Life's Been Interesting: Ray Beaumont 1912-2010

"Poppa! I can count to twenty!"

One of my earliest memories of my grandfather was me proudly showing I could count. He used to offer a little monetary incentive, 50 cents, when I could count higher.

My grandfather, Ray Beaumont, was the person I admired most in this world. A person of such generosity we will probably never know because he didn't flash his money about. Others less generous would have had buildings named after him but he was a true philanthropist, one who kept his generosity almost exclusively private.

Working full time at 80 years old

His work ethic was impeccable and showed itself in his sons and grandchildren including my father and myself. He worked full time until he was 80, then cut back to 3 days a week. He started his last business when he was 50, when many his age were looking at retirement, which now is a national company in Australia turning over more than $100mil per year.

A modest man who could work 120 hours

When his wife was in her last days in Ashford hospital, my father was concerned as he had been there, awake for almost 2 days. My grandfather dismissed the concern with a story about how when he had been working at McLaren Flat, he worked 5 days with no sleep because it had to be done. An impressive feat, which he hadn't bragged about to anyone we know of for more than 50 years.

He was a loving and caring person who would always listen and give wise council to those who asked for it. He didn't play favourites with his children or grandchildren and was universally proud of all of us no matter what we did with our lives.

Generocity for others

Some of my fondest memories are of staying with my "Nana & Poppa" at their house in Novar Gardens, playing in their garden, and nana's tuna morney. They also had built, as one of the many investments my grandfather made, a series of units at Victor Harbour. The project netted them enough to pay for the project and still keep 2. One unit was their holiday home the other was given to almost anyone who wanted to use it. Family, friends, even friends of friends.

My grandfather has had many careers over his life. He has delivered telegrams by bicycle, worked for the YMCA, been a wool-classer, planted and worked in vinyards, been a costing clerk, realestate developer, importer and business owner.

My grandfather, the hoon

Yes, he was a hoon. He owned motorcycles and later moved on to Jaguars. Some classics he has owned include an Ariel 500 and several Jaguar XJS.

I owe much to my grandfather, whether it be directly or as a result of how he brought up my father: Generosity, my love of cars, my business & sales skills, my caring nature, my sense of humour and my caring nature.

I love my grandfather and will miss him deeply.

The Unions Right To Tresspass

Picture this:

I walk into a business, into the staff only areas, into secure areas, into areas which may be dangerous or contain proprietary, confidential or private information and nobody has any legal right to stop me.

I demand to speak to the CEO, and they have no right to refuse a near immediate appointment.

I walk into the payroll office and begin going thought all employee records, taking copies where ever I want, making notes of who gets paid what.

In almost any western country, I would be thrown out on my ass if I wasn't a member of the police or other authority.

In Australia I could do it if I was a union representative.

Recently I was talking with someone about the Rudd Government's "Fair Work" (their answer to the former Howard Government's Work Choices) and was astounded to find out the above facts.

I was informed that shortly after the legislation was passed, all the warehouses this company ran were forcibly visited by union representatives who:

• Forced a stop work
• Assembled all staff for a "lecture" on why they should join the union
• Talked aggressively to at least one female warehouse worker who in turn lodged an official complaint with the business. (Which can do nothing about it, but is still legally liable)
• Forced an immediate meeting with the manager with no appointment

Now, all these workers are paid above award and almost all of them are paid generous performance bonuses which they almost always achieve. They are not mistreated, they are valued and treated more as family than as employees.

To this point, not a single employee of this business has joined the union in response to this gross violation of a business' privacy.

It is implied by the promotional material that a union must give at least 24 hours notice to enter a premises, but this isn't actually the case as Fair Work Australia pretty much exempts all union officials from the requirement.

Another thing that is implied, again by the glossy slick Rudd-esque spin-doctored material, is that the union can only access employee records of union members. No, they can access any and all employee records, YOUR records including pay rates, sick leave, everything.

Now how would you feel if your pay rates were made known to other employees by a union rep? Well, they're allowed to and you have no legal right to stop them.

As bad as Work Choices was made out to be, Fair Work is worse. You now have no privacy from the unions and they can not be held accountable.