Opinion Domestic Politics BF style

[OneGreatClub]

One thing for sure the Australian Health System is broken. It took me 10 days to see a doctor at my local clinic. When I finally got to see a doctor and went to collect the prescribed medicine it was not in stock and I will have to wait until a shipment arrives from overseas. All this after I tried to get a Shingrex (shingles) vaccination last year as recommended in the Government advertising campaign only to find there was a vaccine shortage in Australia and we had to wait. After six weeks we finally got vaccinated.

There is an acute shortage of GPs, a shortage of hospital beds, shortages in prescription medicines and bulk billing is almost a thing of the past. I feel sorry for the overworked and under resourced health and para health professionals.

The worst of it is that I am not sure that either side of politics has the answers.

It certainly has deteriorated, as expected, and I have shared your experiences but still our Health System seems a step above the US and UK so there’s that.
Also the GP emergency health clinics are a good idea but are overburdened and understaffed and therefore long waits as we discovered this week using one, however the care from the GP was high standard.

 

[Festerz]

The worst of it is that I am not sure that either side of politics has the answers.

The issue is obviously complex and multi dimensional - hindered by the fact that funding and operational responsibilities for our hospitals and health care sector are divided between state and commonwealth governments.

There's also the fact that a decade of the Federal Government failing to properly fund the aged care and mental health care systems has had a huge flow on impact on the state funded public hospital system.

And while the continuing fall in the real public subsidy offered to doctors and specialists to operate on public patients is a major concern, there is also the behaviour of a relatively small group of top end doctors, specialists and surgeons themselves in seeking to maximise their own personal wealth from the public purse, contributing to ever extending queus for theatre time at public hospitals. For example:

Claims surgeons rorting WorkCover, private health insurers

IBAC is investigating claims that surgeons at the Royal Melbourne Hospital fraudulently billed WorkCover and health funds.

www.theage.com.au

IBAC probes claims sick patients languished as surgeons chased fees

In one case a woman who was critically unwell in the intensive care unit waited from 8.30am until late afternoon for surgery to treat a potentially deadly infection.

www.theage.com.au

So what to do?

Politicians and political parties are focussed on the short term electoral cycle (three years at the federal level) and simply ill equipped to develop the long term, hugely expensive and operationally complex solutions to these problems. Especially at a time when superficial side issues around identity politics and 'changing the date of Australia Day' dominate the political discussion.

The Morrison Government re-established the 'National Cabinet' notion, first established under Keating, to bring State and Federal Ministers to develop joint national solutions to the covid crisis. While the National Cabinet idea is still operational under the Albanese government, it seems to me that it needs to be ramped up substantially around the crisis areas of housing policy and health care, ideally with National Summits involving representatives from all the major players in both the public and private sectors to recommend a set of long term sustainable solutions and a timeframe for implementing them. It is only then, with the right amount of information and publicity that the public can force our governments to take action.

 

[raptalia]

It certainly has deteriorated, as expected, and I have shared your experiences but still our Health System seems a step above the US and UK so there’s that.
Also the GP emergency health clinics are a good idea but are overburdened and understaffed and therefore long waits as we discovered this week using one, however the care from the GP was high standard.

Yes, those Urgent Care Clinics are a good idea but again there are not enough of them. There are only six clinics in the entire Adelaide metropolitan area.

There is nothing wrong with the Australian Medicare model it is simply under resourced and rorted.

 

[PowerBaz]

Mali is a masterful politician that's for sure. Can straddle a fence without upsetting either side too much better than anyone. A skill he learned from the training ground of the SA Shoppies union.

But he is in a state with very little political opposition and where the other major party is in a constant state of disarray to the point of being a laughable sideshow and irrelevant. Not to mention the fact that every decent political journo in the state is either working as political advisers to ALP Ministers or not employed in the media. Mali gets feck-all scrutiny and is lauded for saying nothing or spending taxpayer dollars on getting more sideshows.

The idea that he could step into Federal politics and be the same Teflon Pete that he is in SA is pretty laughable in my view. Issues like the failing public health system, the housing crisis, immigration, defence and interest rates actually require a strong policy position.

You better vote for Dutts then.

 

[Festerz]

You better vote for Dutts then.

Dutton's name won't appear on my ballot paper, neither will Albanese or Bandt.

Reality is that SA politics and electorates are largely irrelevant to the outcome of the 2025 Federal election although SA Senate spots have historically been a place for radical turncoats to hide, only to show their true colours after being elected for their two term stint.

But appreciate the advice.

 

[PowerBaz]

Dutton's name won't appear on my ballot paper, neither will Albanese or Bandt.

Reality is that SA politics and electorates are largely irrelevant to the outcome of the 2025 Federal election although SA Senate spots have historically been a place for radical turncoats to hide, only to show their true colours after being elected for their two term stint.

But appreciate the advice.

I just mean he seems to be what a modern politician should be. In the centre.

 

[Festerz]

I just mean he seems to be what a modern politician should be. In the centre.

My point is that 'the centre' isn't a thing of principle. It's an illusion at a point of time that comes from nodding sagely at what everyone says on either side without having to do a damned thing in response.

And it costs absolutely nothing to hang out there other than suffering the odd splinter in the bum that comes from straddling the fence while doing F-All. It's a politician's paradise - all care and zero responsibility.

As the old saying goes, want to upset nobody? Then Say Nothing, Do Nothing, Be Nothing and most importantly Change Nothing.

We should demand more from our politicians than being place holders is my view.

 

[raptalia]

I just mean he seems to be what a modern politician should be. In the centre.

You are right as SA is irrelevant in some regards however it still gives me a degree of satisfaction to exercise my democratic right and vote against the bastards I don't agree with. After a life time of voting for the ALP, a party of which I was once a member, I honestly do not know who I will vote for. A lot will depend on what the individual candidates have to say on a range of issues.

 

[Festerz]

You are right as SA is irrelevant in some regards however it still gives me a degree of satisfaction to exercise my democratic right and vote against the bastards I don't agree with. After a life time of voting for the ALP, a party of which I was once a member, I honestly do not know who I will vote for. A lot will depend on what the individual candidates have to say on a range of issues.

Yep. That said, the party platforms these individual candidates stand behind matter.

Which is why independents are getting so much traction at a time when the major parties are focussed on the issues at the margin that will change nothing of consequence.

 

[TazD]

Dutton in the center.... jfc

 

[edgie]

Dutton in the center.... jfc

Yeah how did that get so far without being questioned

Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using Tapatalk

 

[Festerz]

Yeah how did that get so far without being questioned

Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using Tapatalk

TBF- I don't think PowerBaz was suggesting Dutton was at the centre. His comment was in relation to my previous comment on Malinauskas.

 

[TazD]

TBF- I don't think PowerBaz was suggesting Dutton was at the centre. His comment was in relation to my previous comment on Malinauskas.

That makes more sense. Mali is defs centre. Apologies to PowerBaz for my misunderstanding.

 

[PowerBaz]

My point is that 'the centre' isn't a thing of principle. It's an illusion at a point of time that comes from nodding sagely at what everyone says on either side without having to do a damned thing in response.

And it costs absolutely nothing to hang out there other than suffering the odd splinter in the bum that comes from straddling the fence while doing F-All. It's a politician's paradise - all care and zero responsibility.

As the old saying goes, want to upset nobody? Then Say Nothing, Do Nothing, Be Nothing and most importantly Change Nothing.

We should demand more from our politicians than being place holders is my view.

Left and right I get but it’s what we have been conditioned to believe.