Australian Politics
Monday, April 01, 2024
Private hospitals on life support amid funding woes
This is rather alarming. Private hospitals are often the only way to get prompt medical treatment. For that I have top hosital cover and do use it. I normally go to the Wesley and get appropriate treatment there within hours of arriving
I have also used a public hospital specialist department for a non-urgent matter and got very impresive treatment: Ample staff and good organization. But I had to wait weeks to get in. And that was with a referral from a GP whe seemed to have an "in" with the department concerned. For many problems that wait would be distressing and possibly dangerous
More private hospitals will close in coming months without government intervention to address private health insurance payouts, says Neale Fong, former director-general of Western Australia Health.
Now running the not-for-profit operator Bethesda, which in February announced the closure of a near-new private mental health hospital in Perth’s south, he said growing pressures on private hospitals would ultimately spill over into the public health system.
“The outcome is that the public system will hit a crisis point,” Dr Fong told The Weekend Australian. “If there’s only one other place for the patients to go, which is the public system, then emergency departments get clogged up with mental health patients who, if the private mental health hospitals were operating, we would have cared for some of those people.
“But because they can’t be cared for, they get sicker and end up in emergency departments.”
The Australian this month revealed that several private hospital providers had briefed Health Minister Mark Butler on their increasingly difficult financial positions.
A report by consultancy EY on behalf of the private hospital sector spelt out those pressures and warned that more hospitals, health clinics and dental surgeries could close.
ASX-listed Healthscope, which operates dozens of private hospitals across Australia, has been under growing pressure to restructure its debt amid growing concerns over its liquidity.
Bethesda suspended services at its $60m Cockburn clinic in February after nine months of operations, with Dr Fong pinning the blame on private health insurer rebates that fell well short of what was needed to sustain the hospital.
Occupancy of the 75-bed facility had been ramping up slowly and had peaked at 27 before the decision to close it.
Dr Fong said the occupancy had been growing steadily, but it would have been losing millions of dollars a year regardless of demand.
“Even if it was at full capacity, we would have made the decision to shut because the reimbursement rates were just insufficient,” he said.
Reimbursement increases across the private health space, he said, were growing by 1 to 3 per cent a year – well below the rate of inflation in the sector.
“Wage costs have gone up, supply costs have gone up, interest rates have gone up, everything’s gone up, and yet we get offered just 1-3 per cent,” Dr Fong said.
“More private hospitals will go to the wall.”
Rachel David, chief executive of the health insurers industry body Private Healthcare Australia, pinned Bethesda’s issues on the excess number of empty beds and a shift towards treating more mental health patients in the community rather than in hospitals.
“If a hospital has introduced a certain number of beds and they’ve radically miscalculated demand, there’s not much that a health fund can do to address that,” Dr David told The Weekend Australian.
She said none of the private health insurers she had spoken to in WA were paying below market rates for mental health services.
“They are attempting to give private hospitals what they need, but they can’t compensate for a hospital with no patients,” she said.
Health funds around Australia, Dr David said, had paid out more in claims last year than ever before in an indication that payments were keeping up with inflation.
Bethesda, meanwhile, last week secured a deal that will see the WA government take a lease over the Cockburn clinic for the next three years.
State Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said she shared Dr Fong’s concerns about the outlook for private hospital operators and called for a review of funding arrangements for the sector.
“It is an incongruous position that private health funds have significant profits but many private health facilities are on the brink of falling over,” Ms Sanderson said.
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‘A Dystopian Digital Future’: Senator Responds to Passing of Digital ID Bill
Liberal Senator Alex Antic has warned Australia is a step closer to a dystopian digital future after the Digital ID bill passed the Senate.
Mr. Antic is one of multiple parliamentarians who were alarmed about the legislation passing through the Senate chamber without debate on March 27.
“The Labor government rammed through their digital ID Bill without debate. An absolutely extraordinary thing to do given the ramifications of this Bill for all Australians,” Mr. Antic posted to X.
“The Bill will now pass to the House of Representatives for ‘debate.’”
The Digital ID Bill 2023 (pdf) provides a legal framework for the Australian Government Digital ID system, and also sets up an accreditation scheme for entities to provide digital ID services.
However, the government moved amendments in the Senate to confirm the digital ID will be “voluntary” for individuals accessing government services.
