Focal Point (45min) - 30 Nov 2022

Published Nov 30, 2022, 9:30 AM

On Focal Point
⦁    Clare Day, general Manager for Emerald, alertS us to the increased risk of fires during holiday times and things we can do to minimise our chances of being impacted.  Claire has also a special offer on the Safe Link product.  Find out more here: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.emerald-ems.com.au/safelink__;!!BW9V2p7J0Kl2QvQ!G4G1-D9Es3UJYIBku1b5B12XBLOmdmfvwH1VTMFSZE523IKsZdpNCag_L1Rnib6mo2JBvmMYQ8z63mgFCI4L3KySWlREkYAI0GI$ use the discount code of vision20  Or Phone Phone: 1300 511 148 
⦁    Marcie Civins has volunteered for over seven years with Vision Australia's personal support service.  Clients can have up to 360 print pages a year transcribed into their preferred format. To find out more call 1300 84 74 66 
⦁    Phil Vandepeer, Co-founder and co-presenter for Focal Point, shared his thoughts about International Day For People With Disabilities (IDPWD); the Victorian state election and the local government elections in South Australia.

Good evening. Welcome to final point here on the Visit Australia Radio. We live in 97. I'm in Adelaide. The I radio got old on the internet, the radio digital in Adelaide, the I radio digital in Darwin. Having a good come up at the top end. Also through the tune in Radio Outlook Vision Australia, Radio Adelaide. Your favorite podcast or streaming service? Peter Greco on behalf of Philip van der Pay. And what are we to say? Thank you for being with us. Coming up on the program this evening, very shortly, we'll speak to Clare from Emerald Fire Safety. It's such an important message all year round at Christmas time, maybe a for a while or new things coming to the home. Going to be a bit more aware. We won't scare you, but we certainly alert you and a bit of a little giveaway that you might be interested in order not to give away, but a discount that Clare has got for you. Catch up with Marty Simmons. Matthew would tell us about the Purser Support service, the Vision Australia offer to clients 360 pages You can have transcribed into audio to tell us about her role in all that. Then Phil Faneca will join us, co-founder and co-presenter for a focal point to reflect on a few things that have been happening, including local government and Victorian election and also International Day for people with disabilities coming up December three if listing through 1197. I am glad that o'clock for your listening pleasure Matthew lighten Sam Rick are they here for Studio one just before we hear what's on their program, a reminder that the South Australian branch of Branches Australia have got their first face to face catch up coming up this Saturday, December three at the Coopers Old our house at 316 Pulteney Street in the city gets underway about midday. If you'd like to go along, please book by giving the BCI office a call. One 800 0w36601 800 zero. 33660 or email BCI at BCI dot org you that's this coming Saturday about 12:00. If you'd like to go along be a fine fine afternoon and a lovely meal I'm told Sam Rickard he knows about lovely meals. He also knows what some studio wants or not.

So recently I started watching the Netflix version of Daredevil. And for those out there who don't know what that's about, it.

Is about a.

Guy that was blinded as a child and has special.

Powers.

All right. Okay. I maybe not everybody out there are comic book or superhero fans, but what I did find interesting about that show was the portrayal of the actor who actually came across as a well adjusted, totally blind person, having travelled with a lot of totally blind people. Yes, he did. He looked like someone who had some mobility training. So this week Matthew is talking to the person who trains actors on how to look blind. Now. I didn't know there was such a guy out there, but apparently there is. Back to you, Peter. Oh. What's that smell? Someone lost a toaster on or something called the warning. Smoke detected.

That's a very concerning sound. A very haunting sound, if I may say so. So let's chat a bit more about it and what it might mean and speak to the general manager for Emerald. Clare Di. Clare, lovely to meet you. Thanks so much for your time.

Thanks so much.

Now, of course, this is a happy time. You know, we're all getting festive with the Christmas and the holiday season coming up, but I guess it all has a bit of a danger warning, particularly regarding fires.

Yes, Peter, it's an extremely busy time of year. One for all to celebrate. But we know it also means that there's a little bit of noise and lots of excitement going around the home with kids and dogs and family members and friends coming and going. And we know that some of the basics drop off in those times. So what we're trying to do is educate individuals about just safeguarding themselves throughout the festive period.

