A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend the 2013 Western Australian Consumer Protection Awards at The University Club of WA. The awards recognise the courage, tenacity and commitment individuals and groups have shown towards protecting vulnerable members of our community. Over the years I’ve been to many, many awards nights, but I can honestly say there are very few, if any, that have so much soul.
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Left to right: Geoff Hutchinson, ABC Mornings; Chris Jefferey, COTA; Commissioner for Consumer Protection Anne Driscoll; Commerce Minister Michael Mischin; Anne Miller; Louise Burke; Boon-Beng Chew
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Devoid of over the top glitz, glamour and pumped up sentiment, it’s a pure celebration of people who’ve displayed a passion to set things right and avoid repeat victimisations. The event is held at midday and thanks to the expert organisation skills of the Consumer Protection team, that not only do they run without a hitch, they also run on time, meaning everyone can get back at work …if they can draw themselves away from the big warm hug of an atmosphere left in the room at the end of the ceremony.
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Consumer Protection Awards 2013 desserts © 2013 The Ponder Room
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Starting with pre-dinner drinks I checked out the table settings to find I was on Table 5, right up front, which instantly had be pondering why I hadn’t put more thought into my attire. While I’d followed the ‘business attire’ dress code I’m not sure my outfit was Table 5 worthy. These concerns were soon dispelled however, as turning around I bumped into an immaculately dressed committee member, instantly sending her glass of champagne cascading down her, no doubt, expensive top. So a great start then …possibly underdressed and turfing drinks at the crowd … forget about Consumer Protection, the organisers needed Ponder Room protection.
Anyway, the awards nominees were spread out across the tables … by that I mean there were a few nominees allocated to each table … it would be an entirely different kind of afternoon, should you enter the room to find the nominees literally prostrated across tables, strung out like the giant in Gulliver’s Travels. Thankfully the table centre pieces may have made this a little tricky, but I digress.
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Consumer Protection Awards table setting
© 2013 The Ponder Room
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The nominees assigned to Table 5 were three members of 720 ABC Mornings, for their weekly consumer protection segment that has been running on Thursday mornings since 2009.
I don’t know why but for some reason my initial reaction is always panic when I come into close proximity with anyone ‘media’. Perhaps I have some secret hidden deep in my subconscious waiting for the perfect opportunity to launch itself and undo all my years of trying to keep my nose clean.
Usually though I find myself worrying that my ‘idiot comment’ filter might malfunction at the most inopportune moment, and I wind up being profiled across all national media outlets as the most stupid person ever to attend, in this case, an award ceremony. Considering how the afternoon had started, this was entirely conceivable. Anyway I digress, again.
Thankfully I can report that all mental and physical filters worked to optimum capacity, leaving me to relax and drink in some amazing stories and beautiful food. Even better the team from 720 won. Not only that the producer gave me some tips about a couple of hidden restaurants (stay tuned for these reviews sometime in the future).
When talking about the importance of the media Commissioner Anne O’Driscoll thanked the two media winners (720 and Ms Louise Burke) for …
‘Their care, respect and dignity when dealing with people, and for realising it is the set of circumstances that have converged to create the issue … not that they are silly people.’
Clearly I needn’t have worried.
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Consumer Protection Awards 2013 table setting
© 2013 The Ponder Room
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The freshly minted (literally the day before) Hon. Minister for Commerce, Michael Mischin, was on hand to present the awards to the winners, who included:
Ms Louise Burke – for her dedication to keeping consumers up to date on CP issues, resulting in The West Australian publishing more than 30 of her articles in 2012 e.g. the danger of lithium button batteries, technological surveillance of shoppers, online scams, mobile bills shock and the use of personal data online and on Facebook.
Mr Boon-Beng Chew, Manager of Community Services at the Shire of Christmas Island – having worked for the Shire for over 30 years, tapping into the Island’s associations, community functions and cultural festivals to create consumer awareness of changes to legislation and issues such as scams and product recalls.
Council on the Ageing (WA) – for working to protect and advance the rights of seniors by promoting and providing services, benefits and programs, including the Seniors’ Housing Centre.
Ms Anne Miller won the Kidsafe WA award – for working at School Drug Education and Road Aware since 2003, providing drug and road safety education for all WA school and early childhood services and producing curriculum and support materials for teachers, students, parents and carers.
720 ABC Mornings – for being a strong advocate of consumer rights and safety through their weekly radio show presented by Geoff Hutchison. They report the latest news on consumer issues and offer a public forum to discuss these issues.
After two hours of listening to many incredible stories, I was left pondering … what on earth have I been doing with my life, a sentiment expressed out loud by the other non-nominees on Table 5, who themselves were already captains of their respective industries.
Now in its ninth year, The Consumer Protection Awards are run every year by the Department of Consumer Protection.
If you know of anyone who deserves to be nominated go to cpawards@commerce.wa.gov.au
It would be a perfect way to pay it forward if you’ve been on the receiving end of CP help. Actually if you do it might mean that I can count this post as a way for me to move through the ‘pay it forward loop’ that I’m still stuck in (see earlier posts e.g. my-pay-it-forward-loop-continues)
For more information about the awards go to www.commerce.wa.gov.au/cpawards or call 1300304054.
