Day to Day Politics: A Hunt for good health policy without lying.
Friday 20 January 2017
1 The Prime Minister’s appointment of Greg Hunt as Minister for Health is a clear indication that the Government thinks it’s vulnerable in the portfolio. Of course a National Health Scheme is anathema to a true blue conservative. As is a National Disability Insurance Scheme. Having said that though they have no choice other than to accept the public’s long-term acceptance of our National Health Scheme.
Selecting Hunt has twofold reasoning. Firstly, there is no doubt he has the brains for the job, and secondly, he also has the ability to look straight down the lens of a camera and with boyish charm and an amorous grin tell the most outrageous lies. His repeated assurances that the Great Barrier Reef was in excellent condition defied belief, but many believed him. Behind Abbott he would be the Coalition’s best liar.
In the Environment portfolio he was so well-practiced at guaranteeing we would meet our targets with a ridiculous Direct Action plan and the fact that he was lying got overlooked. Of course we now know the truth of the matter. We will not be meeting our targets.
Conservative commentator Judith Sloane writing in The Australian said:
“Newly-appointed Health Minister Greg Hunt failed to achieve much-needed changes to Australia’s renewable energy target in the environment portfolio. Hunt is a dealmaker, which means he is completely unsuited to the health portfolio. Hunt is unlikely to make meaningful progress in curbing the rising cost of health services and achieving more effective use of taxpayers’ money.”
Then of course Hunt is also embroiled in his own expenses scandal, reportedly ripping $20,000 of the taxpayer to pay for many Queensland holidays for him and his family.
In the Health portfolio he will attempt to create the same mythical illusions as he did in Environment.
Malcolm Turnbull said Hunt was ”ideally suited” to health because he had ”strong policy, analytical and communication skills, developed over a very long frontbench career”.
An observation.
“Never in the history of this nation have the rich and the privileged been so openly brazen”.
2 Now I would like to canvas some issues that I have, due to lack of time allowed to slip through to the keeper.
The IPSOS poll certainly reinforced the worldwide disillusionment people have in the democratic system of Government. It found that people wanted strong leaders prepared to take back a system of governance that has left them down. They want power taken back from the elites, the rich and privileged.
What an indictment it is when 70% of the population believe the nation “needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful” and nearly half believe “to fix the country, we need a strong leader willing to break the rules” the survey found.
Over two-thirds (68%) believe “the economy is rigged to the advantage of the rich and powerful” and 61% believe “traditional parties and politicians don’t care about people like me”.
A few observations.
“The peoples of all the nations of the world increasingly seem to be having less to say about their destiny”.
“Poverty is the fault of the victim but wealth comes from virtue and both are the natural order of things”.
“Meritocracy is a term used to imply that those at the top of the social scale have merit and a slur against those at the bottom”.
3 In another act of deception The Australian reported on Tuesday that research conducted by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science – and commissioned by Matt Canavan, the Federal Minister for Resources – showed Australia could cut its emissions by 27% if it replaced its existing coal power stations with the more efficient “ultra-supercritical” technology.
If true, that would get the country close to its 2030 target, which is a reduction of 28% below 2005 levels. The Guardian corrected them with this:
“However, a summary of the analysis seen by Guardian Australia suggests the new coal technology – under a very expensive demolition and construction program – could reduce Australia’s emissions by 12% at most.
In fact, to reduce Australia’s emissions by 27% by relying on reductions in the electricity industry alone, the sector’s emissions would need to be reduced to almost zero. Australia’s entire electricity sector only accounts for about a third of its carbon emissions”.
4 Another hottest day on record and a poll finds that 90% of country Australians believe they are already experiencing the impacts of climate change. And 46% think that coal-fired power stations should be phased out.
An observation.
“How can one man hold the future of the planet in his hand while the remaining leaders kowtow to him?”
5 In an interview with the ABC former MP Tony Windsor has said that any attempt to reform our Political Process has to include the use of associated entities for political donations.
He is of course correct. There is much to clean up including the lobbying process. And 80% of Australians think we should have a corruption watchdog.
6 NSW Senator Brian Burston looks set to represent One Nation at Trump’s inauguration. Malcolm Roberts couldn’t go because of a medical condition. I’m told he respects the science behind the diagnosis.
7 The Australian Christian Lobby, in a submission to the Senate committee examining Marriage Equality, says that Marriage Equality will lead to gender confusion.
“If marriage is a child-centred institution it reasonably follows that [it] is not a category of relationship that can reasonably apply to same-sex relationships, which do not bear even the possibility of producing children”.
But gay folk seem to raise some nice kids.
8 Seriously, Donald Trump is preparing to de-fund child vaccination in America.
After forming the Presidential Panel to review vaccination, he will be forming the Presidential Panel to review climate change.
After that, Trump is likely to form a Presidential Panel to review the Moon landing hoax, chemtrails, and the Jewish Holocaust … and birther theory.
9 Retired worst ever Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives blames the downfall of Sussan Ley on Socialism.
My thought for the day.
“I don’t mind the criticism but please don’t do it on an empty head”.
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Return to home pageThe AMA have called upon the new Health Minister to lift the freeze (2013 – 2020) on GP rebates which they have noted, is killing off bulk-billing, the centre plank of Medicare.