Now, some of the, I guess, fun things that can be given at Christmas time for present were a bit of a problem themselves.

We know that kids are going to be getting their presents from Santa on Christmas morning and items like e-bikes, E-scooters, even skateboards are going to be extremely popular this Christmas. And although they're so much fun, we also know that there comes a little bit of a layer of security and safety that you need to be complete when using these items that are actually powered by lithium ion battery devices. So we recommend that you're really serious in ensuring that you're charging them in the correct manner and not actually placing these batteries near flammable items and also choosing to turn them off when you're not actually available and around them. And that also includes when you go to bed and sleep at night.

You say commonsense things, Clare, but sometimes in the excitement of what's going on, we kind of lose a bit of perspective or perception of common sense. I mean, our night or even things like perhaps, you know, leaving the hotplate or the oven on can be what potentially can be dangerous.

Yes, I completely agree. We know that the festive period means more cooking, more eating, more fun, but items like oil are used regularly around the Christmas period. And these items are especially flammable. And we know that a lot of times when they do actually have a fire occur, they generally happen in a kitchen area. Sometimes sleeping areas emerges as well throughout the summer period, especially the kitchen area is a source of heat there. It's got lots of board items. So we just ensure that keeping an eye on them and also making sure you're safeguarding yourself just in case you do get distracted having items. And fundamentally the number one item is a smoke alarm and working cycle that is that is installed in your home is vital.

And when you talk about a working smoke alarms, I guess, you know, in the old days you think, oh yeah, the smoke alarm goes off. I hear it and I can be aware. But there's sort of, if you like, smarter ways now and the smart devices that can mean that, you know, we're on top of this sort of thing a bit quicker and a bit more efficiently.

Yes. And we live in a world that is very connected nowadays as much as we we observe to think. It was a very special Christmas. But we also have one of these items called a mobile phone, which doesn't ever leave our side. And Emerald, we've actually developed a device called the Safe Link, which connects with our smoke alarm product that enables people to be alerted in the event of a fire. The beauty of this is that you actually get alerted if your smoke alarms trigger when you are away from the home as well. You could be holidaying on a beach and get an alert or you can actually just be at work. And I find that incredibly helpful just to know that I can make some smart choices and decisions. And it's all about choice and control when it comes down to these these elements. You can make informed decisions and and choose to get your house checked out if your alarm system does go off.

I mean, we talked about, for example, being at the beach. I mean, if you're lucky enough to be going away for Christmas or if you've got a holiday property and you know, you're a little bit concerned about your first place of residence, if you like your principal price or place of residence, you can kind of be, you know, monitoring it without necessarily having to be living right there.

We suggest that people connect, create our contacts that may be neighbours that could find just have a quick visual look on the property from the outside. You would imagine that a fire had actually ignited in your home. You'd be able to get them to make a basic visual safe check outside. Additionally, we also think this is a great product for potentially the elderly or people living with additional assistance needs and you can actually add yourself as a quick dial contact or even another member of the property. So for those people that might be living on their. Own and the senior in years. We suggest that, you know, the children of these individuals actually set up the device in their parents homes and they will also get alerted at the same time. So you get that extra layer of security as well.

And it's that peace of mind, isn't it? I mean, you know, we all concerned about our older relatives, the oppressed people who we we may know and love and perhaps aren't as mobile as they would like to be, or we would hope that they could be in those sort of things can be very, very important. And peace of mind. You can't put a price on that completely.

We know that the elderly who live alone are definitely more vulnerable in the circumstances of a fire in their home. Not always, as you say, as mobile. And sometimes it was quick to make decisions or be alerted to a situation such as having some devices such as the safe and can install in their home will give the family members and maybe friends that extra layer of security.

That we talked about. And we heard, in fact, they had to see the alarm, if you like, or the notice, if you like, that that happens. And I believe that you can also have it set up that it vibrates. So, you know, maybe if be a little bit hard of hearing or, you know, if your if you are hearing impaired that there's sort of a secondary way that it can be communicated to you as well.

