

I was also the chief navigator and decided on where we would go after extensive reading, while Peter was the designated driver, linguist and food finder. His excellent knowledge of German, Hungarian, very passable French and Italian meant that we both enjoyed a much more rich and personal experience of those countries together than would have otherwise been possible. We spent some very positive times with distant relatives in Budapest, which would have been closed to me without Peter. He would arm me with a few phrases and send me off to see if there was a campsite, room or food available – often with less than optimal results – but he was right to push me. He often had to rescue the situation, especially in Hungary or where more complex bureaucratic situations arose. These trips became the times where we really “lived” and spent such great times together.

Peter's diagnosis of Oesophageal Cancer in February 2004 shook us both to our core. His subsequent surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and various conditions was hugely stressful and distressing to both of us but, especially Peter, as you can imagine. I was more used to the medical system and realised early on that he would need me to help navigate through the murky waters.

We did manage to have another long European trip in 2005, with him returning to work on a part time basis up to May 2006. However, further recurrences and other medical problems started to dog him again from 2006 onwards.

Peter spent every spare minute, he was feeling able to do so, in finalising his personal issues from the moment he received his diagnosis. He reached out even more to distant relatives overseas to finish what he could of his genealogical records. This became hugely rewarding as the internet connected him with more and more people. Some of these were the children of people who had actually known his parents in Budapest. Their parents were able to give Peter information about his parents which was new and filled out what little he knew about their lives.

Photo: Peter's 60th birthday, January 2009. He didn't think he would make it to 60, so this was very special.

But, over time, Peter's quality of life gradually contracted to needing more and more personal assistance. I left work in May 2008 to be, well and truly, his “help-meet” and to effectively, and literally, be his right hand, given his right arm had become paralysed. However, it is important you should know that he remained physically as independent as possible right up to the time he was hospitalised in late July and his mind and determination to live never dimmed.

He always had a great fear of being incapacitated and he hated that his body was gradually failing him in a “death by a thousand cuts” scenario. He always said that the great irony of his situation was that all the things which he valued and which defined him as a person were the very things which were taken away from him in these last couple of years. Such things as his voice and his skills as a great communicator, his love of writing, his passion for good food and his independence were all stripped away.

He came to rely on me more as days passed and I was happy to help and nurse him through.

An unexpectedly joyful time was our wedding on Sunday 5 July this year at our home in Canberra, which was scheduled between chemotherapy. It was something which we had never really felt necessary, but which earlier this year, I considered would be a fitting thing to do to formally join our families together so that records would note that we were important to each other. Otherwise, who would know? It caused some moments of angst for both of us, raising issues long dormant, but in the end it was a beautiful and very significant day with a few people to help us celebrate.

The last few weeks we spent together, Peter was in the hospice and they were hard work for him as he was battling to stay with me. But there were moments of sheer joy and delight on occasion too, when just for a small time, we could hold hands, enjoy a shared joke or Peter's ascerbic humour would rise to the fore; watch movies and share moments with good friends or each other.

I know that this illness was so very cruel and Peter felt robbed of 15 or 20 years more of life. However, I can also say that it made us stop and realise that devoting yourself to work and not taking time to be with people you care about or things that matter to you, is foolish. He said lately: “I wish I had spent more time with you and less on work. What a fool I have been, what lost opportunities I missed.” However, I did not lambast him about that regret, but said: “We were doing what was important to us at the time Peter, when we took our health and our lives for granted.”

We certainly ended up spending more time with each other, were brought closer together than ever before and the love and care we had for each other was strengthened many times over in these last few months. I think he was, also, sometimes surprised at the caring of his friends and some of the people he met on this long road. He said he was glad we were together as we had gathered some lovely friends and sometimes it was the people you least expected.

Photo: Peter and one of our many friends, Stephen, visiting at our home, 2009. Peter's T Shirt caption reads: "I'm not insensitive I just don't give a crap" (no reference to Stephen).

Our relationship was a case of opposites attracting but some of our passions rubbed off on each other. I learned a lot from Peter, from big, strategic issues down to the smaller and more personal things in life. He taught me how to cook properly with Paprika, the sheer joy of a well cooked meal and how to analyse the ingredients and method of preparation; how to cook a few Hungarian dishes; about computers and how to maximise their value, how to be a better public servant and manager, how to protect yourself at work and maximise your outcomes; the value of project management, the crucial need to write everything down to “cover your arse” as he put it; swear words in several different languages; that the accent and body language is as important as what you say in whatever language; that you should have the courage of your convictions; that it is important to have a view and to provoke discussion; that you can never stop learning; that there is value in science fiction; that 1930's jazz is enjoyable; old movies remain fascinating no matter how many times you see the same one; that being part of a family and having them close by is a gift especially to those who don't have one; that knowing who you are and where you came from is crucial; not to take anything for granted; to recognise when the rainy day has finally arrived. And much, much more.....

Photo: A great day! He made it to my birthday 1 week before passing away. This is what 2 months of pneumonia and chemotherapy had done to him, but he was so good on this day: 12 September 2009.

I would just like to close this by saying Peter was a special person, but for all that, he was also very human. I often told him he was the most annoying person in the known universe at times and much more besides, and he agreed! But equally, he reminded me, so could I be. However, we loved each other, grew together more over time, respected the worth of each other and were the better because we have been together.

I only wish we had met earlier and been together longer. I salute you Peter. You will never be forgotten by me while ever I have a breath to take. Go gently, my love, into that dark night I will always remember, love and cherish you.
Leanne

Photo:Farewell 19 September 2009

Eulogy - Part 3

2009-10-24T09:04:00.003+11:00

Interests
Peter was a man with a great many talents and they did not revolve around sport, cars or handyman pursuits. “I am not handy”, he would say when we were faced with a domestic repair conundrum. This meant getting in someone who was, or I would have a go, sometimes with mixed results which then required getting a tradesman. Nonetheless, Peter did have immense talents.

Peter developed an early love of music but did not take to classical music or opera as his parents may have hoped. He loved jazz, especially the music of Stan Getz, Django Rheinhard, Sidney Bechet, Fats Waller and others from the “Hot Club du Paris” era of the 1920's to 1950's. He also enjoyed folk music and while he learnt the piano and could play “by ear” as a child, he turned to the acoustic guitar as a young adult and I understand he quite liked playing to small groups of people. I also understand this gave him an opportunity and talent for meeting women, something on which he was keen from the age of 13 so he told me!
Photo: Peter, Athens 1983

He had a really lovely speaking and singing voice, which I always thought of as mellifluous and, if you closed your eyes, like being covered in melted caramel! When I first met Peter I told him he had a great voice and should have been on the radio – imagine my surprise when he mentioned that he had been a radio actor as a child!

He was a great raconteur and had an absolutely encyclopaedic repertoire of jokes or stories. He would invite you to give him a letter of the alphabet or a word and he would always have a joke about it, much like a juke box selector. He could also whistle complex classical, folk and jazz melodies unlike anyone I have ever known! They were so beautiful.

Peter loved the cinema and movies, undertaking the role of film critic when he attended Sydney university and spent time with Bill Collins in his movie appreciation weekends. In the last few weeks of his life he continued to enjoy DVDs with me, the most recent being some French films which Peter found very moving.
Photo: Peter at Frying Pan Creek 1989.
He spent a lot of time freshwater fishing in his early adult life and later while we were on holidays. He disdained bait fishing but liked using lures and I have strong memories of him up to his knees in a fast flowing stream on a baking, hot summer day in France. He loved the thrill of catching a pike perch in a lake in France or Italy, but talked with great affection about his adventures with trout in the rivers around Cooma.

Interestingly he didn't like eating fish.
Photo: Fishing at Villa Garuti in Italy, 2002
He also became a sporting shooter and spent some time in Queensland learning survival techniques many years before it became an adventure holiday concept. When I asked him about both of these things early in our relationship, because they seemed quite incongruous with the urban intellectual I knew, he said he wanted to be able to survive and protect himself and his family if ever there was a threat or need to do so. He said that no one was ever going to point a gun at him and round him up without a fight. He said “Never again. The holocaust is not going to happen to me.”

His other loves were Social Work, knowledge management, IT, writing and web development. He spent the majority of his waking hours at work, or on the computer at home researching new trends and changes in any of his interest areas. Recently he commented, that he used to think that anyone who couldn't use a computer or utilise software to it's fullest extent was either stupid or lazy, including me. But he admitted only a few months ago that he realised this was absolutely not the case, as he had been away from avidly using the computer or updating his knowledge for several months, and I had to remind him how to some things, which, to him seemed ultimately depressing . This was a a huge revelation to him, because he had been at the forefront of personal computing since the early 1980's including beta testing a number of products.

He contributed to many web discussion groups, as well as having 5 or 6 web logs of his own. One crucial one he developed was on Oesophageal Cancer, because there was nothing available in Australia to help people who were victims of this tragic disease or their carers to understand what the process, options, medical interventions and implications were for someone with this diagnosis. He maintained this for the whole 5 and ½ year period of his illness. I know that a wide range of people found this incredibly useful and thanks were often passed on by thosee who had googled the cancer and found a link to Peter's blog site.
Photo: This was all we needed for 3 - 6 months overseas, Cagnes Sur Mer, France 2000.
Peter was also totally passionate about researching genealogy. He found it so frustrating in the early years, before the internet became so useful for researching family history. He was desperate to find out more about his family and ancestors and realised that he had little knowledge when his parents both died so early in his life. The strides he was able to make when information became available on line, and he could hook up with others all over the world who were also searching, was hugely satisfying to him.
Photo: Peter with our Citroen Xsara, Auxerre, France 2002 (larger car but still camping with the same tent and gear)

Travelling also became important to Peter. From the late 1970's he started to travel overseas and maintained a schedule of having a long holiday every 2 years or so. By storing his annual leave and taking leave without pay he was able to maintain this schedule up to 2005, with many visits to Europe, a few to Asia and 2 to the USA to meet cousins. He was a bit of a”free-wheeler” without a plan, when it came to travel and enjoyed the people and food, with the sights sometimes taking second place. He always said: ”The nose knows” when he would find some wonderful patisserie, cafe or restaurant and he was rarely wrong. He also used the time to follow up on genealogical leads and track down people who remembered his parents or other family members. We returned each time to Szent Istvan Park on the Danube, in the XIII district of Budapest, and would sit in the park outside the apartment building in which he and his parents lived. He had a love/hate relationship with Budapest and would always want to return but when he did so the realities of modern Budapest often annoyed him. We agreed this was probably the load all migrants and refugees carry about their home country.

