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In the aftermath of the Brisbane floods Kevin Rudd cast himself in the role of volunteer-in-chief, wading through the waters in his uniform of rolled up chinos and sodden business shirt. It’s easy to be cynical, I guess.

Photo: Brad Cooper.

The real volunteers, of course, sought no recognition for their work. Over 22,000 of them, ably commanded by Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, rolled though Brisbane to lend a hand.

These volunteers are a testament to the Australian spirit of generosity and mateship. But Kevin Rudd could still do something genuinely useful to help the cause of volunteering.

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  • don says:

    01:58pm | 08/02/11

    maybe we should form a “national gaurd”  of volunteers that can be trained like the army reserves in basic first aid, traffic management, tree felling/clearing, basic home handyperson etc skills. Upkeep these skills say one day every month or two and then mobilise whenever there is a national emergency/catastrophy Read more »

  • Rod says:

    12:48pm | 08/02/11

    Students would be gaining financially by this deed of ‘volunteering’ to pay of their HECS debt, therefore they aren’t really volunteers. Read more »

 

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