Yeah. We've set the device up so that it gives the best informal information to individuals in multiple forms. And as you suggested, we've got a voice activation, we think, to go with actually doing just an alarm sound. But we felt that there needed to be some form of words in there. So it really didn't sound different to any other form of noise that your mobile phone may make. So that was actually a very specific choice we made so that it would actually capture people's awareness. We understand that people's phones vibrate, can make ring noises in their handbags or their pockets all the time. So we wanted to capture someone's attention straight away. And yes, as you mentioned, that was a had a vibrate function. So that is giving you the best opportunity. We can't give 100% security. No one can in the event of an emergency. But what we want to do is give people the best possible opportunity to make smart choices.

What about as far as setting it up, Claire? I mean, I guess if we've got kids or grandkids and nephews, that's probably, you know, a good starting point as far as asking for some assistance go. But if we fancy ourselves as being a little bit technically sort of equipped, are they really easily set up as those sort of connecting up to your smartphone?

Yeah, correct. They are they as simple as getting a bundle packed? Our recommendation is to purchase the bundle pack from the website. And the reason behind this is because you require a smoke alarm that will pair with the safe link wire fire gateway device. And we do have a number of different bundle options. And you can also add multiple alarms to those bundle options on our website as well, because every house is different and every person's needs and also where they're located in Australia is different because every state has its own a smoke alarm legislation as well. So we've tried to set it up so it's adaptable and flexible for different Australians across the country. And the idea is that you connect the device through what's considered to be RF connectivity, which is a radio frequency sound way, and so that all the smoke alarms and the safe linked device talk to each other so they can communicate and then it connects to your roof and your outdoor is what communicates to your mobile phone. So it's a couple of very easy steps and we guide you through a app which you download for free on your mobile phone, and then you can set up the devices through the app as well. So we try to make it as simple as possible. Often there is a couple of little boxes that you may come across, but we also have our customer support team around here voice on the end of the phone that is ready to support you in the event that you have any challenges.

It can also be very, very reassuring rather than, you know, guessing. And that's a shame if you've got someone that you know who knows their stuff for a couple of minutes on the phone and they can probably step through and troubleshoot any issues that you may have. So the app, as you say, is free and both for Android and iOS.

Yet is available on the iOS, the Apple Store, as well as the Pickle Play store as well. So you can jump online and search and reward EMS and that will come up and it's free to download. You need to buy the hardware from our website, which is emoji decimus dot com for Ali and the product that you'll be looking to purchase the statement and the safe link has a number of different purchase opportunities, as I mentioned earlier. And my recommendation is that you go for going about one two options because you get the best value and it also means that you've got all the devices they're ready to set up.

We'll put that information up on our Facebook page and we'll get you to repeat it in a second before we wrap up. But we'll put that up there so people have missed it. They can just click through by the Facebook page and the link on that particular Facebook page when the. Information about this program and be taken directly to it. Claire I believe in the spirit of Christmas and feeling a little bit generous. Say you've got to have a bit of a special offer for listeners who may like to avail themselves of it.

Yes, we've probably all been inundated with all the Cyber Monday and Black Friday the last few days that we felt like because we're doing this wonderful interview today, we'd love to extend that to the listeners. So we set up a 20% discount across all of our bundle packages and we need to do is is put in Vision 20 when you check out the check out page and that will offer you free delivery on any bundle pack plus 20% off.

Oh terrific. Are we going to make sense? Vision is in Vision Australia, Vision Australia, Radio, etc. in 20 years in 20% of that information up there. So that's very kind of your plan and you know, it can be something that can well, you know, certainly in the in the big picture, my side, your house and the stress that goes with it. But also just to give you that bit of that peace of mind can be so, so important as well, particularly if you're sort of having fun and want to not think about serious things where you've got a peace of mind of knowing that if something does go wrong, you've got a way of being a lesson. Give us your website again, Claire And is there a phone number? If you do want to find out more as well as your phone number as well.