Photo: Peter's family apartment up to the time they fled Hungary in Budapest, Szent Istvan Park, XIII district.

Peter was also a very good cook, and loved to entertain. He loved eating out and experimenting with recipes or analysing the key ingredients in a dish at a restaurant. He enjoyed finding interesting cook books and by travelling to Europe he was in a state of bliss at all the wonderful bread, cheese, and different styles of cuisine. Whenever we would cross a border into a new country, province or region, his interests lay in the regional produce or specialities, rather than in the historic sites. While I was enthralled by another Romanesque church or trawling through antique or bric a brac stalls at markets, he would be smelling out a rare salami, a ripe Camembert, the best bread, or attempting to find the best espresso in the country by sampling at least 2 a day in a different cafe or bar. He always said that the difference between French or Italian and Hungarian espresso coffee was in France , you stirred the sugar in with the spoon, in Italy the spoon stood up and in Hungary, the spoon dissolved!!
Photo: Peter and Leanne, Montresor, Loire Valley, France 2002

His cooking style was mainly eastern European and Mediterranean but he was also a great lover of Asian food and he used to love stirfrys, Laksa's and curries. He was very good at Green Chicken Curry and veal with mushrooms. His view on salad was that it was, by and large, “Rabbit food” and green vegetables were only suitable as a garnish.

He was also a great reader, enjoying a wide range of books, articles, current affairs, think tank discussions and web related material. He was a speed reader and could finish a large and compelling novel in a day if he was so motivated, which meant that our home has been full of books from our first days together, as this is a joy we both shared, even though our tastes differed.

Like many migrants he was intensely proud of Australia but also of Hungarians. He always said that behind many of the worlds' great inventions there was a Hungarian and used to reel off a list of essential inventions, such as the Biro pen, whose inventors were Hungarian! Much to my amazement, I have to say when I started looking, he seemed to be correct!!!

Photo: Upgraded to a campervan in 2005, Germany.

He was also a very prolific writer. He wrote hundreds of articles and opinions for the NSW Social Work newsletter as well as editing and publishing for many years. He also contributed many articles to web discussions, wrote his own blogs and travel articles for the San Diego Jewish News. He was always so confident that writing articles and contributing to the global discussion on knowledge or change management was an important thing. He was so confident and unrepentant for his views or provocative style. He thought that it was always important to have the courage of your convictions and be prepared to engage in robust discussions.
Photo: Peter and I at our favourite restaurant in the Perigord region of France, 2005.

Peter also loved playing Bridge, and much to his disappointment, I was not good at card games. However, after a boycott on Scrabble for many years, in the last 6 months I relented and learnt many of his strategies for success. I can proudly say we recently enjoyed many good games together, even in the last 3 days of his life, when I had begun to give him a run for his money.

Community Work
He was absolutely selfless when it came to giving his time to others in any of his work or interest areas. He worked long hours often only stopping for 4 or 5 hours sleep. He took on many tasks for other people and always worked hard to get on top of something with which he was not entirely acquainted. Within a short period he often became the expert in that issue or subject, to the extent that he was often ahead of his time with many of the discussion papers he wrote or policies he advocated.

During his professional working life he was also a TAFE lecturer in social welfare and also the President of the NSW Branch of the Australian Association of Social Workers for many years. During his AASW years, he streamlined and implemented much needed modernisation and reforms, as well as contributing hundreds of articles on practice issues and writing as well as editing the professional newsletter. The mention of this in such a few lines in no way gives any indication of the years of hard work he dedicated to the AASW and the profession as a whole.

Apart from his membership and management of the Australian Association of Social Workers in NSW later in life, Peter thoroughly enjoyed being Youth Director of the B'Nai B'rith Youth Organisation between 1969 and 1975, where, I understand he successfully established and managed five youth groups comprising around 300 young people. These days he recalled with such happiness and satisfaction. He kept a large number of photographs from these days and often regaled me with anecdotes about some of the activities, or sing the songs they wrote for camps, wondering where those young people had got to over the years.

Personal Traits
Peter was not perfect and could sometimes be angry and impatient, although these episodes passed very quickly, and a little like the tide on the beach, were quickly washed away. He also “didn't suffer fools gladly”, which made us two of a kind!

He was a very self-contained person which came of being an only child and also spending many years as an independent adult without ties.

He was a highly articulate and intelligent man, who was voracious when it came to acquiring knowledge and sharing that with others, especially in his areas of interest.

He was forthright, frank and fearless and the most ethical person I have met. He was, as I mentioned, hardworking almost to the point of being a workaholic and enjoyed huge challenges.

I know that many people didn't like Peter but that never bothered him as he saw it as secondary to being a good public servant or manager. To that end, he was entirely honest and scrupulous and this engendered, in its turn, respect from others, even when the message may have not been entirely palatable or the recipients didn't like the messenger.

Peter was not a person who allowed people to get to know him too easily. He had many acquaintances and networked well with them but never really allowed too many to get to know his inner self. I know that this was because of a difficulty in entirely trusting people borne from some experiences in his early adult life, including the circumstances around the demise of his first marriage in the late 1970's.

He was, in essence, an “acquired taste” in many respects and many people did not really take the time or effort to “get to know” him at all. You had to work hard to get to see the real man behind the wall of his social, or work, self but if you persisted and demonstrated the enthusiasm, intelligence, integrity, hard work, loyalty and trustworthiness he, himself, gave then you could be rewarded by such unconditional positive regard that it was the most precious gift.

Peter had a very strategic and forward thinking mind which was always alert and ready for interesting ideas and challenges. He would often wake up quite suddenly and start immediately talking about an idea or a concept about which he had been dreaming or resolved overnight, when I have to admit I was just thinking about getting to the shower or having breakfast.

He was also a person who wanted, and did, control every aspect of his life. He was of the view that it was you who controlled the outcomes by the actions you took and that the concept of fate and drifting along in life was not one that brought very positive results. On this we were in total accord and we allowed each other the “space” to do so.

Eulogy - Part 2

2009-10-24T09:06:00.002+11:00

School and other activities

Peter had no English on arrival in Australia but quickly became proficient. He attended primary schools at Woollahra and South Coogee. To fund his love of Saturday matinee movies, Peter became a marble “hustler”, playing marbles, winning and selling them back to the previous owners for less than the cost of new ones. This proved lucrative enough to help fund tuck shop purchases as well as the 6 pence it cost for the movie tickets. He said that bringing salami and capsicum sandwiches for lunch, while delicious, were not considered appropriate food by his peers, so he had to develop a taste for chip butties and fund them with his wins at marbles. From a photos around this time, I suspect he ate both the chip butties and the salami sandwiches!

Peter attended Randwick Boy's High School for five years. In his opinion he was not very successful at school. He managed to get good marks in English, History and languages. English and History, French, German and Latin were his main subjects along with Maths I and II, the sciences and Music. He went to Vaucluse High for his last year and worked hard, becoming Dux of the school, so he then gained entry into Law school at the University of Sydney. He also won the Goethe prize for German language on at least one occasion.

Living at Bondi Beach, Peter spent many hours at the pool and the beach, learning to swim.

“Life at the beach was a novelty for a boy who came from Budapest. The sea was eternally fascinating and scary. But my mother insisted I learn to swim and I did so, by having a few lessons and watching what the others did; later spending a lot of time down at the pool or beach on hot summer days. I can recall one time when I left home early in the morning on a weekend to go to the beach. It was a really lovely day. My parents probably expected me to come home for lunch and when I did not they began to fret and then to really worry. When I came home about 6:30 p.m. the house was surrounded by people: neighbours and the police were all buzzing around excitedly. I casually walked up to my parents and asked what all the fuss was about.

My mother was utterly dumbfounded. She just stood and stared at me and finally managed to utter a question about how I had gotten lost. With a genuinely innocent expression and tone I told her I had not been lost, I had known where I was all the time. I don't think she knew whether to hug me or hit me. Much to my relief she hugged me in the end.”

It always amazed me, in the last decade or so, that even on the most scorching day I could not get Peter into a swimming pool, lake or sea but he said he had had enough of that as a kid and I couldn't entice him.

He said he didn't make friends easily at school and found he had to stand up for himself pretty quickly which he seemed to do with some success. However, there were many friendships which he made at school and he continued to mention those friends to me regularly.

Peter said that some of his teachers, during high school were memorable, often NOT for inspiring hard work or application. One, called Mr Little, was his science teacher. Apparently, he used to pay Peter not to ask questions in class, so he could have uninterrupted time to work on his language courses!

During his high school years Peter “was sent off to” some Jewish youth groups. He says he was very grateful to AZA, one such international youth group affiliated with B'nai B'rith “ as I was able to learn many skills there, starting with how to work on a committee,... leading to organisational skills, secretarial and treasurer's skills and finally to President.

Photo: Class 4c, Randwick Boys High. Peter - 1st row, far right

This is also where he honed his writing skills, editing and contributing to newsletters. All of these capabilities were important to him as a future public servant and in his voluntary work later in life. Later, Peter was elected the NSW and then Australian President of the B'nai B'rith Youth Organisation, also becoming a “Life Governor” for Australia and New Zealand, which was a very rare thing. Peter said “I learned how to organise camps, conventions, car rallies, parties, social events of all kinds simply by doing and succeeding or learning from what we did wrong. I also learnt how to lead others and how to value their contributions and bind them into a popular organisation so that their commitments to each other, to values and to the giving of themselves, paid off.”
Photo: Peter 1969
Peter said the period from the age of 13 through to his 30's were the most fulfilling times he had ever had. Sadly, he left over a major policy disagreement when he put a principle before his own well-being. Later, in 2004 he wrote: “I missed the companionship dreadfully (once I left). I miss the continuity of my work, I miss the people that I bonded with throughout my teenage years and then later through my adult years. They were, for me, the friends of my life...... I miss those days and often look longingly at the pictures of the conventions I attended.... and think back on the people I went through all of this with and remember them with a pang in my heart and a yearning that is indescribable.... I am not likely to experience this again in my life and I have left it too late, I suspect to try again.”