Minister for Public Service Katy Gallagher said Digital ID is a “secure, convenient and voluntary” way to verify identity without having to repeatedly share sensitive documents like passports and birth certificates.
“The Bill strengthens privacy and security safeguards and provides stronger regulation and governance of Digital ID services,” Ms. Gallagher said. “‘Australians will be sharing less personal information, which is held by fewer organisations, that are subject to stronger regulation—reducing the chance of identity theft online.”
However, Mr. Antic expressed reservations about the voluntary nature of the legislation and warned about the danger of central control.
“This is really really bad stuff. First of all, the bill itself is bad and in my view it will set the tone for a digital future,” he said.
“I mean at some point, it is going to be very difficult for people to resist using this in order to access businesses and services.
“At the moment the bill doesn’t require you to have a digital ID, but we’ve heard overtures about systems being voluntary before haven’t we. And we know what governments do when they get centralised control of these sorts of systems.”
The senator said he voted against the legislation, and it will now move to the lower house of parliament.
“It is now up to lower house federal members of parliament to vote against this bill. And look all I can say is, speak to your local member about this bill, speak to your local federal member of parliament about opposing this bill, because Australia is now another step closer to a dystopian digital future.”
The legislation passed the Senate with 33 for, and 26 against. Senators from the Liberal Party, United Australia Party, and nationalist One Nation opposed the bill, while Labor, Greens, the Jacqui Lambie Network, and former Liberal-turned-independent David Van voted for it. A few senators were absent from the chamber at the time of the vote.
Life is About to Change: One Nation Senator
One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts said the digital ID law is the most significant legislation he has seen in his time in the Senate.
“It’s the glue that holds together the digital control agenda by which every Australian will be controlled, corralled, exploited and then gagged when they speak or act in opposition,” he claimed in Parliament (pdf).
Mr. Roberts said life is about to change for every Australian. “As much as Senator Gallagher seeks to downplay the significance of introducing one central digital identifier for each and every Australian, the reality is that this is the most significant legislation I’ve seen in my time in the Senate,” he said.
“The government knows that digital ID will be compulsory by the device of preventing access to government services, banking services, air travel and major purchases for any Australian who does not have a digital ID.”
Mr. Roberts claimed the digital ID would create a live data file of movements, purchases, accounts, and associates with a reference to every piece of data being held in the private and government sectors as the “first step in a wider agenda.”
“Google, Facebook and other tech giants have been building huge data files on every Australian for years. Those huge data files contain every website you’ve visited, every post you made on their social media and everything you have ever bought online, and the keyword scan from conversations overheard by Siri and Alexa in your home are now unmasked,” he said.
One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson said nine laws were rushed through the Senate on March 27 with no debate or scrutiny.
“One of them has horrifying consequences for our future and our freedom: the Digital ID Bill 2023,” she said.
“This law is designed to control the Australian people.”
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Cancelled Again: Who Controls Campus Free Speech?
Bettina Arndt
Last time I spoke at Sydney University, the riot squad had to be called in to protect my audience from the baying mob of feminist activists trying to close the speech down.
They didn’t like the fact I was speaking out about their efforts to force universities to set up kangaroo courts to adjudicate sexual assault.
Funnily enough, this kerfuffle led to the federal government calling an inquiry into free speech on campus, which ultimately led to laws that require universities to promote open discussion, rather than allow activists to determine the public discourse.
Obviously, those regulations haven’t had the intended impact because unruly students just go on their sweet way.
Earlier this month I was cancelled again—and this time by the Young Liberals, for Heaven’s sake.
What does that say about the future of the centre-right Liberal Party when they are the ones shutting down proper debate?
The University of Sydney Conservatives Club was hosting a discussion evening focussed on the Higgins rape case. I was approached three months earlier to appear on a panel, along with Chris Merritt, vice president of the Rule of Law Institute, and author Andrew Urban.
The young women organising the event did a terrific job putting together thoughtful discussion points including the use of the case for political ends, undermining of the presumption of innocence, concerns about unmeritorious cases being brought before the courts, damage to the credibility of the media, and the impact of #MeToo.
It was just perfect for setting the scene for civilised debate for a select audience—the event was promoted solely to the Conservative Club students.