Yeah, well, the best thing to do is to jump onto our website first, I would suggest, then go into Emerald and that's Emerald that the Amex dot coms are you And then you navigate to the page that says safe link. We do have a phone number that you can feel free to call, which is one 300 511148 and we'd be happy to support people over the phone if they like to purchase selected electronic challenges. And of course, if there's any issues with the product, transfer it. We're always here to support and help and well, people through the installation problems. You know, any station challenges they have through.

The reason to use the code for the 20% discount. Clare, thank you. It's a very sobering message, very, very important this time of the year. Merry Christmas. Thank you for your generosity and thank you for your time this evening.

Thank you so much, Peter. I appreciate it. That's it.

Clare de Clare is the general manager for Emerald. Tell us about the very important message there are around fire safety.

I'm listening to Focal Point on Australia right at 1190 7 a.m. by Radio Digital and online by Radio Dot all the dedicated. Everybody made it up here.

Let's speak to Matthew Simmons, who's doing a great job as far as them offering the personal support service for people who are concerned. Vision Australia is on the line. Marci, lovely to meet you. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for having me.

This is such a great service for those that might be aware of it. And I know that the old Oliver Twist, their line goes, there's always room for one more. What do you do and how does it sort of work for lots of people? Well, with access to service, what.

I do is I narrate in the special requests library. So I walk in on a monday morning for my shift and I narrate whatever is handed to me. It could be a magazine. It could be a manual for something, part of a book or a whole book. I've read poetry, you name it, travel magazines, anything. And I believe that if you want to have something read, you contact the Special Requests library and let them know.

That you have the details. Before we wrap up, and you can have up to 360 print pages of material done each year, That's a that's a fair amount of reading for you and your colleagues.

That is that is. But it's usually just a pleasure. We get to read things that we may not ever have encountered on our own. I know there have been times that I've gone home and had to look up the book at the local library and borrow it so I can read the whole thing. If I've only had three chapters, you know, seven till nine and I've been interested. So it's it's awesome for us. We get to be exposed to just amazing things that we wouldn't have necessarily encountered ourselves.

How did you get into this?

I actually saw it advertised in my local library when I was signing up there to be a home library volunteer. So it was something I've always, always wanted to do. And I think it was just kismet that I saw the sign at the at the time that I had the time to sign up to do things like this. And I came along for my audition, and I've been narrating ever since.

And it's a few I believe.

I believe I'm finishing my seventh year. It might be my eighth year. I'm not quite sure. So I got to know I was very lucky. I got to narrate through lockdowns as well. I was able to bring some equipment home and set up my own little studio by putting bits of blankets and cushions around myself to try and dampen it down. And I was able to still narrate through throughout lockdowns as well.

And that would have been and probably still is so, so important, because now that information, that connectivity that people would have had, probably more important than in a sense than during, quote unquote, regular times.

Oh, absolutely. And, you know, accessibility to whatever printed word is out there for whatever reason, if somebody can't get access to it, you know, without without some assistance. To me, it's the most critical thing. Access to literature, access to personal information that needs to be narrated for them. It's just it's crucial. So lockdown in particular, I was so pleased that we were able to still maintain some level of of of narration.

Mostly. How does it work? You said you rock up Monday morning to do your shift. Do you get a choice as to what you read or is it whatever comes in that actually gets done and it gets into that?

Yeah, no, look, I walk in and I get handed a folder and I'm sure if I really had a huge problem with something, I could say, No, thank you. But I just. I enjoy the, the unexpected nature of it. So I know I read a book about the Bermuda Triangle that was really interesting. And my computer was making some very strange errors that it never made before, and it never made sense. And I'm convinced it was because of the book I was reading.

Me wasn't that.

I had to get.

Proof.

I was like, Oh, you know, we were in the Twilight Zone right then. But I you know, I like I figure whatever I get, I can try and get something out of it, even if it's just not the most wonderfully, perhaps proofed piece of work. I'm still happy to to narrate it and to learn something.

What about some of these sort of, dare I call it dry stuff? Could that be sometimes, you know, take a bit of concentration, extra concentration, perhaps?

