- published: 23 Dec 2011
- views: 4789414
Triple Zero (000) is the primary national emergency number in Australia. The Emergency Call Service is operated by Telstra a condition of its telecommunications licence, and is intended only for use in life-threatening or time-critical emergencies. Other emergency numbers in Australia are 112 for GSM mobile and satellite phones, which is answered by a Triple Zero (000) operator and 106 for TDD textphones. Triple Zero (000) was also the emergency number in Denmark and Finland until the introduction of the 112 number in 1993.
For calls to the State Emergency Service the Australia wide number 132 500 can be used (except for in the Northern Territory). This number should only be used for non life threatening situations.
Prior to 1969, Australia did not have a national number for emergency services; the police, fire and ambulance services possessed many phone numbers, one for each local unit. In 1961, the office of the Postmaster General (PMG) introduced the Triple Zero (000) number in major population centres and near the end of the 1980s extended its coverage to nationwide. The number Triple Zero (000) was chosen for several reasons: technically, it suited the dialling system for the most remote automatic exchanges, particularly outback Queensland. These communities used the digit 0 to select an automatic trunk line to a centre. In the most remote communities, two 0s had to be used to reach a main centre; thus dialling 0+0, plus another 0 would call (at least) an operator. Zero is closest to the finger stall on Australian rotary dial phones, so it was easy to dial in darkness.
the air comes off the ocean
the city smells fishy
the air is full of fish and mystery
whispering who, what, when
I am warning you I am weightless
and the wind is always shifting
so don't hang anything on me
if you ever want to see it again
I am telling you I'm different than you
think I am
and you can dangle your carrot
but I ain't gunna reach for it
cuz I need both my hands
to play my guitar
and life is a sleezy stranger
who looks vaguely familiar
flirting with a bimbo named disaster
at the end of the bar
and I am telling you that I am different
than you are
at night when you're asleep
self-hatred's going to creep in
and try to blame it on the devil
the one who's bed you sleep in
and don't tell me what they did to you
as though you had no choice
tell me, isn't that your picture?
isn't that your voice?
if you don't live what you sing about
your mirror is going to find out
oh yeah
I'd like to go to all the pretty parties
where all the pretty people go
and I ain't really all that pretty
but nobody will know
cuz everybody loves you
when you're a star
and nobody questions
what it takes to go that far
and life is a sleezy stranger
and this is his favorite bar
no I don't prefer obscurity
but I'm an idealistic girl
and I wouldn't work for you
no matter what you paid
and I may not be able
to change the whole fucking world
but I could be the million
that you never made
oh yeah
I could be the million that you never made
I could be the million that you'll never make