This year however, he did have some contact with a few people from the period and he was gratified to meet with them or have email and phone contact again. I think that this is something many people find, namely, that those late teenage and university years, or early working years are some of the best you can ever hope to have. We just don't realise it at the time and then when we do it is many years later and life has moved on.

However, most of you will know that Peter, was not at all religious and considered everyone on equal terms. He was always interested in people's views, delighting in challenging and questioning their views. But he was not exclusive and, in fact, had a very eclectic network and range of friends, valued colleagues or acquaintances.

University
Peter studied at Sydney University from 1967 to 1974 in Arts/Law and Social Work.

As is often the case, with university came a burgeoning interest extra-curricular activities. In Peter's case it was in jazz, bridge, movies and billiards.
Photo: Graduation in Arts with parents and Pam, 1970

He left Law. Peter said: 'At the law school I was a very poor student, except in Criminal Law and Contract Law. In these subjects I found a considerable amount of enjoyment. They provided mental exercise and an arena for argument. Basically I hated law. I hated moving from the main campus of Sydney University to the Law School in Phillip Street. I hated the subjects. In short I did everything else but work. There was a sense that justice and the law were only distantly related and there was also a problem that in those days conveyancing and divorce law constituted the bread and butter of legal work. Both subjects being dry and boring.”

He looked for another opportunity and found Social Work, about which he said: “My assessment was that this course of study would provide two things for me:1) a livelihood for which there would be an ongoing and continuing need and 2)an interest which did not pall with time.
As it turns out, so far, my assessment has been correct.”

He graduated in Social Work and also returned to further formal study in 1990 to undertake and graduate as a Master of Social Work. However, he was a great believer in continuing education and never stopped learning or improving his skills and knowledge throughout his life.

Work
Peter undertook a range of jobs while at University, including being a Sydney taxi driver, working in retail at Grace Brothers, Milsons Giftware, Cantori Jewellers and Phillipson's Clothing as well as being a clothing commercial salesman for a time. He would often tell me anecdotes from some of these early jobs, claiming, that he could sell almost anything, especially items that were hard to sell. He mentioned that he would take bets from the other shop assistants that he could sell some of the remaindered items to the next few customers. He would then set about showing the customer all the things in the shop and if they were particularly hard to please would say: “Just a moment, I think there's something out the back that's one of a kind, which we haven't put into the shop that would be fabulous on you!” he would then bring in a particularly interesting garment and the customer would invariably walk out, satisfied and with said hideous item!!!

Photo: Peter 1976 in Migrant Services

When he qualified as a Social Worker his first job was in the Migrant Services Section of the then Department of Immigration and, later, Social Security. He assisted refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, East Timor and the Lebanon. Two of his achievements, about which he could be justly proud, were, firstly, his development, staffing and management of the the first Neighbourhood Information Centre and Neighbourhood Action Centre, known as NIC NAC in East Sydney. The second was the development, and successful testing of an intensive English language program for newly arrived migrants attending school. While this seems self-evident today, the concept of learning English for a period to the exclusion of all other subjects was radical in the early 1970s. However, it was adopted by the then NSW government for all newly arriving migrant children entering the NSW school system. I know that his early refugee experience was absolutely invaluable in informing his work and achievements.

From 1977 to 1982 Peter was promoted to Senior Social Worker in the Department of Social Security, managing and providing social work service in Maroubra, Hornsby, Camperdown, Leichardt and Clarence Street.

For the next 15 years Peter continued in the department finally becoming the Assistant Director of Social Work (second only the to national Director in Canberra) for all social workers. This meant having joint responsibility for over 500 social workers in over 400 locations around the country, with specific responsibility for those in NSW, South Australia and Western Australia.

In 1995 we moved to Canberra and in 1997 Peter was head-hunted within the department (now called Centrelink) to be the Manager of the Knowledge Team which worked on tax reform and payment cycle management information projects, developed records management strategies and policies, as well as developed and distributed software products, amongst other things.

Photo: Peter in 2000

In 2000 he moved to the Information and Technology Change and Integration team and until his retirement due to ill health in May 2006, was variously trouble shooting in a range of areas. These included dealing with audit findings, undertaking negotiations for the IBM computer contract for Centrelink and many other areas which required a quick and strategic assessment and solution.

Peter said he was so lucky, as social work had been his hobby and he was paid for it. Then computers came along and they became his hobby, once more being paid to work on things that were, for him a continuation of his hobbies. This was why he could happily work 14 or more hours a day at work and home and never feel it was a problem or a trial. In this I think he was a rare person, to have found things on which he loved to work.

He met and worked with some wonderful people during his life as a public servant. I understand he was a mentor to a huge number of people and never stinted on sharing knowledge with others. He always seemed so clear and far-sighted about what should be done and how one might achieve the goals at hand. He always gave frank and fearless advice, as he had no fear about the possible consequences, and did not need the approval of others to motivate him. This did not always endear him to others, to say the least..... but, while he believed that his job was to undertake all the tasks he could to ethically and appropriately assist whoever was his manager, his ultimate loyalty was to be ethical, legal and appropriate to the profession, the department and ultimately the Australian public rather than an individual.

Some of his friendships during his working life have remained precious to him. He was without prejudice and gathered many people from diverse backgrounds into his orbit as he thoroughly enjoyed long and philosophical discussions about the backgrounds, views and experiences of people whom he encountered.

While he ultimately was unable to participate very much following his retirement, he maintained a keen interest in what people were doing and what the outcomes were of some of the big projects on which he was involved even in the last few weeks of his life.

Photos now added to Eulogy

2009-10-29T12:42:00.002+11:00

After a couple of technical hitches, I have now uploaded some of the photos from the powerpoint throughout the parts of the Eulogy. So even if you have read the eulogy before, please revisit the 4 parts to see some great snaps of Peter throughout his life.

Thanks to those of you who have given me such wonderful feedback about Peter, his amazing life and the compelling eulogy. To paraphrase Peter: "The fact that there is anyone out there who is reading the blog and remembering is not only amazing but brings tears to the eyes."

Grateful thanks

Leanne

Eulogy - Part 1

2009-10-24T09:07:00.009+11:00

In response to many people's request, I have placed the eulogy for Peter on this blog. I have divided it into 4 parts so that it is more easily read and manageable as a blog post (scroll down to "older posts" and click there to be taken to the other parts of the eulogy). After the memorial gathering, many people said that they had no idea what a fascinating life Peter had led, how interesting he was or that they could hear Peter saying the things I had written and it's true - he was so honestly expressive and in many cases I have used his words, as he wrote them in his life notes which he left for me.

Others were kind enough to let me know the special memories they have of Peter and to repeat some of the things he used to say to them - many of them totally indicative of Peter's hard work and commitment, humour and provocative nature.

I hope you find some insights into him and like me, marvel that so much was contained in one man.

Eulogy
for
Peter George Garas
22 September 2009

Some of you here today will know more about aspects of Peter than I do, having shared various parts of his life. And so I will not, perhaps, be able to do justice to the memories and experiences you have of him through the different phases of his life, especially those with which I have no knowledge or have not shared. Please forgive me for any oversight you think this Eulogy contains. How to adequately acknowledge the life and contribution of someone is a challenge, however, Peter did leave me some documentation about his early years to supplement my experiences and I hope this summary does go some way to sketching an outline of his life.

Birth (1949-1957)
Peter was born in Budapest, Hungary on 25 January 1949 at the Love Hospital to Leo and Katalin Garas. He was an only child and very precious son who may not have been born if World War II had not ended when it did. His mother was the survivor of two concentration camps, Venusberg and Matthausen, who was one of only a hundred or so survivors of over 2,000 women who were set out from Venusberg and were shipped by train to Mauthausen in the last throes of the war. She suffered from typhoid at the time of the liberation of the camp and walked back from the camp to Hungary, via Czechoslovakia, once she was fit enough to do so.

His father was a veteran of World War I and was caught up in the ghetto in Budapest during the Nazi occupation. He was in hospital following a heart attack, at the beginning of the occupation, and had to leave hurriedly to avoid the mass killing of patients there. That his parents survived, married and had Peter was quite an amazing feat!

Peter's mother was an opera singer, a soprano, and his father was a singing teacher. They lived in Budapest and

Peter became a child actor at the age of four, working for the Hungarian National Radio. He got a number of small parts in children's stories and met his favourite characters from the programs. As a result of his work on radio, he was also offered a number of parts on the stage and appeared in two plays, one being the 'Kremlin Torony Óra' with the famous actor Pécsi Sándor. This play was about the Tower Clock of the Kremlin - some melodrama about the life and times of Vladimir Illyich Ulianov or Lenin.

Peter writes: “There are a number of recollections, which accompany this period of my life. I recall the bitter sorrow when a new director from Russia arrived and took away the lovely red boots which formed part of my costume and replaced them with a used pair of army boots several sizes too large. His rationale was sound - Russian kids simply did not have pretty red boots to wear at the time of the Revolution. I never forgave him anyway.

One night when Pécsi Sándor was ill, the understudy finally had his chance. Everything was going swimmingly until all of a sudden he experienced the most dreaded event in an actor's life. He forgot his lines. There was a pregnant pause, a silence that seemed to fill the theatre. Every eye was on me as my lines came after the ones, which he had forgotten. I remember looking at the understudy, waiting for my cue and not receiving it making up a joining line which led into my lines and the show moved on. There was a palpable sense of relief among the actors. When the curtain came down I found myself hoisted in the air, hugged by grinning people and escorted in full costume across the street to the nearby cake shop where I was treated to as much cake as I could eat. This particular show was on for something like three months. Three months of steady work. I was earning my keep at the age of four or five.”