Ironically, the previous event hosted by the club just two weeks earlier featured Tony Abbott and the famous UK commentator, Konstantin Kisin, who argued freedom of speech is the cornerstone of Western civilisation.
Clearly, Mr. Kisin’s important message failed to impact on the blinkered views of the president of the Young Liberals who took it upon himself to cancel me.
The week before the event, the president suddenly announced to the female students running the event they weren’t permitted to include me—apparently, Young Liberals NSW has final control over the Club’s activities.
It is interesting to note the new NSW Liberal Senator Maria Kovacic applauded the decision to ban me—to think that this woman won the seat of the late, great Jim Molan.
The Young Liberals president actually suggested that hosting an event with me could ruin the career of the art/law student who was the major organiser.
It is quite bizarre and extremely alarming that this young man, who presumably has set his sights on a career in Liberal politics, should join the ranks of the thought police.
In fact, he preferred the event not to take place at all. But the organisers stuck to their guns and decided to go ahead with the event, with my two fellow panellists to handle the discussion.
But when it comes to marketing and promoting the event, the interference came again, with demands that Ms. Higgins not be mentioned.
The promotion simply mentioned, “Lawfare in Australia,” a very bland and rather misleading presentation of the proposed discussion which was originally promoted as “Higgins Unpacked.”
In the end, the event did end up being cancelled, after the other panellists decided on principle to withdraw.
Apparently, the president was not acting off his own bat, but rather had been leant on by other senior members of the organisation. And there are many Young Libs who objected strenuously to my exclusion, so there’s dissension in the ranks, with factional issues at play.
Yet the fact remains that key Young Libs were determined that Higgins remains unpacked.
The head of the organisation failed to answer a series of questions asking him to explain the reasoning for his decision. These included my suggestion that he may subscribe to a preferred narrative regarding the Higgins case.
Heaven forbid that some of the student audience might open their minds to alternative perspectives on the issue. It just shows what a great job the Brittany Higgins cheer squad has done to shut down proper discussion around the facts of this case.
Given the biased media coverage, it will be interesting if Bruce Lehrmann wins his defamation action against the media—the outcome is to be announced on April 4.
The general public has been so misinformed about the holes in the Higgins case that many will be outraged if the judge finds the media was wrong to promote her very story.
It’s a very bad look for Young Liberals to be opposed to uncensored public discussion of the social and political implications of this critical legal case.
The conundrum faced by young conservatives was addressed by Konstantin Kisin, during his recent tour of Australia. At the end of his two-week tour, he warned that this country has been infected by the woke virus, with people afraid to speak out on any number of issues.
“While the centre left appears its extremist fringe, many on the centre-right hesitate to challenge the cultural vandalism they observe for fear of being described as ‘cultural warriors,’” he said.
Was that the fear that prompted this worrying move by the Young Liberals? They know that a thorough dissection of the Brittany Higgins saga would lead to the usual Twitter storm from the lunatic fringe who control so much of university culture.
If that was enough to lead our future Liberal leaders to cower in fear, the future of inspiring political leadership in this country looks very bleak indeed.
It’s a strange thing that this 74-year-old grandmother still has them quaking in their boots.
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IPA's Daniel Wild: 'Why I think Australia is the least racist country on earth
Conservative commentator Daniel Wild has argued that Australia is the 'least racist country on Earth' despite 'elites' claiming that racism is an entrenched problem.
His comments follow recent remarks by Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman, who said that 'anti-white' or 'reverse' racism - such as the allegation levelled at Matildas star Sam Kerr that she had called a UK policeman a 'stupid white bastard - 'missed the point'.
Instead, Sivaraman said, the notion of anti-white racism moved Australia away from dealing with the 'actual problems of structural and other forms of racism in this country'.
But Mr Wild, the deputy executive director of the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), said the country 'has done more than any other nation to pioneer advances to democracy and equality' by promoting individual advancement over group division.
'Based on this divisive ideology of identity politics, we are being told by a small group of elites and the political class that Australia is a racist nation,' Mr Wild told Daily Mail Australia.
'These activists claim the country's institutions are racist because they were established by the British... and fail to understand that modern Australia has unparalleled opportunity for all Australians, regardless of race or ancestry.'
The IPA is a Melbourne-based think tank advocating for free-market and conservative ideals that has strong ties to the Liberal Party, mining industry and Murdoch press.
