We had a National Census last Tuesday, the first one to be conducted online. Before the big day there was much hand-wringing and complaint in the land about privacy issues, since names were being asked for and collected for the first time. Notwithstanding the fact that personal information is in the hands of many government and non-government organisations (the ATO, Medicare, Dept of Human Resources, Banks and Credit Card Providers, Facebook, Wikileaks - actually, practically everyone when you think about it!) assurances about privacy by the ABS did not get much traction. Actually I'm guessing that some of the loudest voices were snapping selfies and divulging unsolicited details about their lives on social media, even as they tweeted indignantly about infringements on their privacy.

But all that has been lost in the great crash that occurred at the ABS site about 60 minutes after I completed my census document (very easy, by the way) and which has generated more bouts of hand-wringing and steaming gusts of hot air. Apparently hackers brought the site down (which is often what hackers do) and this is a disaster for which someone is to blame. Though surely not a Minister in the Turnbull Government, I prophesy.

There is a lot of whinging about these days and the tinniest thing can be a trigger.