Photo: Peter 1954
The photograph of Peter taken during this stage play shows his confidence and self-possession even at the age of 5 or 6, which were such an essential part of him for his whole life. John G, who is here today, remembers hearing Peter on the radio in those days as well has having known Peter and his family from then on.
Peter recalled his first day at school in the following words: “On my first day at school, I can recall all the warnings which my mother gave me about how to behave in the class. I cannot recall any anxiety at having to go to school, rather I recall a sense of excitement and adventure. I came home from school with a note from the teacher. I had been whistling in class and had been made to stand in the corner for having transgressed the rules. My mother, exasperated went through the litany of rules, which she had explained to me and asked me how I could possibly have been silly enough to whistle in class. Nonplussed I replied that she had told me not to talk in class, whisper, nudge other children, laugh out loud and a dozen other things, but had NEVER mentioned whistling. At six I was already a smart-arse!”

When Peter was 7 years old, they left the country and escaped over the border to Austria. He learned many years later that his uncle in New York, Louis G, had paid, through some nefarious sources, some people in Hungary to spirit them out of the country. Apparently it cost US$1000 per person to do so, lying in the back of a truck under a load of carrots.

Here is how Peter described it: “This was a memorable trip, which involved lying under a bed of carrots in the back of a truck, which left Budapest and headed towards the border near Györ. Here we stayed overnight in the local synagogue sleeping on the pews with most of the adults fearing capture while we children just sensed the excitement and wondered what it was all about. When we headed out from the synagogue it was pitch black. The only piece of transport for a large group of us was a single ox cart. This was reserved for the ill, the very small children and the frail aged. Naturally I did not qualify for any of these categories and as a result spent a considerably uncomfortable time scrambling over ploughed fields where the furrows seemed to grow with the time that passed as my tired little legs felt like they were climbing over mountains. As we travelled slowly over the dark and forbidding terrain, there were star shells being fired into the sky in front and to our left. The people guiding the party said that these were being sent up by the border guards near the Czechoslovakian border. In silence and with just a little more fear we trudged on.

Suddenly our entire party was bathed in light. In the darkness behind the lights we could make out people and a VW combi-van with a big Red Cross on it. An audible groan of relief escaped from the throats of each adult in the party - we had arrived in Austria."

After time in Vienna and a refugee camp in Salzburg, which were full of adventure for a seven year old, they travelled by ship, the “SS Waterman”, to Australia. They were meant to go to the USA but only Peter's father was allowed entry to the States as he was born in Vienna so, to keep the family together they chose Australia instead, which was more relaxed about country of birth. While this led to disappointments for his parents in terms of work and career options, as well as foregoing family ties in the USA, it ended being the very best thing for Peter.
Photo Above: Salzburg 1956
Photo Below: Katalin, Leo and Peter prior to embarkation with cousin Suzanne, Rotterdam

Unfortunately, Peter's parents were not able to get employment in their chosen professions and, as with many other migrant families throughout the decades, they had to take what work they could find which ended with Peter's mother working as a clothing finisher and the family undertaking piece work on costume jewellery and other items at night. Peter said: :”My parents made this a game for me. However for them, I suspect it was a life and death situation, earning enough money to stay alive.”

The family located around the eastern suburbs of Sydney, sharing with other families in the early period after their arrival. However, Bondi Beach became Peter's home from the time he entered high school and he stayed there for the majority of his adult life, purchasing an apartment in Sir Thomas Mitchell Rd around 1975.

Memorial Gathering - Program

2009-10-23T09:46:00.017+11:00

This is a copy of the program for Peter's Memorial gathering. Unfortunately, not all the wonderful desktop publishing formatting has come out well on the blog - apologies for this. I have a good pdf version, including the lovely background colouring etc that I would be very happy to email you directly if you email me or leave a comment on the blog. I also have a few hard copies over for those who you know might like a hard copy.

I will be putting the eulogy up on this blog in the next few days and also attempting to add some of the powerpoint photos too. (Last names of living people have been deleted to protect their identities. I know that Peter was very vigilant about identity theft issues and so I am carrying this on too.)

25 January 1949 – 19 September 2009

Memorial Gathering

Thursday 15 October 2009

Tuggeranong Community Hall,

Tuggeranong, A.C.T

PROGRAM

Welcome – Roberta H

To friends, Centrelink and FaHCSIA colleagues, neighbours, blog followers and those we have met through other aspects of life and the medical process: thank you for being here today to honour the memory of Peter George Garas. He would have been pleased to know you were here.

Kaddish – Roberta H

“Death has taken our beloved Peter.
Friends grieve in their darkened world.
In their silence, is lamentation.
In their tears, there is loneliness.
Lost in sorrow, may they find the presence of loving friends.

For Peter's presence and love that united us in life and which death cannot sever;
For his companionship that we shared along life's path, and which continues through the tenderness of memory;
For the gifts of his heart and mind that brought us joy and happiness and is now a precious remembrance;
For all these and more we give thanks.
(Adaptation of Opening Prayer at Peter's Funeral)

The Lord is Thy Keeper/ A Song of Ascents

I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains, from whence cometh my help?
My help cometh from the Lord who maketh heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold he that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; He shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall guard thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth, and even for evermore.
(Psalm 121)

Memories of Peter and Social Work–

Desley H

National Manager, Social Work ,

Centrelink

Memories of Peter –

Moya D

General Manager, Education, Employment & Support Programs , Centrelink

Eulogy –

Leanne S

Funeral Blues/Stop the Clocks – Roberta H

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,

Prevent the dog from barking with the juicy bone

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let the aeroplanes circle moaning overhead

Scribbling in the sky the message He is Dead;

Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest,

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

(By WH Auden, April 1936.)

Photo tribute and music

Echo – Roberta H

Come to me in the silence of the night;

Come in the speaking silence of a dream;

Come with soft rounded cheeks and eyes as bright

As sunlight on a stream;

Come back in tears,

O memory, hope and love of finished years.

O dream, how sweet, too sweet, too bitter-sweet,

Whose wakening should have been in Paradise,

Where souls brim-full of love abide and meet;

Where thirsting longing eyes

Watch the slow door

That opening, letting in, lets out no more.

(By Christina Rossetti)

Closing – Roberta H

Mourner's Kaddish for Everyday

Build me up of memory

loving and angry, tender and honest.

Let my loss build me a heart of wisdom,

compassion for the world's many losses.

Each hour is mortal

and each hour is eternal

and each hour is our testament.

May I create worthy memories

all the days of my life.

(by Debra Cash)

Afternoon Tea

Photo Gallery and Thoughts

From “Pete's Place” (www.garpet.blogspot.com)

I am sincerely grateful for the circumstances that landed my family in Australia and not the USA.


Alas, I am not well and my illness will probably put paid to any hopes for a medal for longevity, but overall I am satisfied with my life.....(November 10, 2008)

From Oesophageal Cancer Blog (www.garpet1.blogspot.com)

It's rather difficult to wake up every morning knowing that your life hangs on a knife's edge. (23 February 2009)

The saddest, funniest, most complex and yet simple things that people think, say or do are the foundations of life and its intricacies as we know them.


Being retired does have some real meaning and value. (Blog, June 27, 2009)

I know that in my life there have been many instances in which my behaviour has been inappropriate and as a result has hurt people. For this, all I can do is to say sorry - and I do. I really wish that the situations could have been otherwise. Of course, I say this now with a head that I hope is filled with changed outlooks on life, changed measures of how I look at and value others and of course how my learnt behaviours, attitudes, prejudices, abilities all mix together in this melange that calls itself me.

Each day this changes, for better or worse, as internal and external stuff impacts on what's left. I sincerely hope that it is changing for the better and that I am becoming a better person in the way that I think and go about finding those few things I can change. (Monday June 22, 2009)
My lack of ability to communicate is perhaps even more serious than the cancer. It can kill me, (but) the lack of ability to communicate easily just makes the continuation of existence miserable and THAT I think is probably worse than just dying. Amazing what I value hey? (December 13, 2008)

Being even remembered - much less appreciated - is wonderful and simply brings tears to the eyes.




There are many, and I mean many, people around the world, whose connection with me, and indeed sometimes with each other, has only taken place because they and I were interested in pursuing the exhilarating hunt for ancestors and family. I really wish I could meet and spend time with them. I certainly hope that they will use the genealogical material I have compiled in addition to the material that some of them have gathered and published on their own. (June 29, 2009)

As my life is ending, your lives are continuing and ,hopefully, can be enriched by learning about what little I did right . While perhaps, more usefully ,learning what I did not do right.
In spite of all the learning I acquired and used, I was most ignorant and stupid about my medical condition. I am now paying a price I cannot even imagine describing to you.

(From: “An unsent email to relatives in the USA “ Peter Garas, June 2009)

Preparation and Memorial for Peter

2009-10-17T17:33:00.004+11:00

From the time I returned from my mother's home, following the funeral and memorial services in Sydney, I commenced a slow and disjointed process of trying to acquaint myself with Peter's computer holdings and the precious photos or personal notes they contained. Computer files, naming conventions and document systems are such idiosyncratic things, as individual as the people who create them. Which means that our rationale for saving something in one place compared to another is not always clear.

The first day I spent just looking through some of his photo folders and files. In some places, I stumbled upon gems of Peter's earlier life which I had never seen before. Did he try to show them to me before? At the time he scanned and saved them, did I ignore his cries of: "Come here I've got something to show you?" I am not sure, but it is possible.

Those days spent trawling through the photos, asking Dave LR for advice (thanks Dave!) and choosing them for a powerpoint presentation or program booklet for the Canberra memorial gathering, made me feel that I was still so close to him. I felt that I was with him, that I hadn't lost him and we were together. I looked into his face, the face of many ages and stages, and loved him all over again and I, occasionally, got sidetracked.