It does. It does. There are times that I'm reading things that I have zero comprehension of. For instance, Silicon Chip magazine, which is not dry but is well and truly outside of my knowledge, base, experience and interest. And I actually find that's almost better because you have to really dig down and concentrate. You really have to say, okay, I'm going to make this make sense. Even if I have zero idea what I'm reading about with colour ohms and, you know, megahertz and all this circuitry that I don't know about.

And what about the way things are written, as in something isn't. Because often particularly I know our readers here on Australia radio that read articles out of magazines. In the newspaper that isn't written for it to be read, if you know what I mean. So it's not as good as it could be if you're reading it off the page. The great challenge is, well.

Yes, absolutely. There have been many times where I've had to pause and think, What are they trying to say? Where is the emphasis supposed to be? Perhaps a bit of punctuation would have been nice to give you an idea. And if I really can't make sense of it, I just try to make it sound like I know what it's meant to say and just make it sound authoritative rather than I don't know what I'm saying. But I have to say as well, in terms of whenever I write things, I was always taught to read it out loud. If you can read it out loud, you read it, you've written it well. And I think experience with vision has shown me that that is absolutely accurate because I sometimes think this is the first time this has been read aloud. Yeah, perhaps it could have had that in the editing process.

I can. I will work for writers or would be writers have. There is a tip free from Marci. Maybe whatever you're writing. Read it out loud. Save it. Sounds okay, because that's my search on you. I must see you. Tell us a little bit about your your sort of background. You talk about wanting to be involved with. I am. I'm sure that as far as a library, which I've obviously got a great interest in this sort of library slash information area.

Oh, absolutely. Look, books are my passion. I have a background. I'm actually a musician, a trained musician. I play trumpet. I haven't done that for a long time, though I was also trained as a teacher. But I have been. My focus is really on about accessibility to the written word. So as well as with vision. Like I said, I've been I've been doing the home library service for the same number of years for my local council. And I also have worked I've started working as a volunteer with Story Dogs Australia for children who just need a bit more support with their reading. So I take my dog into a school and let them that I don't let them. The children read to the dog and he has a home and it helps them with their their confidence more than anything else. And so for me it's always about access to the written word because that can take anyone so many places. So that's my that's really my my passion. My passion.

What a fantastic idea. And what a wonderful concept to have kids read to dogs. I sense no judgment. Yeah. Oh.

Yeah, exactly. I always say to them, you know, he's not going to test you. He doesn't mind if you take a bit of time to to work out the word. He just loves to be with you. And they just and I've watched them all. Their confidence just increases. So however you can get people reading however that looks, whether that's, you know, listening to an audiobook or reading or it doesn't matter just access.

And come up with that idea, you.

Know, all.

Story dogs. I should know this off the top of my head, but I don't it's been around for a while now actually. It's a really good organisation and it's an it's an Australian based one. It's was come up things brought up by two I believe, two women in Australia.

It's one of those things when you think about, I think of course I in a sense such a simple idea, but such a powerful idea and such a empowering idea.

Yes, yes. And I, I have photos of my dog lying on the couch with a child draped over him being read to well before I'd even heard a story dog. So it's just the perfect match, kids.

You and your daughter. Your dog. With my person, it's me and I.

Yeah. Yeah. He was like, well, he gets very proud. He goes. I say to him in the morning, we're going to go to work now. And he gets all very excited and. Okay. No. Yeah.

Yeah. The best red dog in the world.

Oh he is. He is. He, he particularly likes Dr. Seuss books, which is good.

That's amazing. That, that is. That's put a smile on everyone's face. I'm sure. Nothing. What about as far as the longevity of this particular project? If you like it, It's been going for quite some time and there's always going to be a need for it, isn't there?

I believe so. I believe so. I think I think audiobooks in general have taken off in the last ten years or so, but I think that what we do that is really excellent is it doesn't matter what it is that you need read, it really doesn't matter. I've I've read instruction manuals for weather barbecues. You know, I've read instruction manuals for a paint gun from memory. And, you know, we all need to have access to everything. So I think it's I think will always be needed. Absolutely.

That's a great point. You make that because, as I say, clients can have trouble with 60 pages a year transcribed themselves or spoken into whatever format they like. And they can they, if anything, can be, you know, your favourite cooking recipe or perhaps a passion for your knitting. Yes, there is no limit as far as the sort of topics or the material that you want to read. Which is which is just tremendous.

