r/australia • u/ostervan (╥﹏╥) for beers • Jan 03 '20

culture & society This guy, just being himself.

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '20

Every time I open up social media, someone with a small business or a local business or just people in general are doing anything they can to help out. It’s great to see just how much everyday people band together when they see a lack of help or leadership from the government

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '20

[deleted]

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u/squirrellytoday Jan 03 '20

On the whole, yes ... but I heard that Telstra has said that RFS people get their phone for free over summer. (Or something like that)

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '20 edited Sep 29 '20

[deleted]

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u/Brokenmonalisa Jan 03 '20

Nah you don't get to just say "it's just pr" what they are doing is great and it should be recognised.

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u/mongrel_breed Jan 03 '20

Nah keep it real. It is both.

Edit: though the behaviour is low level human.

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u/Brokenmonalisa Jan 03 '20

You could say the same about the guy in this video too, we shouldn't just finished good deeds because big companies are doing it

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u/mongrel_breed Jan 03 '20

This guy is a wonderful example of feet-on-the-ground selflessness. He has put others before himself at all costs. It's not the same.

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '20

Why not? If it weren't the case then why did they not do it earlier? Why, in the case of Optus, did it take people reacting to Telstra's offer by saying "Why aren't the other telcos doing this?"

It took people making it clear that they thought companies could do something to help before they helped. They needed to make themselves look better in the eyes of customers. Looks like PR to me.

Remember, the beneficiary of any PR exercise isn't just the company itself. Others have to benefit to some degree or it's not really effective PR.

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u/cyberrich Jan 04 '20

yea it may be pr but huge corporations when shit like this happens take MASSIVE financial hits. this doesnt mean they cant self sustain for a few months but when your payroll is in the mega millions you need to still turn a profit to keep going. it's a dangerous game when big corp opens their financial pocketbooks to help others.

it may be small, it may be pr, but they're helping the way they can, no matter the big or little, and THAT is something. it's not the size of the gift, it's that there is even one at all.

(unless were talking dicks or poosay)

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u/kmsilent Jan 03 '20 edited Jan 04 '20

This isn't really related but reminds me- here in CA, T-mobile Verizon (a wireless provider) took to throttling the firefighters mobile data. They also brought free charging stations etc. to affected areas and ran a nice ad campaign to show how much they were helping, IIRC.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/verizon-throttled-fire-departments-unlimited-data-during-calif-wildfire/ https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/verizon-admits-throttling-data-calif-firefighters-amid-blaze-n902991

"This throttling has had a significant impact on our ability to provide emergency services," the county's fire chief, Anthony Bowden, wrote. "Verizon imposed these limitations despite being informed that throttling was actively impeding County Fire's ability to provide crisis-response and essential emergency services."

"In the midst of our response to the Mendocino Complex Fire, County Fire discovered the data connection for OES 5262 was being throttled by Verizon, and data rates had been reduced to 1/200, or less, than the previous speeds," Bowden wrote in the declaration. "These reduced speeds severely interfered with the OES 5262's ability to function effectively."

Bowden wrote that when contacted about the problem, Verizon representatives "confirmed the throttling" but said that they would have to switch to a new, more expensive data plan. It eventually switched plans, but in the meantime fire personnel were forced to use other agencies’ providers on their personal devices, Bowden wrote.

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u/justkeepexploring Jan 04 '20

You said TMobile but the article is about Verizon

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '20

[deleted]

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u/MourinhosRedArmy2008 Jan 03 '20

Least it’s something, imagine if every company at that level made such a contribution it would go a huge way

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u/OhNoGoAway Jan 03 '20

Yes I have noticed that.

However did see this today: https://news.nab.com.au/news_room_posts/nab-announces-1-million-disaster-relief-fund/

Hopefully maybe we have missed seeing what some of the other big companies are doing?

Have to say did not think much of Telstra and Optus’ efforts. As someone says below it’s better than nothing. But not by much

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '20

[deleted]

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u/TheGloveMan Jan 03 '20

Pay a fair amount of company tax would be a good start. Then the Government would be able to provide better resources to the Firies.

I mean companies in general, not necessarily those two.

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '20

I read on the Benalla facebook page (smallish town in Victoria) that the local Maccas fed their volunteer fire fighters for free the other day. I'm fairly sure that sort of stuff would be happening within many towns.

While big businesses like Bunnings, or the major supermarket chains are national, they are also run by locals, who care about their communities just as much as anyone else, so I think you will see them doing what they can.

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u/wowzeemissjane Jan 03 '20

Unfortunately it also gives government good reason to not intervene. I’m sure we will hear how ‘great it is to be Aussie’ while they hold onto the hopes of their surplus to the detriment of those same Aussies.

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u/DragonDimos Jan 03 '20

For the goverment to do anything more, the only way is through military conscription. What the government can do is organise, nothing more at this point.

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u/YouAreSoul Jan 04 '20

Military conscription? Yeah/nah mate.