Years of organising policy conferences and meetings for government ministers and officials, paid off for me in this period. That, as well as two weeks of preparation, the good fortune to have a community venue (whose staff were so helpful, supportive and capable of providing all the technology and catering) plus a few excellent friends to help, made the memorial organisation smooth.

I had added a notice to the blog site, placed a memorial notice in The Canberra Times, sent out written invitations, text messages, emails and phone calls. A week before hand, many people declined because they were interstate for work and couldn't get out of the meetings. I thought it looked like we would be lucky to have any people, which I would have felt was the ultimate humiliation for Peter.

Later, in the week beforehand, I started to get a few more RSVPs. On the day, I expected 42 people, which was a relief.

The Lakeview Ballroom at the Community Centre was a great venue, looking out onto the Tuggeranong Lake, from great, huge glass windows. But Thursday 15th October, 2009, was a cold, blustery and rainy day. We were lucky to reach about 13 or 14 degrees Celsius and I arrived a few hours early for the set-up. We had 50 chairs out.

At 2.30pm there seemed to be more people arriving and imagine my absolute surprise, relief and gratification when I was told, later, that 100 chairs were out and full with a few others standing!!

Two of Peter's previous colleagues, provided truthful and "no-holds-barred" insights into their memories of Peter during the past 20 years at work, which I found funny, warm and added to my knowledge of a part of his life in which I couldn't share. Thank you so much Desley and Moya.

I had written a Eulogy for the funeral and spent some days, revising, adding more personal extracts from Peter's notes on his early life and adjusting it to be more relevant to the audience who had known him in this environment. So it was substantially longer and, I hoped, more personal and interesting. In the end, I had an emotional moment or two at the beginning and the very end, but I considered it important that I deliver the Eulogy for Peter, rather than someone else. I could hear him saying: "If you think you're so good at public speaking, get up there and show me!" So I did and I know that it took longer than I had planned, but how do you do justice to someone who had such a "huge" personality, experienced such interesting things and has had such an amazing life?

Afterwards, during the afternoon tea (held to the sounds of Sidney Bechet and Fats Waller's jazz) I was so very moved and gratified to meet people whom I never knew, but to whom Peter had been important in one way or another. I was also pleased some had come the 300 kms from Sydney to be there, previous colleagues and bosses had come out of retirement or taken the time off work, neighbours, blog followers, palliative care volunteers, Dr P, representatives from the Health Care Consumers Association, friends, as well as my friends and work colleagues.

I have to particularly thank Roberta, a lifelong friend, who was marvellous in being the "MC", welcoming, introducing everyone, reading the prayers and poems and holding it all together. Her husband Stephen, was tireless in undertaking the organisation of people and chairs as well as undertaking the powerpoint/troubleshooting. Others such as Kathleen and Dave and people I can't remember, were the helpers in the kitchen afterwards. Thank you everyone and apologies if I have missed you.

All too soon it was over and by 5.15pm we had to make room for the Tai Chi class!!

I wished we could have had a party and stayed for hours more. I would have liked to have had more time to speak to everyone, but I was grateful to those who attended and who took the time out of their day to celebrate a person, who, to me was so very important, unique and irreplaceable.

Thank you to everyone who could attend to pay tribute to Peter. Thank you, also, to all who thought of us on the day from afar - this blog entry is for all of you.

I will be uploading the program and the eulogy to the blog in the next few days and working on the powerpoint pictures so there is a link to them too. I think you will find them very poignant.
Please feel free to email me or leave a comment on the blog with your contact details if you would like a hard copy of any of these. Also, I would like you to feel free to stay in touch with me if you wish to do so.

With grateful thanks to you all
Leanne

Vale Garpet

2009-09-19T12:59:00.002+10:00

Please see the link to Peter's Oesophageal Cancer blog for an update.

The Australian National Maritime Museum, and the Migration Experience

2009-07-15T07:56:00.008+10:00

The Welcome Wall - now going for ten years since 1999. Some 20,000 people are featured at present with a data base behind the names that are featured. These names celebrate those who came by and lived through and with the sea.

In this case the names of Peter G - aka Garpet in this instance and his parents Leo G and Katalin G are featured among the 900 people who have been included among the 100 metres of migrant names.

I will be making sure that the museum is sent the stories of my parents and myself for inclusion in their data base. Thus, at some future time, researchers of both my immediate family and the extensive family of my wife Leanne S and her ancestors who migrated far earlier than mine did.

They were instrumental in creating some of the infrastructure that exists today. For example - Henry S was one of those who participated in the Warragamba dam creation. This supplies much of Sydney' water supply. As it happens, another of the family I have joined by marriage also works for Sydney Water. Thus a 'tradition' may have been created.

In my own place my marriage to my new spouse has mixed into a 'tradition' that involves the the provision of social work services in a variety of settings.

For my part - I have been involved in the provision of services to migrants from 1972 onward when the concept of integration replaced the policy of assimilation. A new policy was created by the then new Minister of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs Al Grassby.

A lot has changed since 1957 when my family arrived in this country. So much that in fact it is hard to pick where to start. Perhaps as a maritime experience, when we arrived the AMP building was the tallest building on the Sydney foreshore.

If you look at Sydney today a lot is different. There is an Opera House where my father could now have found work instead of being told there were no opportunities to teach opera singers. My mother might well have been able to continue with her career as an opera singer or chosen to continue her education at the University level instead of having to work in a clothing factory eventually rising to the august position as a foreperson checking the quality of the work of others while at home she and the other members of the family did piece work putting together cheap jewellery just to make ends meet.

Having now travelled extensively around the world - I know for a certainty that the opportunities provided for my generation were far greater and enabled me to finish high school, go to University on a scholarship and obtain not one, but eventually three degrees with which I have been able to carve out not one, but at least two careers that gave me the satisfaction of enjoying that work and to pay back just some of the opportunities given to me. All this would have been of some joy to my parents both of whom died alas before they could bear witness to the fact that their seemingly cracked idea of travelling to the ends of the earth where they knew not the language and where their knowledge and understanding of the country and culture was virtually zero.

They took the risk instead of waiting to be permitted entry to the USA as other members of the family had done. They did not wait even further in a refugee camp in Salzburg they took a punt and it paid off. Having visited the USA and my relatives there I have to say I admire their pluck and can only say that it was rewarded - perhaps not for them, but certainly for me.

For my relatives in the USA, I can only say this - if your stories of arrival, learning, integration and opportunity differ and not necessarily for the better, then this highlights how lucky my parents' decision was for us. Perhaps we can discuss off line and compare the experiences.

For those of my family who chose to remain behind in Hungary for whatever reason - looking at your decisions and how they have effected the generations since the 1956 revolution would also be an interesting task - especially as the economic and political situations have changed in that country over time.

Have you heard about the Kindle?

2009-07-18T16:06:00.003+10:00

A reader from Amazon.Com at various price ranges is the latest in machinery enabling the reading of books and what used to be paper publications in an electronic or should that be digital format wherever you are.

Most publications available in this format seem to be neatly priced in the competitive $9.99 basket. Of course you may have to consider the fact that first you have to purchase the reader and the batteries that sustain it. Then it's $x for each publication you may wish to purchase and place in the reader. It's nice enough to watch the video on line about this product at the following site http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Original-Wireless-generation/dp/B000FI73MA

The discussions behind the scenes about copyright, cost attribution, changes in this market over time, the various and no doubt multiple standards for the type of lighting, viewing size, books capable of being held, how purchases are "saved" and stored somewhere to ensure that your purchase remains yours etc etc are all grist to the mill of a debate that I have not even seen much less participated in. However, what a fabulous debate. What vexed questions arise. How are they going to be resolved in a variety of settings across the world where regulations and the costs of living are so different. Where there are no doubt different standards that apply and whether questions about storage and retention are not as yet available for easy perusal in the hunt I have been able to launch from my PC up to this point.

Let's hear it now - the discussion from consumers for whom the iPod was the music revolution's beginning. Let's hear it from authors and how their work is to be valued and priced. Let's hear it from authorities who see yet another bureaucracy or ???

Photos from Before During and After the wedding - just photos.

2009-07-18T18:47:00.007+10:00

Courtesy of the intrepid paparazzi otherwise known as Kathleen - here are her photos for our clamouring public.

By the way, the chappie with the puzzled look holding up a wedding certificate is of course none other than the person who actually writes this drivel - me.

For those who saw that view of my reaction to the wedding my apologies. I really was and am more enthusiastic about it all.

Note: the last four photos above seem to have been in the camera for some time and so were apparently taken well before the wedding - really well before - simply because the features of both the people featured are in such good condition compared with the faces on the participants at the actual wedding. Equally the garden furniture on view is not something that was available at the site of the wedding. Just a thought, but for the sake of accuracy I think it is necessary to mention this.

Nice photos and deserving of publication, but not really part of the wedding series in my view.

Special Announcement WE ARE MARRIED!

2009-07-14T10:19:00.011+10:00

Left to right;
Pen and Ben the photographers; the happy, but tired couple with Wedding Certificate; The S family with the new inclusion PGG.

Due to identity theft from the net I have had to shorten to first names only and no surnames.

The last shot has Doug H; Peter G; (aka Garpet to some) mother in law Nancy S; Jessee S-H; Leanne S; Narelle S; Greg S; Wendy S.

So far I have been provided with some 40 photos from this photographer alone. There has to be a limit on what I can place on line. Sorry about that. If individuals wish to see their photos I can send them to you, (and I will) but please let me be selective on what I place on line.

WEDDING CEREMONY

between

Peter G G and Leanne S

Sunday 5 July 2009

(names and locations have been adjusted or deleted to stop prying little eyes on the net - sorry about that!)

OPENING WELCOME

Dear Family and Friends

Welcome.

We are present today to share and be witness to the marriage between Leanne and Peter.

It is a public, legal and emotional action that they are taking today and we are present to bear witness to their long term commitment to each other. Their commitment has been nearly 16 years in duration and they wish to acknowledge the importance of each to the other during that time as well as for the time they have left together.