Yes, absolutely. What somebody said to me right at the beginning was, if it's printed basically, if anyone can read it, then we will know it.

Fantastic. And Marcy, you just touched on the. I'm so mean again. How important is that for people who, for whatever reason, aren't able to get out and about and still love their reading? Maybe book always read or maybe, you know, reading can be a bit of a an escape for them. I mean, that that's that's a tremendous sense as well as not.

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And I look at that is it's also for usually for the people that I've worked for, it's about connectivity as well. It's, of course, accessibility to books or magazines, but it's also about meeting someone and making that connection with them where you you bring them into the community, even if they can't have they don't have the mobility, they can't manage that themselves. It's about bringing community together and giving them accessibility, of course, to the books. But it's not just about the books then. It's very much about the connection, the friendships that you build. That's been very important to me as well.

You're just saying you get a bit of an insight into the sort of stuff they like about the books that you deliver and you know, they kind of get to know you a little bit better as well. And you. Yes. A social connection. Again, over the last three years or so, we've kind of learned to appreciate that even more now.

Even more. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And one of the things I also enjoy is I see it as a bit of a challenge, you know, a puzzle to get to know someone and then to work out what exactly the books are that are going to to, you know, to appeal and then how far I can push them into a new author or slightly, you know, slightly different genres, something just to just to broaden their horizons. And I usually do pretty well. And every now and then when I fail, it's usually spectacular. So that's also fun.

It's been a delight to talk to you. Thank you so much. Thank you. And all your colleagues and I, we spoke to David last month that we're going to have more people on throughout 2023 as well. It's been a privilege speaking to you and you put a smile on my face. But a number of those things you've spoken about because aside from the empowering and also making things accessible and that spoke to in many respects was Australia Radio is all about you kind of fitting just so nicely. Thank you for your time and we wish you well. Keep up the good work.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

That's Marcy Schubert. That's that's one of the people involved in the Personal Support Services Division Australia Office. If you or someone you know is a part of Vision Australia and they have up to 10 to 60 pages a year transcribed or spoken into their paper format, give us your straight or call one 300 84746131847466 on 1197 open Adelaide on via Radio Digital and through the TV and radio way. This is focal point. Thanks for joining us today. Time to catch up with co founder and co-presenter of the focal point Silvana Pare. How I Feel.

I'm doing well. Thanks, Peter.

You're going to join us again before the end of the year. So I won't say Merry Christmas, but I will get up for the next time we chat before Christmas. December 3rd, International Day for People with Disabilities. You got some thoughts about it?

Yes, I have. It's a it's a it's a good opportunity to highlight the achievements of people with disability, both in employment, in entertainment and whatever their field is that they've been able to achieve success. This is an opportunity to highlight this and to make it such that people with a disability perhaps haven't had a chance to try anything, to give things ago, to sort of say, Hey, look, if they can do it, so can I. So there's two ways you can look at that. The achievements of people with disability and those who perhaps haven't had a chance to achieve their goals, to give it a go.

It's also a good awareness raising thing for for those people who sort of don't have much or don't know much about disability as well, isn't at all.

Exactly. This is an opportunity where people can actually see what people with disabilities can do if they have the right assistance. I mean, if they have support workers or even if it's just sort of like members of the general public to just take time to assist them in perhaps where they want to go or what they want to do sort of thing, what they want to know, and to get the publics involved as well, to sort of get them to know what disability is all about and what people with disability can and can't do.

And perhaps one area that is the employment area, perhaps employer is a better government of any level or indeed, you know, private enterprise, if I can tell you, I raised awareness about it. Be the opportunities that can lie in employing a person with a disability.

Yes, that's true, because there are a lot of people who are employed with disabilities who actually take the time to make it successful because they came to work, they came to get on with the job, and sometimes they actually show up their counterparts as being someone who can be successful at doing the job, but that everybody else can do it.

