Not because of what the taxpayer hoped it would be, but because of what it actually is.
Books
What the Accountant Saw Chapter 12 – Lies, Damn Lies and the Law
So the question, in the end, is not whether the playing field is level. It is not whether others will push further, delay longer, or use the system in ways that were never intended. Those questions, while valid, sit outside our control.
What the Accountant Saw Chapter 13 – Accountants Dont Simply Record
It lies in the willingness to pause before acting, to consider not just the immediate objective but the structure through which that objective is being pursued. It lies in recognising that small decisions rarely remain small, that they accumulate and interact in ways that are not always obvious in the moment. It lies, too, in accepting that foresight, while never perfect, is almost always less costly than repair.
What the Accountant Saw Chapter 14 – Brushes With Fame
At the end of the day, all of these people, whether they sit comfortably in the category of fame or find themselves associated with infamy, are simply people operating within the environment they have chosen or found themselves in. In many cases, they are doing their job, applying their abilities, and responding to the realities of that environment in much the same way as anyone else would.
What the Accountant Saw Chapter 15 – The Ledger Balances
In the end, that is what this has always been about, not the law, not the numbers, and not the structures in isolation, but the people who move through them, doing the best they can with what they have in a system that is both more rigid and more flexible than it first appears.
Doing My Bit – Foreword
Because there is a tendency to measure contribution against the most visible examples, to discount what is smaller, less continuous, or more fragmented. Yet communities are not built solely on the efforts of a few. They are sustained by the accumulation of many, each bringing what they can, when they can, in the way that they can.
Doing My Bit Chapter 1 – See a Need, Fill a Need
Because “see a need, fill a need” is not wrong. It is not a flawed philosophy. It is, in many contexts, exactly what is required. Communities function because people step forward. Organisations grow because individuals take on responsibility. Lives are improved because someone, somewhere, chooses to act.
Doing My Bit Chapter 2 – Rotary – Service Above Self
The idea of Service Above Self retained its power, but it began to reveal its complexity. Because there is a point, not clearly marked, where service begins to draw too heavily, where the act of giving starts to erode the capacity to continue giving in a way that is sustainable.
Doing My Bit Chapter 3 – Being Prepared – A Scouting Experience
And so the role expands, not through intention, but through necessity, until the original shape of it is barely recognisable beneath the layers that have been added in the absence of anyone else willing to take them on.
Doing My Bit Chapter 4 – BNI – A Search for Closed Business
The realisation does not arrive with any sense of drama. It is quieter than that, more of an accumulation than a moment. A point where the balance no longer feels sustainable, where the ongoing justification begins to lose its strength. The language of giving no longer fully explains the experience, and the sense of extraction, once subtle, becomes harder to ignore.
Doing My Bit Chapter 5 – PBL – Finding Community
Effort is not lacking. The committee continues to engage, to strategise, to attempt to reposition what is slipping away. But effort alone does not guarantee outcome, and the distinction between persistence and resistance begins to blur.
Doing My Bit Chapter 6 – Sydney University Cricket Club – The Treasurer
The words that accompany the announcement speak to service, to commitment, to impact. They are genuine, and they are received as such. Yet there is an awareness that they sit alongside, rather than in place of, what might have been.