Again: no better example of this bullying than City Council's official, public vilification of the young mum who complained about unsafe drainage ponds around Mt Gambier...vilification and abuse played out on the front page of The Border Watch and at Council meetings...and then Council quietly slides off to 'review' the ponds and promptly re-engineers many of them to make them safer...and no apology to the young lady concerned...
And of course there's the cowardly, anonymous, offensive, bigoted, prejudiced, Right wing ranting of 'Dick Stretcher' in the 'Comments' section of this blog...rank vilification of parents who have endured terrible suffering; bigoted abuse about Housing Trust tenants and the unemployed; authoritative dissection of who I am...and then when proven to be horribly wrong, empty, mocking, facetiously fake apologies...from an anonymous coward...
And then trying to just wave away all of the offensiveness, all of the mistakes, all of the cowardice, with "I think I'll start from scratch" and 'I haven't read all your posts', etc...
Rambling unsupported personal abuse and vilification, and not one single issue actually addressed...indeed, nothing but character assassination in an attempt to distract from the issues...from an anonymous coward...
But I digress; loathe as I am to agree with anyone, let alone Tony Pasin, I fully concur with his statements made yesterday morning (08/08/2013) on ABC Local Radio re Mental Health Services in Mt Gambier and the South East region.
I don't have a specific quote, but to paraphrase, rather than the 'part-time fly in/fly out' service currently operating, the region requires a number of resident psychiatrists and other qualified Mental Health professionals to permanently staff a 24hr service, and the main reason this is not happening is a lack of funding from the Rann/Weatherill Labour state government.
And this is of course further complicated by the general problem of attracting specialists, dentists, etc, because of the sub-standard, grossly under-funded facilities available in what many 'city dwellers' consider to be the middle of nowhere...and that is not a slight on anyone involved, certainly not at this end of the line, that's just the way it is.
I recently heard an hilarious account of an exchange between a South East university student and their Adelaide counterpart, where the SE student said 'I'm from Mt Gambier', and the response was 'Don't you mean Mt Barker?'...there are many people in Adelaide who have no idea that Mt Gambier even exists or think we're in Victoria...(and plenty of them in state politics, yeah?-Ed)...indeed...'SA ends at the Toll Gate' isn't just a cute throw-away line...it's a perpetual state of being...
As interviewer Stan Thomson pointed out (08/08/13), Mr Pasin is the Liberal candidate for this the federal seat of Barker, and that he had contacted the ABC...(fair enough-Ed)...and while this has to be acknowledged, none of it detracts from the reality of what he was saying.
(And this is also a classic example of why ABC Local Radio is so important...it offers a forum for local issues to be discussed at length and in detail...and it remains the obligation of the ABC to conduct themselves with decorum and objectivity...not abusing people and hanging up on them...(I knew you could turn that around from a praise to a serve-Ed)...just calling it as it is...)
They might have a Liberal government in Victoria, but Mr Pasin is absolutely correct in stating that they have funded/invested in Regional Health Services, including Mental Health...in a previous post I covered the recent 'forum' that Mr Pasin organised about/with 'Peter's Project' and their wonderful work to get Radiotherapy treatment facilities to Warnambool (Victoria-approx 2hrs from Mt Gambier).
I confidently predict that many South East residents will be accessing those services as they now do in going to Portland, Hamilton, etc...I've heard several direct accounts of people accessing Adelaide-based specialists at Victorian facilities because those specialists cannot or will not come to Mt Gambier because apparently there are issues with the Mt Gambier hospital and/or Country Health SA...and again it appears to be about largely about funding.
Specialists literally flying over Mt Gambier to rendezvous with their SA patients in Victoria...just great...
I re-iterate: as I have had it explained to me, the population base of Mt Gambier and region requires 6 full-time psychiatrists to provide an appropriate level of support/therapy, and an absolute minimum of three resident psychiatrists to be able to support each other in providing a permanent local service...
Labour have repeatedly promised an independent Mental Health Unit at the Mt Gambier hospital, starting in 2005 for the 2006 state election, then repeatedly leading up to the 2010 election, and through 2011 in to 2012 with repeated promises and grand announcements of a $28million expansion beginning, well about 4 months ago...(but of course it hasn't...but why Mr Fletcher?-Ed)...
Well young Ed, the excuse is that the Weatherill Labour government have not yet negotiated the 'Expansion' with the Hospital's owners and...(hang on...the hospital is privately owned?-Ed)...yeah, I think so, it's certainly not owned by the state government...(and Labour haven't organised those approvals?-Ed)...allegedly...(and announced the Expansion before getting said approvals?-Ed)...yep, repeatedly...and the word on the street is that those approvals have already been denied, but Labour just won't 'fess up...('on the street'...really?...could you get any more cliched?-Ed)...
What Country HealthSA have done is literally walk into public wards, point at some beds and say 'Those are Mental Health beds now'...Mental Health patients in public wards...that, or sedated, restrained, and shipped of to Adelaide via ambulance...just listening to Health Minister Jack Snelling lying his way around the gross lack of Mental Health services in Adelaide...what hope for Mt Gambier when Adelaide doesn't even have appropriate services?