That is such a great point because that sort of thing has been said over the years that, you know, people with disabilities are more punctual, they're more loyal, they they do their job, they, they stick to it a lot longer is how often you hear about people that turn out to a job on. I'm not going to do that or that's too hard. Or they turn up for three days and then you never see them again. It doesn't seem to be the situation the same for people with disabilities. Once they get given that opportunity, they kind of grab it with with all their.

Well, you're running. Okay. So for example, someone that we both know and I speak of from working for the the ABC nurse Campanella Yeah. People sort of think, oh, I'll see a news release. So she got the news and then she's on triple j doing just that very thing. And she even hosted The World Today. So, you know, I mean, if she can do it, then there's a lot of other people who perhaps would aspire to doing that too, to go and give it a go. You know.

It's just a matter of there are opportunities. And if you got a trailblazer, if you like, and indeed if you've got someone that says so, like an employer that says, look, I might be taking a little bit of a risk, but I'm prepared to take it.

Oh, exactly. Exactly. I mean, today technology has gone a long way in actually giving people that opportunity. I mean, once they've got whether it's in text drawers or in video on their works computer, then I can do just about anything. I can set up documents. I can set up draft papers. I can set up sort of board papers, whatever, whatever's required of that particular person or that particular business. A blind person can do it.

Yeah, that's another great point. You know, I guess a lot of employers might have thought, you know, how are you going to be able to do this? But as you say, with the advances in technology over the last maybe been ten or 15 years, you know, if an employer hasn't sort of kept in touch with the updated technology, particularly in that accessibility area, I mean, there is so much now that can become available, which oh.

Of course there is. And it's only a matter of contacting the providers and providing the technology to install under a wire. And it doesn't necessarily impact I don't think it interferes with the regular programs that the business is running at all. It just sits alongside those programs and gives blind people the opportunity to operate those programs and to create the work that they're required to do.

And we all like having a crack in governments. But by the same token, there's a lot of assistance out there, both financial and other ways for people to tap into government assistance, to particularly start someone on their way.

Exactly. Yes, that's that's true. And employers need to know that. They need to know that they don't have to lay out their expenses just to employ a blind person or a person with a disability. They just simply need to contact various government services, whoever they might be, to provide them with that service.

And of course, one thing that particularly the pandemic has kind of taught us that people could maybe work from home or work from their environment and be contributing to an organization as well that's gone over well. That's for everyone now becoming more available to.

Oh, exactly. I mean, a lot of people probably work from home in the past, but we didn't know what what what actually was going on. But the job got done, the job got done. And, you know, it would have been a blind person doing it. They wouldn't have done that.

Very true. I feel, of course, over the weekend, speaking about governments, we had an election. I think one of the papers on Sunday is headline read Grand Slam, as in three in a row. Not the Grand Slam, but the dance slam. Three election wins in a row. What did you make anything of that?

All I was a little surprised because before the election, in fact, well before the election, I think people were saying that when the election comes up, I think that the that Dan Andrews will probably be on the nose and probably won't get elected after all of the the lockdowns and all of the problems, particularly with the pandemic and so on. And him hearing him every day of the week, give him a press conference and updates on the conference. I think that we're all getting a bit, you know, sort of like think of him. But as the pandemic is sort of settle down. And people are now opening up and doing all sorts of things. I think what Dan Andrews has done is he's turned that all around and decided that the only way to do it is now to put a positive spin on everything. And he's won. And I think that that's a credit to him that he's been able to do that, because, like I said before, and if the election was held 12 months ago, I don't think you would have started to change that.

That is so interesting, isn't it? I guess it's all about timing. And, you know, he he opened up in time and I guess everything now is kind of almost back to normal. And, you know, people maybe haven't got long memories or or I think they might have been a little bit of either the other chamber, the other party, the other leader wasn't perhaps as well known. So almost every you know, rather than take a chance with some of that definitely done.

Yeah, that's true. And I think that that's that's probably what happened because I think that never heard much of the the opposition leader. I mean usually you know, the Opposition leader is up there and he's criticizing the government for doing this and promising that he'll do that and so on and so forth. And I think this time that from what I can gather, you didn't hear much from the Opposition leader. It was all that.