Your presence here today is much appreciated because as family and friends of Leanne and Peter, you have shown love, friendship and support through the challenges they have experienced, individually and as a couple, in the past and now.

Leanne and Peter would also like to mention those very important people who cannot be with us today due to distance or illness. They would especially like to mention Peter's family who are scattered throughout Europe , the USA and Canada.

There are also those who are no longer with us but have been key people in Peter and Leanne's lives, namely, Leanne's father, Henry C J S and Peter's parents Leo and Katalin G. Words cannot express the loss that their passing has brought to Leanne and Peter but they both carry so many treasured memories, lessons and personal characteristics from them that they are never forgotten or without constant importance in their daily lives.

WORDS EXPLAINING THEIR DESIRE FOR MARRIAGE

Leanne and Peter believe that marriage is founded on qualities of sincerity and understanding and that these qualities lead to tolerance, confidence and trust. They have respect for each other's individuality as well as the acceptance of each other's strengths and weaknesses.

They met and commenced their relationship in 1993 as mature individuals, uncertain, but having identified great and admirable strengths and characteristics in each other which they thought were, and have proved to be, very important and worthwhile. Their different backgrounds, cultures, personalities and situations presented challenges in the first few years which were sometimes difficult but added interest and complexity to the relationship. Their strength of character, love and acceptance of each other's individuality, professional and personal dedication, love of education, culture and travel all melded together to make the dynamic, loving and enduring relationship that we see today.

After almost 16 years together, they have lived together through sickness and health as well as good and bad times.

Their mutual interest in genealogy has fuelled their curiosity about each others lives and the pasts of their family, relatives and ancestors. Travelling overseas to investigate and follow up on some of these people and the places in which they lived has added richness and greater understanding about each other.

Leanne and Peter wish to add their names to the marriage register, to celebrate their long commitment and love for each other and to cement their place together in their families' histories so that people will always know what they mean to each other.

COMPULSORY SECTION

I am duly authorised by law to solemnise marriages according to law.

Before you are joined in marriage, in our presence, I am to remind you of the solemn and binding nature of the relationship into which you are now about to enter.

Marriage according to law in Australia, is the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.

READING

“(Being in) Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is.

Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being “in love”, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being “in love” has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.

Those that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two. “

(Extract from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres)

VOWS

Celebrant to Groom
Peter will you take Leanne , who stands here with you today, to be your lawful wedded wife. Will you respect her, be honest with her and stand by her whatever may come, as long as you both shall live?

Peter
I will

Celebrant to Bride
Leanne, will you take Peter, who stands here with you today, to be your lawful wedded husband. Will you respect him, be honest with him and stand by him whatever may come, as long as you both shall live?

Leanne
I will.

Celebrant
Please face each other, join hands and repeat after me

Peter
I call upon the persons here present to witness that I, Peter G G, take you, Leanne S, to be my lawful wedded wife. I promise to care for you, respect your needs and accept you as you are.

Leanne
I call upon the persons here present to witness that I, Leanne S, take you, Peter G G, to be my lawful wedded husband. I promise to care for you, respect your needs and accept you as you are.

RING CEREMONY

The act of giving and receiving rings reminds us that love itself is an act of giving and receiving the most that life has to offer. These rings are the natural symbols for enduring love. They represent an outward sign of commitment signifying to all the bond of marriage the two of your share.
Please repeat after me:

Peter
Leanne, I offer this ring as a token of my love and all we share in our relationship. With this ring I thee wed in the warmth and witness of all present.

Leanne
Peter, I offer this ring as a token of my love and all we share in our relationship. With this ring I thee wed in the warmth and witness of all present.

CLOSING WORDS

May these two people, now married, keep this arrangement which they have made.

May they be a blessing and a comfort to each other, sharers of each other's joys, consolers of each other's sorrows, helpers to each other in all the uncertainties of life. May they encourage each other in whatever they set out to achieve. May they trust in each other and not be afraid. May they not only accept and give affection between themselves, but also have affection and consideration for others.

CONCLUSION

Ladies and Gentlemen


Leanne and Peter have declared before us all that they will live together in marriage. They have made promises to each other. They have symbolised these promises by joining hands, taking vows and exchanging rings. May peace and love be with you always.

Leanne & Peter's

Wedding Menu

5 July 2009

Drinks

Sparkling Wine

Red and White Wine

Juice

Lemonade, Coke, mineral and soda waters

Antipasto

Dolmades

Olives

Artichokes

Dips

Cheeses

Biscuits

Rice crackers (gluten free)

Finger food

Smoked salmon and caper/caviar bites

Chicken wings (soy and tandoori)

Fresh prawn spring rolls (gluten and lactose free)

Hot dishes

Veal Moroccan with Cous Cous (gluten and lactose free)

Mild Vegetable Curry with Rice (Vegetarian; gluten and lactose free)

Fish pie

Salad

Mixed green salad (Gluten free)

Pear, Parmesan and Rocket salad (Gluten free, contains lactose)

Dessert

Tiramisu Cake

Flourless Orange and Almond Cake (Gluten Free)

Mixed slices

News as at Sunday night 24 May 2009

2009-05-24T20:25:00.001+10:00

I am writing on behalf of Peter as he is not feeling too well. Unfortunately, the past 2 weeks have been a bit of a trial. Peter became very nauseated on Monday 11 May and for 4 days we couldn't crack it, that is, none of the usual drugs worked. At the same time he was bringing up a lot of clear, very viscous and bubbly saliva.

The palliative care service sent us out a doctor on Thursday 14 June and she was concerned that Peter was so unwell with the cyclic dry retching that she thought he should be admitted to the hospice but there were no beds. So on consulting with 2 other specialists with whom Peter has been involved, the pall care doctor organised for him to go to the National Capital Private Hospital in Woden with the gastroscopist as the admitting doctor. I took Peter in that afternoon and he stayed for a week. Luckily, his other palliative care doctor, with whom he enjoys a really wonderful and respectful relationship, was able to prescribe 2 drugs which sorted out the nausea and the saliva. One acts to dry up secretions and the other acts on the nausea.

While he was in hospital, the gastroscopy specialist took a look down Peter's oesophagus and the next evening he attempted to dilate it, which was only minimally successful. Unfortunately what he found was that Peter's oesophagus is "caked" in tumour just at the base of the neck and it had closed over so much, I think, that Peter couldn't swallow his own saliva. So the bad news was out! What this means is that no surgery is possible. Our hopes had been that the stricture causing the problem was scar tissue from radiotherapy which could be helped with the insertion of a stent to keep his osophagus open. But this is not possible with the tumour in place.

Surgery is also not possible. So tomorrow, Monday 25 May, Peter will commence another round of chemotherapy. This time he will be using a drug called Taxotere (which is not on the Pharmeceutical Benefits Scheme and so is not low cost) but it is the best hope for some shrinkage of the tumour to allow Peter some extra time with us. The benefit of tumour shrinkage is offset by the nausea, increased susceptibility to infections, body rash, pins and needles in the hands and feet and other side effects. I am hopeful that he can cope with the full 6 cycles of 3 weeks each (18 weeks altogether) as apparently some people can't and don't complete the full period. I know that neither of us is looking forward to the next few weeks but we want to stay together for as long as possible so will take any opportunity which offers some hope of further time together. We will also be trying to avoid people with any infection as we can't afford for even the slightest cold to appear. We have both had our flu shots back in March/April and Peter has also had a pneumonia vaccination which I hope will be helpful in warding off any infections.

Peter has not been using the computer or Skype now for several weeks. So I would suggest if you want to contact you do so by email (if you don't have my email address, write to Peter's and I will log on occasionally to collect them, I just don't want to put my email address into cyberspace) and I will provide his replies to you. Either that or phone calls are okay after 9.30am Australian Eastern Standard time.

I will write in the blog once per week to keep you informed, as best I can. But I know you will understand if, sometimes, it might be too hard to do so.

We send our love, best wishes and thanks to all Peter's friends and relatives. Until next time, as Peter would say "Salut". Leanne

Scan results are back

2009-04-16T07:59:00.003+10:00

Scan results are back from CT Scan a few weeks ago. Results are mixed. To the Radiologist the view is that the cancer has returned in two places - one being in the collar bone area where I have been operated before and where they could not get all the bits - this appears to the real danger spot and we are setting up an appointment with a neuro-surgeon to see what if anything can be done there. The other locus is elsewhere and the radiologist suggests that it is simply more of the same old same old while the oncologist disagrees and says that as they are under 1 cm in size they may just be normal tissue.

What does all this mean for my continuing survival?

Buggered if I know.

All I can tell is that I have been asked to get an MRI done and then to see my oncologist after this in six weeks time. So, figuring that he does not want to waste his time and does want to be paid, at WORST I have at least six weeks left - at best, a lot longer.

If anyone wants to know more -I can read you the report and you can prove how smart YOU are by telling me what it means.

Salut

Peter

Millionaires on Welfare?

2009-02-26T14:41:00.004+11:00

From the ABC

One of Australia's leading welfare groups says at least 400,000 millionaires are receiving the aged pension.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence is using economic research it commissioned to push for changes to the pension's eligibility criteria.

Spokeswoman Nicola Ballenden says the single biggest asset, the family home, should no longer be exempt from asset tests.

"Fourteen per cent of people who are receiving the aged pension are living in the wealthiest 25 per cent of households, where their net worth is around $1.6 million," she said.

"We think it is time to start discussing including the family home as an assessable asset for the pension."

I have not in the past made comments on the statements of welfare agencies about Pension related matters. This is probably because I worked at the agency distributing welfare payments for some time in the past. I'm afraid that this article, attributed to the Brotherhood of St Laurence no longer enables me to stay silent.

In blunt terms, what a load of crock.

There are too few Australians these days who are able to afford the family home and most of those who do have a family home have struggled for years to pay off the mortgage whilst raising a family on whatever form of income they could manage. The family home is the single largest asset that most people have. It's their nest egg, it's what they hope to be able to rely on in economic times that are changing seemingly for the worst on a daily basis when the worst case scenario presents itself.

