Mattk
09-26-2007, 08:21 AM
Recently, the Minister for the Environment asked for submissions regarding a pulp mill to be constructed in Tasmania, to tell him whether to approve it or not. Over 1000 were received via email, mostly asking him to veto it. I volunteer for the Minister for the Environment, and today, I was tasked to create a database of the contact details of the authors of all the submissions (not by him personally, because he's in Washington DC). After working all day, I have done over 500, and there's around 500 left to go. Here are some rather common-sensical things which people don't seem to think appropriate to follow:
1. Write your name at the bottom of the email. I have no idea who you are if you are called "wdawson", or "jimbo" in the "From" field. This is just common courtesy. Including a surname is also appropriate. There is more than one "Ian" in Australia.
2. When you write your address, make sure you include your postcode. It is really quite a necessary part of an address. I cannot begin to count how many times I had to Google a random suburb to find the postcode.
3. The appropriate form for setting out addresses is: number, street, suburb, state, postcode. States that have been abbreviated from multiple words are in capitals (eg New South Wales is NSW). Those which are abbreviated from a single name are not (eg Tasmania is Tas., not TAS. TAS stands for The Armidale School, a country boarding school in New South Wales). Did people not learn this in school?
4. Address the Minister correctly. "Minister" is a pretty good start. "Mr. Turnbull" (his name), is also appropriate. Addressing the Minister by his first name in a formal submission is a bit dodgy, as is calling him "Senator", when he is in the House of Representatives. Yeah, that last one was a bit dodgy. It might also be worth checking that you spell his name correctly. His name is not "Malcom Turnball".
5. Spell your own name correctly. Yes, someone spelt their own name wrong. This is not so bad for me, because I can laugh at you.
6. Make one submission, not three. When I have gotten past 400 on the list and I find that you are number 63 and have sent another one, I will have to go back to your first submission and check that it is not the same email. If it is, you are an idiot. If it is not, you still are an idiot. Couldn't you have put everything in when you wrote the first one?
7. Don't write emails complaining that the Minister hasn't written back. This is because number 6 will now apply. Especially if your original email was shit. Can't people be patient? In any case, the idea of making submissions is not an invitation to a dialogue. Don't start one.
8. Speaking of shitness, it helps if you put a bit of effort into the email. You know, things like punctuation, paragraphs... This is not really for my sake, but yours. Your views cannot be represented if you cannot represent them yourself. It is also good to write more than what I have to write when I type your name and email address into my super-cool Excel non-spreadsheet spreadsheet.
9. It is generally not a good idea to use someone else's email address to send your own emails. Because, then I have to expend additional time to write down an explanation on the side to note your odd behaviour.
10. A joint submission is valid, but it would be rather appropriate to include at least email addresses for the co-signers so that the Minister can write back.
On the upside, some people do follow all these rules, and I can tell that a few people have expended a great deal of effort in making their submissions. One person included a bibliography (of two, rather un-academic, sources, but a bibliography nonetheless). Interestingly, despite having lots of lefty politically-inclined friends who I would have expected to write a submission, I have only seen one by someone I have heard of, and I don't really know him. He was just in the year above me at school. Also, don't get me wrong: I've never been paid for working in politics and never expect to get paid; I do it because I genuinely like working in politics, and feel satisfied at the end of the day, despite the challenges. :)
1. Write your name at the bottom of the email. I have no idea who you are if you are called "wdawson", or "jimbo" in the "From" field. This is just common courtesy. Including a surname is also appropriate. There is more than one "Ian" in Australia.
2. When you write your address, make sure you include your postcode. It is really quite a necessary part of an address. I cannot begin to count how many times I had to Google a random suburb to find the postcode.
3. The appropriate form for setting out addresses is: number, street, suburb, state, postcode. States that have been abbreviated from multiple words are in capitals (eg New South Wales is NSW). Those which are abbreviated from a single name are not (eg Tasmania is Tas., not TAS. TAS stands for The Armidale School, a country boarding school in New South Wales). Did people not learn this in school?
4. Address the Minister correctly. "Minister" is a pretty good start. "Mr. Turnbull" (his name), is also appropriate. Addressing the Minister by his first name in a formal submission is a bit dodgy, as is calling him "Senator", when he is in the House of Representatives. Yeah, that last one was a bit dodgy. It might also be worth checking that you spell his name correctly. His name is not "Malcom Turnball".
5. Spell your own name correctly. Yes, someone spelt their own name wrong. This is not so bad for me, because I can laugh at you.
6. Make one submission, not three. When I have gotten past 400 on the list and I find that you are number 63 and have sent another one, I will have to go back to your first submission and check that it is not the same email. If it is, you are an idiot. If it is not, you still are an idiot. Couldn't you have put everything in when you wrote the first one?
7. Don't write emails complaining that the Minister hasn't written back. This is because number 6 will now apply. Especially if your original email was shit. Can't people be patient? In any case, the idea of making submissions is not an invitation to a dialogue. Don't start one.
8. Speaking of shitness, it helps if you put a bit of effort into the email. You know, things like punctuation, paragraphs... This is not really for my sake, but yours. Your views cannot be represented if you cannot represent them yourself. It is also good to write more than what I have to write when I type your name and email address into my super-cool Excel non-spreadsheet spreadsheet.
9. It is generally not a good idea to use someone else's email address to send your own emails. Because, then I have to expend additional time to write down an explanation on the side to note your odd behaviour.
10. A joint submission is valid, but it would be rather appropriate to include at least email addresses for the co-signers so that the Minister can write back.
On the upside, some people do follow all these rules, and I can tell that a few people have expended a great deal of effort in making their submissions. One person included a bibliography (of two, rather un-academic, sources, but a bibliography nonetheless). Interestingly, despite having lots of lefty politically-inclined friends who I would have expected to write a submission, I have only seen one by someone I have heard of, and I don't really know him. He was just in the year above me at school. Also, don't get me wrong: I've never been paid for working in politics and never expect to get paid; I do it because I genuinely like working in politics, and feel satisfied at the end of the day, despite the challenges. :)