ANDREWS Well, I think I think it's kind of a bit of a cliche that the worst job in politics is to be Leader of the Opposition. So I guess, you know, he can't get much air time. And also, you know, you can't really do much because you're not in Power Palace. It's sort of a lose lose situation.

Yes, true. Which also brings me to the point that the New South Wales election could be an interesting one. I'm not sure as to how that one will go, but I wouldn't mind betting that Labor wins that one as well. It means that if Labor wins that one, that will mean that every mainland state not forgetting Tasmania of course to have got a Liberal government, but every mainland state are all Labor states.

And then the Federal government as well, of course.

Exactly. So that'll make Anthony Albanese very happy if that happened.

That. That is a very astute observation because you know, hey, it probably doesn't happen very often. I think my brains maybe go back through the records when there's been such a well, but I say one sided when, when Australia's been governed predominantly by one political party, that would not happen very often because generally you get some outliers here and there haven't you. Of course with the ACTU, not in trying in as well. So. Well I still think it's the 25th, the 25th of March, that election that's not too far away once we roll into 2023.

Yep. Yep. Well we'll see how that one sort of rolled in. The interesting point is I think that the last time that I remember happening is during the Rudd-Gillard Rudd Government, one of those which is whoever was leading at the time, had the opportunity of having an all Labor state election. So I think that that's when the last time I remember happening. But there you go.

I wanted to check that one out. And of course, also in this month we've had the local government elections in South Australia. Jane Lomax-Smith, A blast from the past returning as Lord Mayor of Adelaide. And what about things like accessibility and the ease of travel through the city? How important do you say something like that?

I see that as being a very important situation because if you're going to have people come back into the city, you also want and come back to the International Day for people with disabilities. You've also got to have an opportunity to give access to those people as well, because it's no no good if you're going to have a city that people can't access. Even people with disabilities can't access. And if you've got people who have businesses who run tables and chairs and cafes outside their premises and on the footpath where everybody can run into them, that's not a good shot as far as I'm concerned.

And it's not just people that are using canes. I mean, you've got maybe people with mobility issues. So, you know, if you've got a wheelchair, particularly road transport, so easy to navigate around some of those obstacles as well.

Not all of those. And I was just thinking when I saw Jane Lomax-Smith get back in, it's sort of like things changed but always remain the same.

So I I'm not sure what Peter, my last guest, might have thought of Jane Lomax-Smith being retired. I think Jane Lomax-Smith is going to put up a pretty big fight as far as that access to parklands and that sort of thing go. So that could be an interesting one.

Yes, that is going to be an interesting one.

Time's running out. We could talk politics for hours than we have in the past, but not generally on the radio. So good to catch up with again, as we'll catch up, I think it'll be December 21st, will be our last show before Christmas. So we'll review the year end. It's. Territory in other areas as well. Let me catch up in a few weeks time.

You'll be looking forward to that. So we'll catch up with you then.

Peter to Barnaby, then co-founder and co-president of Focal Point to join this month month. If you want to send a question in to feel free, free to do that, because a general challenge is that. Have audio description of the week. It's coming up this Saturday afternoon. 530. ABC TV Reframe 2022. This showcases and celebrates diversity in the area of disability in arts and culture. It features stories from all around Australia. For this particular year, 2022, it's packaged in a lovely 25 minute programme and you can catch it with audio description. 530 this coming Saturday afternoon. ABC TV celebrating and well, what it means as far as the International Day for people with disabilities goes. So important day free appropriate title to be held and shown on that particular time. 530 this Saturday afternoon Refrain 2022 Now one birthday before we go talk to Shari Park. Having a birthday grand to Shari has done some tremendous work in the area of advocacy for particularly people with our Buddhism in Australia, but also internationally acclaimed. So Dr. Shari Pak having a birthday. But things are going well for you, Shari. Happy birthday to you. That is it for the program. On behalf of delivered to pay and better material, we say Thank you, Sam Rickert, for your help. We also say thank you, Pam Green for your calls. Record yourselves. Be thoughtful of others all being well. Focal points back the same time next week, reminding you your focal point is available. Free Spotify or choose your favourite podcasts.

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