Post #145 16 July 2017

Gentlefolk,

I complied the following article for the newsletter of the Alumni Association of the House of Representatives (HoR).

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HoR Alumni Newsletter,  “Where are they now?”  Alex Olah

I hadn’t seen Jim Pender for some years, but ran across him recently when we were fellow students at a U3A course on “Unusual Borders”. 

Jim said that he was helping to edit the HoR Alumni Newsletter, and asked me for a contribution.  I protested that I’d only worked at Parliament House for a few short years.  But Jim was persuasive, so here goes.

In April 2001 I took early retirement from the Australian Trade Commission (AUSTRADE).  While I had thoroughly enjoyed my career, including several overseas postings, after 30 years it was time to move on.  I wanted to do something different and interesting, but wasn’t sure what.

A few days later Margaret Swieringa, Secretary of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade contacted me.  She explained that the Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee was finalising an inquiry into “Australia’s relations with the Middle East”.  A staff member had resigned unexpectedly which left them short; she asked if I could draft the chapter on trade? 

I ended up spending, on and off, about five years at APH, working for various Committees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. I loved working in that grand building; and found the whole place fascinating and stimulating.

The Chair of the Foreign Affairs Sub-committee was Hon David Jull, MP and the Secretary was Cliff Lawson.  I ended up drafting two chapters: Chapter 6 on Trade (50 pages) and Chapter 8 on Social and Cultural Links (25 pages). It was a scramble getting it done; the report on the Middle East was tabled in August 2001. 

I was then assigned to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (Chair: Petro Georgiou, AO MP and Secretary: Trevor Rowe) which was holding an inquiry into the conduct of the 2001 Federal Election.

I had been comfortable dealing with trade-related matters but this was a completely new area for me.  It quickly became apparent that on this Committee the Members were more knowledgeable than the staff, and Mr Georgiou, especially, was an expert.  I really admired Trevor for the way he handled a challenging work situation. That report was tabled in June 2003.

I then moved to the HoR Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Chair: Kay Elson, MP, Secretary: Ian Dundas) which was holding and inquiry into future water supplies for Australia’s rural industries and communities. We were in a prolonged drought, the Murray River was in dire straits, and access to water was of great concern to irrigators and environmentalists alike.  Another fascinating subject.  The report was tabled in June 2004.

My time at the Senate included two particularly interesting inquiries.  The first was for the Economics References Committee (Chair: Ursula Stephens, Secretary: Peter Hallahan) which was looking at the links between Australia’s current account deficit, the demand for imports, and household debt. I had to dust off my old economics text books. The report was tabled in October 2005.

The second was for the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission (Chair: Hon Ian Macdonald, Secretary: Jonathan Curtis) which was inquiring into the manufacture, importation and use of amphetamines and other synthetic drugs in Australia.  Wow! Heavy stuff. That report was tabled in February 2007.

I enjoyed my time at APH very much. Such diverse, interesting subjects (steep learning curves!); stimulating environment; seeing the political process at close quarters; and working with so many great people. 

Then my wife and I decided to do something completely different: to teach English overseas. We did TESOL courses and in September 2009 started work at the China University of Petroleum (www.upc.edu.cn).  Altogether we had six years at UPC, first at the Dongying campus, and later at the new Qingdao campus. 

We finished teaching in China in July 2016.  It had been a wonderful experience, but I was about to turn 70 and we thought it would be a good time to return home. For those with an interest in China, have a look at my blog (alexolah.blogspot.com) which describes our life there (see posts before July 2016, when we returned to Australia).

Readjusting to life in Canberra has had its moments, but we are now feeling fairly settled.  I taught a 10-week intensive English course for foreign students at the ANU earlier this year.  All 18 students were from China, so I felt quite at home! 

What's next for this Little Black Duck?  I’m hoping to do more courses at U3A, and to play a bit of golf, but other things keep getting in the way (eg grandkids in Brisbane and Sydney).  We will spend the next few weeks travelling around Indonesia.

I feel blessed to have had three interesting and rewarding careers: one major, two minor, all good: AUSTRADE, Committees at APH, and teaching in China.  Won the trifecta!

I’m hoping to get to the Alumni end-of-year function this year, if we are here.

Best wishes, alex olah

Canberra, Sunday 16 July 2017

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Compiling this article made me think back to the time I spent working at Parliament House - what a great experience that was!

We are off to Indonesia soon.  Don't think there will be much time for blog posts, so I'm hoping to do one soon (tomorrow?) on events in the first half of July.  Then it will probably be October before I post again.

As I complete this post, Wimbledon Mens Single Final is about to start.  Can evergreen Federer beat Cilic?  Hope so, he is amazing!

Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
Canberra, Australia
Sunday 16 July 2017