WE REALLY ARE ALL IN THIS COVID THING TOGETHER – LIKE IT OR NOT
There is no doubt that the recent blowout in COVID cases has required a significant response. This means that we all have to take steps to limit the spread. Not only are we being asked to do this, but also, by law, we are required to do this or else face hefty fines.
Some of the things that we are required to do can be a little bit annoying or frustrating. But it is so so so so important that we all do this. The Government have lost control of the virus and it is up to we, the people, to bring it back under control.
This new strain of COVID is so dangerous that it can be passed from person to person with ease. Walking past others in the supermarket aisles, lining up for your coffee, sharing a car ride with others, can all be means by which the virus passes from person to person.
Please get used to wearing a mask. Please get used to signing in at each and every venue. Please get used to staying at home if you don’t need to go out.
What we know about this latest strain of the COVID virus and what we grow to learn about it, changes each day. Similarly, each day, our Government changes or adjusts the rules around what we can or can’t do based on the latest science.
Vaccinations have been incredibly effective at blocking the spread of the disease, for those that are vaccinated. At the super-spreader event that originally caused much of the spread, a party in Bondi, only a handful of the 30-odd people that attended that event did NOT get the virus – and that handful were all vaccinated.
Take care everyone. Stay in touch with family and friends by phone or online. Please minimise your movements around our community. Please wear your masks. And please, when you can, get vaccinated.
IF A PERSON STEALS YOUR WALLET, DO YOU THANK THEM WHEN YOU GET IT BACK HALF EMPTY?
The NSW Government recently handed down the Budget. You will recall that last year when the Budget came down they decided to freeze public sector wages because of the financial “crisis” created by COVID.
What this meant in real terms was that while the cost of living expenses went up, public servants wages did not, meaning that each dollar that they earnt could buy less.
Financially, a wage freeze like this, for one single year, means that after 10 years that worker is $50,000 poorer in what they take home. Over a 40 year career, a worker would be $250,000+ poorer as a result of that one year freeze.
This year, the NSW Government restored the 2.5% annual increase that was made the standard rule 10 years ago. Strangely they expected to be thanked for simply following their own rules and having robbed hundreds of thousands of dollars out of our public servant households.
Public servants are 10% of our work force. One in ten households are working in our public service. One in ten families rely on the hard earned wages of a public servant. One in ten families were smacked down with a massive pay cut, in real financial terms, last year.
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For enquiries regarding the State Government or its departments, or to put you in contact with someone who can help, please contact my office. My office can be contacted by phoning 4991-1466, by email to cessnock@parliament.nsw.gov.au or call into 118 Vincent Street (PO Box 242), Cessnock 2325.
You can also follow me on my Facebook page “www.facebook.com/claytonbarrmp”, go to Twitter and search @claytonbarrmp or check out my website at www.claytonbarr.com.au
Cheers Clayton