As Sus(s)an Ley said before the last election, she had tried to lift the freeze but had been rolled by the Treasurer. The AMA should be talking to Morrison.
Let’s get real, Dutton tried to introduce a co-payment/deductible in his disastrous term as Health Minister, starting at $7, but that didn’t fly, so they are using the GP rebate freeze to achieve the co-payment which will be a lot more than $7 by the time we get to 2020.
The coalition are keen to say that they don’t want to privatise Medicare and have deferred plans to outsource (i.e. privatise) the claims management for Medicare but they are committed to the co-payment strategy – known as deductibles under the private system – and in the meantime they are mindlessly committed to subsidising private health insurance companies to the extent of $6 billion a year rather than putting this money into public health.
As in the USA, Conservatives are ideologically obsessed with destroying to universal public healthcare.
“If marriage is a child-centred institution”
And there is the centre of this whole ridiculous debate. ACL would have us believe that our only purpose is procreation – an idea that came from times when building up your tribe was essential to survival. Marriage is NOT a child-centred institution at all!
Interesting to read that Brian Burston will fund his American trip himself apparently.
He will travel with wife Rosalyn and they will pay their own way, he said.
“It’s not a junket,” he said after recent political travel entitlement controversies.
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4406886/one-nations-brian-burston-going-to-trump-inauguration/
Kaye Lee,
One Nation are not complete idiots when it comes to populist politics.
There is widespread seething community anger at political rorting, and the PHON ‘anti-politicians’, although unlikely to offer any practical solutions (I haven’t heard of them supporting a federal ICAC), will not want to be seen as part of the entrenched problem.
Turnip and his band of merry men are truly in la la land, staring down the cameras and again and again pushing unadulterated lies, and they believe we are swallowing the rubbish. We aren’t but we’re doing nothing about it, so turnip and the lads push the boundaries of deceit further and further. This latest saga of rampant rorting, it’s now off the boil, off the pages, sigh of relief in canberra, situation back to normal.
Until we en mass rally and say enough is enough by all of you in canberra, then all we can do is suck it up folks.
The gene pool now established in canberra is so weak, we’ll be voting for 2 headed candidates shortly.
I was wondering what PHON meant, was it an abbreviation for PHON(EY) ?
Seems appropriate.
I think PHON should actually be called JAON. James Ashby is very much running the One Nation show and if that doesn’t trouble you, it should. This is a man who admitted to stealing Slipper’s diary and passing it on but our seemingly very compromised AFP said “available evidence was insufficient for any potential prosecution”. So a confession is insufficient evidence? Only if you are Ashby which makes me wonder why he is such a protected species.
Kaye Lee, the anti-marriage equality lobby don’t seem to understand that marriage and children aren’t necessarily reliant on each other. It may come as a surprise but from time beyond the counting of time babies have been born without the institution of marriage. On the other hand, there are many marriages sans kids. But as the antis seem keen on marriage being solely for the procreation of children, then they would no doubt approve of women who are “barren” being able to be cast aside..or burnt at the stake as a witch.
Kaye Lee, what a big mistake that was from the ON candidate..anti-gay rhetoric…and Ashby is of course… You can bash all the Muslims and Asians that you like, but don’t dare even think about attacking gay people.
The “anti-marriage-equality” lobby generally have no great quarrel with “same-sex” marriage. Because the language has morphed from “Gay Marriage” to “Same-Sex Marriage” to “Marriage Equality”, it would leave the door to Multiple Marriage adherents (*wink wink*) instantly demanding their own form of “Marriage Equality”, and who would we be to deny them? That would be discrimination. Actually it’s fun to see Leftist Feminists argue how liberating the burqa and other islamic practices can be.
A lovely 5less start to the day. Lord.
The hunt (ora et labora) should have no probs with the trunbull cabinet which has the highest IQ ever. His snarl will echo through the health and medicare will fall to the computer.
As a negative anti-pollie religionophobe troll I loved to hunt the bairds(fortiter et fideliter) but wow what a bashing he has got for quitting.
It is amazing that, arguably, SA has been the victim of weather attributable to climate change yet the states renewable energy action is blamed for the power problems.
Kaye tell it to the church. Although NFP does acknowledge rooting without the aim of fertilisation is acceptable, the church is rock solid in support the purpose of marriage is definitely to breed. Consequently is putting the fear of the ‘sky will fall’ if gays marry.
spot on as usual, crow.
phon is a unit of loudness
xen allow multiple operation systems on a single computer.
xenophon has the loudness to support his many ways to boost his wealth
“…he also has the ability to look straight down the lens of a camera and with boyish charm and an amorous grin…”
Now, now, John Lord, you are sounding like our PM, when he’s praising his helpers, Hunt, Baird, Dutton, overly effusive. 🙂
To me Hunt always comes across as an extremely earnest person, his forehead all furrowed…all that time spent on Wikipedia does it to you.
Plenty food for thought John. The lies and deceptions continue regardless of public opinion. Does that seem like democracy to you?
Greg Hunt’s stated wish that we adopt the US health care system should send cold shivers through everybody and be a stand alone reason to vote this government out.
Roswell @GregHuntMP on Twitter is denying that he’s ever advocated a US Health Care system, saying it’s a lie. His maiden parliamentary speech shows otherwise.