I know that I've been through all this before, but nothing has changed, and Mental Health issues have been repeatedly raised this week, eg, the Hospital Expansion and The Border Watch front page story 07/08/2013) with SAPol 's Trevor Twilley re Suicide rates in the South East (also on Radio National and Lateline)...I note that Superintendent Twilley is in today's TBW clarifying his previous comments;
"There are a myriad of causative factors as to why people suicide and just because a person
suicides does not mean they have a mental health illness."
If only there was someone locally who is an expert on Mental Health issues who could step in and sort it all out...(well what about Dr Dick Stretcher?...they're apparently an expert-Ed)...ah, of course, why didn't I think of that?...(ah, you did-Ed)...
According to Dr Stretcher's latest diatribe of cowardly, anonymous abuse (attached below) they have established that I don't have a diagnosed Mental Health illness "you fake your illness"..."you admit that you could work if you wanted to...but chose to lie about your illness...", etc, but then also re-diagnoses me as being "delusional"...
(Hang on, let's see if I've got this right...Dr Stretcher says you don't have genuine Mental Health issues as officially diagnosed and openly discussed in various previous posts, but that you are "delusional"...no genuine illness, but at the same time "delusional"?-Ed)...yep...(wow, talk about having a bet each way-Ed)...alright, by placing a wager on the predicted winner and then...(no, no, I didn't mean literally-Ed)...
And Dr Stretcher is right, it's dead set simple to 'fake' Agorophobia...just don't leave the house for 7 years...they'll fall for it every time...(ah, witty Wilde, very witty-Ed)...I am of course being entirely facetious in making light of the crippling illness that I have had officially diagnosed (previous posts).
Dr Stretcher also includes in their gutless, anonymous vilification, the National's candidate Miles Hannemann...(orrr, he'll be having a go at the flowers next-Ed)...or saying that the birds are scroungers...
I only met Mr Hannemann on Wednesday 07/08/13 when he made good his promise to catch up with me next time he was in Mt Gambier...and I best declare the frothy cappuccino he bought me...and his immediate reaction to me says a lot about who he is.
He was clearly a bit shocked at my physical appearance (large, long hair, etc) stating 'you sound quite refined over the phone', and we had a mutual laugh about it...and for me, there is the key...he self-identified, openly acknowledged and appropriately dealt with his initial 'shock' based on my appearance in a manner that was genuinely respectful of me as a person.
We only spoke for 1/2 an hour, but he is what I would describe as a 'straight up and down' sort of person, and I have no hesitation in repeating my position that a 'Protest Vote' for the Nationals in the safe Liberal seat of Barker ensures that Conservative voters can 'send a message' to the Liberals, but not end up with a Labour government as happened with Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott.
I am of course assuming that those National preferences will be directed to their Liberal coalition partner.
Tomorrow: Candidate Review
And some other stuff...eg, the new 'levy' to force South East residents to pay for critical maintenance work on drains and/or bridges; Homelessness Week; etc...and those revised posts...damn I nearly forgot...
My name is Nick Fletcher...Nick Fletcher...this is my blog and I stand by everything I've had to say in it...and when and if I'm wrong, I genuinely apologise...I may well be 57 different kinds of angry idiot, but sooner that than an anonymous, bigoted coward...
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I write with interest and reflection on your continued reference to your illness. You say Agorophobia….you reference you have suffered from it for years……..If I’d suffered from a disease for years and was as clearly articulate as yourself (obviously you’re not… he keeps pointing that out.Ed) I would at least know how to spell the disease I tell everyone I suffer from that justifies my disability payment:
ReplyDeleteIt’s Agoraphobia Numb Nuts….. defined as:
Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by anxiety in situations where the sufferer perceives certain environments as dangerous or uncomfortable often due to the environment's vast openness or crowdedness.
So you clearly do not suffer from this disease anymore because you are out and about in the Mount all the time, attending meetings, having free cups of coffee with your opponents and carrying on the everyday life of bringing people to account. I wonder how many people that suffer Agoraphobia would spend so much time bringing attention to themselves the way you do.
Call me all the names you want…..try and tie me to whatever associations you have…try to extend my abuse of you… yes you stupid…to other people if you wish but at least show some respect for the people who do suffer from a real mental health issue like Agoraphobia and stop scumming the government payout rug for a disease that if you once had, you have clearly managed to get over….
And while I’m at it…. you talk about the impact my comments have on other people when I’m taking a shot at a prick like you…. What about the slanderous allegations and opinions you have about people....you don’t care what impact YOUR…. yes YOUR…. comments have on the families of the people YOU talk about…..YOU act as judge jury and executioner….It’s only your opinion but your opinion is the truth in your eyes so bugger due process….I am not aware of one of the people you’ve accused or labelled having been charged with any of the accusations you make against them…. but you still carry on as the pig that you are…… some of these people have children…wives…mothers…fathers…friends that are deeply affected by the slanderous comments you make about people…. but you don’t care if their children suffer because you have labelled their parent some horrendous label…..YOUR NICK FLETCHER the big tough guy who’s bringing people to account at any expense……
and the last thing……..for someone who said they were going to get rid of my comments you seem to be happy (nearly excited.Ed) writing about me every day…..If I’m so far off the mark why do you continue to write on your blog spot about the comments I make?? Just saying….