Mr Wild pointed to two examples of Australia pioneering methods which have subsequently become cornerstones of democracy and equality in modern society.
The first, he said, is the secret ballot, first enacted into law in South Australia in 1856, which gave rise to each person's vote being given equal weight regardless of race or affiliation.
The 'Australian ballot', as it is also known, is printed at public expense, contains the names of all candidates, is distributed unfilled at the polling location, and is marked by the voter anonymously.
The second, he said, is the Church Act established in NSW in 1836 that allowed for equal funding for various Christian denominations and which laid the framework for a religiously tolerant modern Australia.
Mr Wild claimed school and university students are 'drenched in ideology' about Australia's historical failings and are not taught a balanced view of our history that celebrates the country's achievements in establishing a world-leading democracy.
Mr Sivaraman, however, has argued that racism is embedded within Australian society.
'We had a White Australia policy. Our positions of power - in politics, media and the judiciary – are [still] held by white people. That's the context in which racism is occurring and needs to be understood,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
'We sometimes coat over the racial inequities that exist with a veneer of purported harmony. That is: we don't want to admit that there are problems and issues, and that we don't necessarily all have a fair go, which is the Australian ethos,' he said.
'If calling out racism is being 'woke', and 'woke' becomes this pejorative term that's used to suppress or undermine the credibility of someone's comments, there's no space at all to even talk about racism.'
The treatment of Indigenous Australians is a particularly sore point in Australian history.
Documented massacres on Aboriginal tribes were committed by early English colonial settlers, and between 1905 and 1967 thousands of people were re-settled into white society in what was later dubbed the Stolen Generations.
Aboriginals still account for 28 per cent of prisoners, despite making up 2 to 3 per cent of the population, according to the Bureau of Statistics, and die in custody at far higher rates than other inmates.
Mr Wild agreed Australia 'is not without fault', but argued our modern society sets the benchmark for tolerance and inclusiveness.
'The white Australian policy was wrong, and it was rightly repealed in favour of a non-discriminatory migration policy, which has been a foundation to our nation's success from the 1970s onwards,' Mr Wild said.
'Those who disagree should educate themselves on the facts about Australian history, for example the Kable Case, the secret ballot, the Church Act, the 1967 and 2023 referenda.
'The vast majority of Australians voted in the 1967 referendum to remove divisive references to race in the Constitution, while 60 per cent voted No at the 2023 referendum to enshrine racial difference in our constitution through Voice to parliament.
'Time and again Australians have risen to the occasion in showing their support with the basic ideal that all of us should be treated as equals regardless of our race, ethnicity, background, or gender.'
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Jetstar Asia announces direct flights from Broome to Singapore, promises low airfares
This is a bit optimistic. They will have to clean up the Aboriginal crime problem if they want Broome to become popular
Jetstar Asia has this morning announced direct flights between Broome and Singapore, reconnecting Western Australia's north to the bustling south-east Asian hub.
The Singapore carrier today launched its new route with the seasonal service set to begin operation on June 25.
It will offer two return flights each week until October 26.
Flights from Broome to Singapore through Silk Air were previously launched in 2018, at a time when the state's tourism industry had experienced a drop in spending from overseas visitors.
Last year, the Broome International Airport sought federal government support to recommence the flights between the Kimberley and Singapore.
The primary barrier to run the international flights was approval to establish permanent, regular border services at the site.
Broome will be reconnected with Changi International Airport, which will expand the hub's network to eight Australian cities.
Tickets for the new route will be on sale today, including special one-way fares starting at $145, with the flights to recommence in April next year.
Hopes to boost WA's international visitors
WA tourism minister Rita Saffioti said the new flight link would expand the state's aviation capacity through the gateway to Asia.
"This Singapore to Broome service presents an incredible opportunity to turbocharge international visitor numbers to Australia's north west, and inject millions into the region's accommodation, hospitality and tourism businesses," she said.
Broome International Airport chief executive Craig Shaw said the direct flights would bring the outback town closer to the rest of the world and recognised the region's desirability as a visitor destination.
"International connections to Broome as the gateway to the Kimberley region have been a long-held ambition for the local tourism industry and the airport," he said.
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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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Evelyn Rae, a 
Sahara Ray is undoubtedly a good-looking woman. Since she is Australian-born there is even a possibility that we may be distantly related
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