What is that worst case scenario?

It's one where they no longer can manage on their income from superannuation for example as the capital they have stored away through all their years of work is reduced daily, as the price of food and clothing starts to skyrocket when the effects of floods, drought, bush fires all come to bear on the ability of farmers to produce enough food to sell so that they can meet their increasing bills. When the price of clothing rises as overseas firms - seemingly the only ones making clothes and shoes for people in this country raise their prices

If those who made the comment in the Brotherhood of St Laurence were to look at current superannuation losses incurred by aged people, then perhaps they might take a different attitude to people receiving the pension.

Most people who would now have a family home which is worth in excess of $1 million purchased their home some considerable time ago when the prices for real estate were much lower, but when interest rates on mortgages were much higher. Most of these people spent most of their working lives chipping away at their mortgage over a 20 + year period. All this, while they raised their families, provided for their children, tried to make sure that their own lives were secure with some form of income from savings or superannuation etc. All the time knowing, that in a worst case scenario, if all their planning for the future went down the drain, at least they had a home that they could call their own, and income from the aged pension - again if all else went bad. This is what the governments of all persuasions had promised for decades now.

Now, the Brotherhood of St Laurence wants to penalise people who have spent most of their working lives acquiring perhaps their sole remaining asset by giving them no access to a very small income called the aged pension. At a time when whatever other assets have been drawn upon, when other amounts of income from whatever source (eg superannuation) that these people have had is disappearing along with consumer confidence as the share markets disappear into a black hole. The people in the Brotherhood of St Lawrence seem to want to reduce people who have done their best to provide for their own futures in their old age as best they could, to penury.

Personally I think it's disgraceful that an organisation like the Brotherhood of St Lawrence which in the past has supported those people who are in need, no longer recognises that it is not possible to eat one's home or to buy ones clothing from tiles and roof trusses or to purchase medication and health protection based on the walls and ceilings of one's family home.

It is true, a lot of people were fortunate, the homes that they purchased have risen in value as time has passed and as urbanisation has continued. A little shack at Batemans Bay in say the 1950s is now probably worth in the vicinity of $1 million, a real house there, probably more. What was it worth when the family purchased or built it? That's really the question, not what it is worth today. Furthermore, by trying to force people who have a family home to sell it so that they can have money to buy necessities because they no longer have access to the age pension, is to ignore the reality that those same "rich" people, forced to sell their family homes to have some form of savings and income would be unable to buy into the housing market where they have the roots and ties that family homes usually create. They would have to buy property that is perhaps miles away from where their family lives have developed and where their connections are.

In short, the Brotherhood of St Laurence now wants to punish all those Australians who worked hard, paid their taxes and their bills all their lives, as well as keeping Australia out of recession by being good little consumers.

These are Australians who built and developed this country since the 1940s onward and would now like to manage their retirement years as best they can in the home that their hard work has managed to make available for them. These are the Australians who paid their taxes all their lives on the understanding that the Aged Pension would be available to them, even if if all else went wrong with their planning for the future, with their budgeting, and with their savings plans.

Shame on you Brotherhood of St Laurence

I'm back - well more or less

2009-02-18T10:03:00.001+11:00

Went to the doctor yesterday and a look at my blood results seems to indicate that the cancer is in abeyance for the time being. I'm not going to make whoopee but, I am grateful for the result.

Getting all kids in school an enormous challenge: Macklin"

2009-02-18T09:59:00.001+11:00

The headline of the article on the ABC reported by "Online parliamentary correspondent" Emma Rodgers (ABC) appears to suggest that Jenny Macklin agrees with Prof Dodson that indigenous children need to get to school. Of course there are issues that need resolution before these children can get to, much less gain benefit from the lessons at school. Alas, with reporters like Ms Rodgers, telling the story, reporters who do not seem to proof-read their work before it hits the airwaves, there may be an indication that schooling can only do so much, after that it is simply personal care that is required, to ensure that oopsies like the following do not appear on our web pages. - see below

"Some parents aren't doing the right thing buy their kids, aren't getting them to school or aren't getting them there on a regular basis."

It's only one word but . . . .

A final look at the Gaza situation

2009-01-20T08:19:00.013+11:00

One of my collaborators has recently posted me an article from the New York Times way back in 2000 that may make some sense about recent proceedings, please check it out.

Gas Deposits Off Israel and Gaza Opening Vision of Joint Ventures
By WILLIAM A. ORME JR.
Published: September 15, 2000

I never know whether these stories can be relied upon. However if there is truth in this story, then less useful minds than mine can find some rationale behind what's been going on in Gaza. The question really is what value will be found from the supporters of Israel and/or the supporters of those living in Gaza. Will they finance further exploration and drilling and then at what cost.

Watch this space I guess is the best we can hope for at this point.

Thanks to Robbie my informant in this case for digging around in his archives. Given my previous understanding about the gas situation in that part of the world this is the last thing I would have expected. It is also amazing to me that in the years since the story first appeared I have never heard anything more about it. Are there any of my readers out there who have?

If so let us know. Show us how clever you are with your Googling. :-)

Of course if it's true, then both sides have to stop being greedy and actually learn how to share a cake or manna from heaven, if you prefer. Otherwise they might blow it all up before either side can benefit from the proceeds.

Of course there are others who are looking at what has been achieved and if we go to the New York Times once again we will be able to look at their version of reality in 2008.

Boring as it may seem -- the news

2009-01-30T07:24:00.002+11:00

Two items seem to keep appearing in the news on a regular basis, one of these of course is Zimbabwe, the other are the pirates around Somalia with their hijacking of vessels and the demand for millions of dollars in ransom.

I wonder, when I look at these two situations in particular, what the hell the United Nations was created for? If memory serves, there was a great deal of displeasure with the former international body that was developed after the First World War ie. The League of Nations because they were simply unable to take any action internationally that could prevent the horrors that are represented today by the Zimbabwean and Somali situations.

In the case of Somalia, if ever the description of a failed state could be applied it should be here. Half the country is in the hands of rebels the other just less than half is in the hands of pirates while the remainder is in the hands of the so-called government. In a situation like this, if the legitimate government of Somalia called upon the United Nations for assistance I wonder what would happen? Would United Nations actually get support from the nations around the world who would come in with their military and other forces ready to blow the crap out of the rebels and the pirates at the same time as restoring some form of democracy Somalia as an end result?

Unlikely.

Of course it could be argued that it's a 'been there done that' situation, after all the Ethiopians were in there trying to assist for some time and didn't seem to get any support from anyone else.

Now there are forces from various nations in the form of naval vessels steaming around the Gulf but apparently not doing much good if the current news about the hijacking of a German tanker is true.

Zimbabwe, a country that was once the breadbasket of its locale is now greatest failed state of all within the region with an economy that has completely failed and a government that is in tatters. In this case of course it would be difficult to receive a request from the official government to the United Nations for assistance after all the current head of government seems to be the problem together with his military and other commanders. This is another failed state in Africa with a different facade and it's another place where millions of people are starving and from which they are fleeing in their thousands and being foisted on the world as refugees.

As countries around the world settle them into their own societies and train them in their languages and hopefully integrate them into their ways of life, I wonder how many of them will see work over the next few years as economic depression rather than a so-called recession hits most of the "developed"world?

This is not the time to be a refugee, this is not the time to be an immigrant, this is not the time to be homeless, this is not the time to be dependent on charity. As those who in the past have enjoyed a reasonable way of life contemplate their immediate future of poverty or at least least less economic freedom than they have known, so their thoughts are likely to turn to the preservation of their income and their assets for their own use and not to charity.

The next few years are likely to see a great deal of "me me me" without any reference to "you."

On this particular occasion I do not want to be a prophet to the future, but what I see around me is a lot of doom and gloom for a lot of people. I'm not sure what the Rudd government can do on this occasion, even with the surplus that it had to spend from previous years economies and I am certainly not sure what if anything the current opposition is likely to bring the subject.

If you want to see more about the Somali hijackings try the following link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7847351.stm

As for Zimbabwe don't bother to look, the news is just too depressing!

One last thing about refugees

2009-01-22T11:25:00.013+11:00

I was focused the other day not the only on the destruction that had taken place in the Gaza refugee camps, as a result of the Israeli military operation, but on some interesting commentary that has come out in the papers since then. There was the example a picture of an old man sitting on his lonesome with a green flag unfurled above his head. What was he doing there on his own? Simple, he had responded to a call for Hamas supporters to demonstrate on the streets of Gaza. Why were there no others with him? That's not really a question that I can answer from here in Australia, however there are people in the Middle East with far more local knowledge of the subject than I, suggesting that while the armed Hamas supporters are now claiming a victory in the midst of the death and destruction that has taken place, there is some recognition by the general population that if he destruction that has taken place is seen as a victory it would be interesting to see what a loss would look like.

Policemen are reappearing on the streets wearing their weapons, Hamas fighters are also appearing with their arms and this has set people to wondering where they were when the fighting was going on. They seemed to have melted into the background at that point, and the general population in Gaza seems to be voting with its feet when a called upon to congregate in celebration of the great "victory" that was won over the last few days. Hence the lonesome old man with his green flag unfurled perhaps.

At the same time as all this was going on in Gaza there was also a meeting of the Arabic countries of the Middle East to see what they would think they could or would be able to do to support the Palestinians.

Saudi Arabia was at the forefront of trying to mend fences and bring unity to the representatives surrounding the conference table. A Syrian representatives apparently was interested only in trying to label " the Israeli entity" as a terrorist organisation rather than discuss what if any needs the Palestinian refugees had in Gaza.

What the Syrian representatives did not mention, I suspect, was the way in which Palestinian refugees are being treated within Syria and elsewhere in Arabic countries - this story from the archives about Iraq is just one example.

BBSNews 2007-04-24 - RAMADI, (IRIN) -- Palestinians living in Iraq's Anbar province have come under increasing pressure from militants to leave or be killed, NGOs and Palestinians say.

