Housing CSO's going cheap...

Look what the NSW govt hopes to buy for $22 an hour! Could explain the mystery of why all the beaut things dreamed up in HousingNSW head office seem to die a horrible death by the time they make it to the local offices.

DH's offspring, who has learning difficulties, just got her first job which requires a bit of cleaning and helping out in after-school care. And she gets $20 and hour!

But HNSW iss offreing $22 an hour for which they want social work experience, managing a caseload of often very troubled people....

$22 an hour equates to about $40,000 a year. That's if you never have a sick day or a holiday, and work through all the public holidays as well of course.

$22 for being strong-minded. Hmm... what does this mean? Probably a code word for working in a system in which, thanks to Labor's* big idea, "Reshaping Public Housing", the majority of people who get public housing will have a drug problem or a mental illness... So perhaps

Strong-minded = un-trained, de facto mental health worker

Still desperate for a job, no matter what the pay? You'll find this one registered with Quay Employment.

Dept of Housing - Client Services Officer - Inner West

Our client requires a strong minded and experienced customer service representatives preferably with a background in social work or community care to assist with managing a portfolio of clients. Your role will be to manage your portfolio of clients while under the guide and with support from your team leader to ensure you provide high level customer service while juggling a large workload of differing priorities.

Located close to Busses. Paying $22 P/H your duties will include but won't be limited to:

· Managing a portfolio of clients and looking after their special needs
· Counter customer service
· Client visits
· General Administration

Must have:

· Previous experience in a customer service background
· Social Work or Case Work desirable
· Excellent open and friendly communication skills both verbal and written
· Proven conflict resolution skills
· Ability to understand and interpret policy
· A current driver's license a must
· Ability to work well under pressure as well as in a team environment
· Understanding of confidentiality and a strong work ethic

*Not sure whose big idea it was, but it happened under Joe Tripodi's watch, and his protege, Kristina Keneally's hubby had a lot to do with it,

All we are saying, is give Rees a chance

Whatever happened to the gentle journo's agreement that some topics should be off-limit in the public interest?

For cryin out loud, capitalism is melting down, the barbarians are at the gate, (and in a worrying develpment, it's "their" barbarians, not "our" barbarians), and nobody knows how many of us will be jobless, if not homeless, by the end of the financial year, assuming there'll even be a financial year once the dollar sinks below the event horizon. NSW's coffers are bare-ish, our infrastructure is crumbling, and to top it all off, the Emirates own the Melbourne Cup, nobody told DH, and now they're hoofing it off all the way back to Bahrain or wherever with DH's 5 bucks on that nogood Irish, Michael O'Reilly,

And with all this calamity going on, what tack is the State's maybe most influential journo, the political editor of the SMH taking? Check out Andrew Clennell's hatchet job in Saturday's SMH, and decide whether he's got any other mission than to undermine the Premier, rub his nose in his inexperience, and score as many cheap points as he can. Doesn't the Political Editor of the SMH have anything better to do than ask 3 times about love and traffic?

When you open the spillgates and deluge the Premier of NSW in a flashflood of drivel, it's not just the Premier who drowns, the whole State drowns with him.

Should a government fall because a politician has a temper, and grabs someone's leg in the heat of the moment? Is that all? Are staffers made of glass? Maybe they should teach the delicate young plants in staffer school that politics is a high-conflict zone, not a personal growth sharing circle. Stewart should rise and fall on his record, nothing else. If there's a stench around him, show us where its coming from, don't just wave the the nearest red herring under our noses.

And who cares if Rees made a throwaway comment that didn't quite come off? Only this morning that dullest and most affectless of journalistic heavies, Laurie Oakes, was on Radio National breakfast lamenting that politicians nowadays never say anything risky or colourful. How can they if they are put through the grinder for every misstep?

Since when is inexperience a crime? The young feller stepped up to the plate. He's obviously got brains, he's doing his best to save the situation. Maybe our commentators should give him some credit for having the guts and give him a chance.