The remaining displaced from Ramadi still receive assistance from aid agencies but many have returned to the city. [Date picture taken: 11/13/2006] Image Afif Sarhan/IRIN

Palestinians in the capital, Baghdad, have long been threatened by armed groups and harassed by authorities but threats to them in other provinces are a new development, aid workers say. Sunni-dominated Anbar used to protect Palestinians, who are predominantly Sunni too, but times have changed.

"Palestinians had been looking for safety and had found it in Anbar province but now they are being targeted [there also]. The threats they have received are an effrontery against the feelings of Muslim Arabs. They have nowhere to go and might be killed if they try to go to another place," Mahmoud Aydan, a media officer for the Ramadi council, said.

"We believe that there are about 150 families taking refuge in different cities of Anbar province but they haven't been registered with the National Food Programme which makes it harder to know their exact location," Aydan said.

A spokesman for the Baghdad-based Palestinian Muslims Association (PMA) said he was concerned about the fate of Palestinians in Anbar governorate after militants left threatening notes on the doors of Palestinians taking refuge in the area.

"At least 17 families have fled Ramadi [capital of Anbar and about 100 km west of Baghdad] after militants gave them a week to leave their homes or become the next victims of violence in Iraq," Ahmed Muffitlak, a spokesman for PMA, said.

Palestinians have nowhere to go

"But they don't have anywhere to go. Some families told me they are going to try to reach the al-Waleed camp near the Syrian border. Others expect to be accepted in Baghdad's Sunni neighbourhoods," he added.

In Baghdad, Palestinians - especially those in the mainly Palestinian neighbourhoods of Baladiat, Hurriyah and Iskan - continue to be discriminated against and continue to receive threats to leave the country.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said in a press statement in March that at least 186 Palestinians have been murdered in Baghdad between April 2004 and January 2007, while about 15,000 Palestinians remain in Iraq, fewer than half the number who had lived there previously.

Muffitlak reiterated the PMA's call for the protection of Palestinian refugees in Iraq and has urged the Iraqi government and international NGOs to assist the threatened families in Anbar.

"They should do something before more Palestinians are killed. It is the minimum they can do to save so discriminated against a community, which cannot even return to its original land," added Muffitlak, who is in Ramadi trying to persuade the local authorities to protect Palestinians.

Ahmed Raki, a 43-year-old Palestinian father of three lives in Ramadi. He is looking for a place at al-Waleed camp on the Syrian border, which has become a makeshift home for hundreds of Palestinians fleeing violence.

"There are dozens of [Palestinian] families living with Iraqis in Ramadi, Fallujah and al-Qaim and the threats have been delivered to their homes. We don't have money, goods and some elderly people are very sick, requiring urgent medical assistance. But they will be forced to flee the area to save their lives," said Raki.
"Two girls from our community were raped last week by militants who told them that it was a message to the Palestinians in Anbar to leave the area," Raki added. "I have to leave before my two daughters meet the same fate."

In 2006 the UNWRA produced a publication that shows that there were over 119,000 registered Palestinian refugees in Syria in that year. What is shameful about this is that it supports the reality that the Syrian population has not absorbed these people since 1948 in some cases and 1967 in others. Why they have not been assimilated into the general population is not a question I can answer, but it may be something the Syrian government can and perhaps should be asked.

Similarly there are other Arab countries around the Middle East who will accept Palestinian refugees, but who have not accepted that these same people should become part and parcel of their citizenry and lose their status of refugee over time.

Australia has accepted refugees from all sorts of countries over the years including no doubt some from the former Palestine. Have these people being put into refugee camps and forced to stay there? I think not. They have been integrated into the communities into which they were eventually settled and have become part and parcel of the Australian way of life. They have retained the right of return to their country of origin and some have no doubt taken up this option. For most others though, Australia is a country that has accepted people from everywhere in the world and actually spent loads of resources helping them to settle in this country. This investment in human beings from all over the world has been repaid many fold by well integrated citizens who have participated with gusto in the life of Australia and have indeed made their unique contributions from within their cultures to the developing Australian culture that today people find both interesting and welcoming when they visit or as they grow up in it.

Australia is today a truly multicultural society thanks to all of those people who have come to our shores regardless of their condition at the time.

I suspect that many countries in the world could learn from what has been achieved in Australia

As I reminisce about the past I look at what is being provided to refugees elsewhere in the world today and think that many of the services that were pioneered in this country could perhaps be mentioned in discussions with representatives of those countries and that some of the lessons that have been learned "along the way" passed on to them as a way of trying to assist them by providing opportunities to learn from the difficulties as well as the successes of our past.

There appear to be certain countries in the world who are not dealing successfully with their refugees, if by "success" we mean the successful integration of refugees into the host population. If we do not mean success in these terms, then I for one would be interested in finding out what the meaning is in those places. Where we have successive years of countries that open their doors to refugees, presumably they mean to give them refuge and then allow them to make the choice of staying in the host country or returning to their home country as and when conditions change. Maintaining their refugee status for decades at a time is not what I would consider as being the goal of a refugee policy.

Still, what would I know, I am just an arm chair blogger after all.

Following the blog:

2009-01-20T10:09:00.004+11:00

Unbeknown to me, there have been some changes at Blogger, that now enable you to show that you follow this blog so that other readers can see that you too are a reader and hence a follower.

I have added a widget to my blog that enables you, my readers, to become identified as 'followers' of his blog and hence to be recognised as such.

All you have to do to become a follower is press on the link on the left side of the blog entitled Follow this blog.

The pop-up dialogue box that follows enables you to fill in your details if you wish or to indicate if you wish to follow the blog anonymously. Given these two options as a reader, you are now able to identify yourself and by doing so immediately promote your own blog or your Web page as well as yourself.

I for one would like to know who my readers are and of course I would like to be able to read their blogs or web pages so that I can get an idea of what they are thinking about and how they feel about things in general. Information such as this would enable me to direct my comments about things in my 'audience' that would also enable me to contact individuals if they wish to be identified sufficiently formed in to do so.

So far, as this is a new feature only four of my readers have identified themselves. Check it out, you too can identify yourself as a reader of Pete's Place either anonymously or with your personal details being made available.

Since this is under your complete control the level of identifications is up to you. Try it and invite me into your blog by using the follower widget.

Have fun.

If you want to see what Blogger has to say on the subject visit their help page at http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?hl=en-au&answer=104226

Garpet

Can YOU make it in high finance?

2009-01-18T13:45:00.004+11:00

Apparently so, if you have a long ring finger.

We are going from bad to worse in financial areas it seems to me. It doesn't seem to be bad enough to have lost hundreds of billions of dollars of people's money we are now seeking explanations about how to do this well in high-risk financial transactions situations of the future by undertaking research on the length of someone's ring finger. Check this out:

By ABC News Online's Katie Franklin
Are
Posted Wed Jan 14, 2009 4:48pm AEDT
Updated Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:23pm AEDT
The traders participating in the study specialised in high-frequency trading, which involves fast-paced buying and selling.

The traders participating in the study specialised in high-frequency trading, which involves fast-paced buying and selling. (AFP: Timothy A Clary)

The length of a trader's finger may determine how successful they are on the stock market, new research suggests.

A study conducted by British researchers has found a strong correlation between a person's pre-natal exposure to testosterone and improved financial performance in men on the trading room floor.

The trait of having a relatively long ring finger indicates greater exposure to testosterone in the womb, the researchers noted, and this points to improved performance in high-stress financial areas.

The research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States.

The study's lead author, Dr John Coates from the Judge Business School at Cambridge University, says he began thinking about the role testosterone plays in the behaviour of traders while working on Wall Street.

Is this guy really serious? If so, then we have some real kooks running business schools in England and probably elsewhere in the world.

I can see it now, in the future we will be able to make it on to the trading floor simply by holding up our lengthy ring finger and convincing our colleagues that by our exposure to testosterone at an early age we have the skills and the know-how that suits us for future multimillion dollar trades on the floor of a stock market somewhere.

Isn't it bad enough that we have lost hundreds of billions of dollars on the stock market thanks to something that traders and others may have done wrong and now, right now, just as we are seeking to remedy some of the failures of the past Doctor Coates and his research suggests that testosterone in the womb and the production of long ring fingers for male traders may be the answer to the production of skilled traders who can stand the stresses and strains of the stock market floor.

Just when I thought I had heard it all. If this is the way of the future then I see a rocky road ahead.

George Bush/John Winston Howard Freedom Medal Presentation

2009-01-14T10:29:00.005+11:00

"He is a man of honesty, and moral clarity ... he can make a decision and he can defend it and he stands his ground," Mr Bush said. "That's why I callled him a man of steel."

As seen on the ABC

Well may he laugh because, I am delighted to be able to report that I have not seen any plans for this "man of steel" to be awarded any Australian medals.

I also have to say that I think it most unlikely that Mr Bush will be awarded any similar medal in Australia, for anything.

Of course these are only my views.

Farewell Condoleezza

2009-01-18T08:55:00.003+11:00

A recent article on the ABC reported that:

"United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has bid an emotional farewell to hundreds of staff at the State Department.

Although technically in office until Tuesday when Barrack Obama is inaugurated as President, Dr Rice is spending the weekend with outgoing President George Bush at his camp David Retreat and Monday is a national holiday.

In the main lobby of the State Department, known as the Hall of Flags, Dr Rice said goodbye to hundreds of cheering colleagues.

Wearing a red suite she said a few words while misty-eyed.

She stopped for pictures, shook hands and then left through the main entrance.

Dr Rice will now return to the world of academia at the University of Stanford in California, leaving history to determine her legacy."

What readers need to look out for are the typographical errors or perhaps the errors in the usage of the English language in this piece of reportage.

If there are only typographical errors, then shame on the editorial staff. If however there are errors in the use of the English language, then they are not only deplorable, but possibly a reflection on state of education of the people involved.

Please let me know what you think about the state of English language teaching and usage in this country.

Hint 1.

Camp David retreat

Hint 2:

1. suite of rooms or suite of furniture
2. suit of clothing