Hello Brazil, France, Malaysia, and Germany and welcome to the blog...and we're having a sale...it's all got to go...sell, sell, sell...(um, it's already all gone...there is nothing left to sell-Ed)...what about our utilities?...you know, electricity and gas and water and that...(gone, all gone-Ed)...what about Lotteries or the TAB and stuff...(yep, gone-Ed)...
It must be the Free Market mechanisms that ultimately reduce prices for consumers whilst improving service delivery, all due to competition, and...no, sorry, I can't say that without laughing...but the selling of Sow Straya (South Australia in Australese) is nothing to laugh about...it is nothing but corrupt accumulation and/or aquisition of public assets for the benefit of a few...
Thank goodness we still have the highly profitable Forestry Estate asset here in the South East, bringing into the state coffers over $40million a year clear profit, even after paying wages, forest maintenance, fire protection, etc, and it's...(pssst-Ed)...generation of local employment...(pssst-Ed)...as a cornerstone of the SE economy...(pssssst-Ed)...what?...(um, look, I've been waiting for the right time to tell you, but, um...-Ed)...come on...(well, we might have...sort of...you know...sold it, sort of-Ed)...
What! What the hell do you mean 'sold it sort of'?...(well, we've sold it to an essentially overseas consortium of shadowy 'shelf ' companies being run from Melbourne (Victorian state capital), and to avoid any scrutiny by the Foreign Investment Board we called that sale 'The Lease of Three Rotations'-Ed)...what the shrek?...three rotations is 100+ years...that's not a lease, that's a sale...(indeed-Ed)...
(But 141 Plantations is helping reduce that time frame by already removing trees that are only 23-25 years old instead of the standard 32-35 years per rotation-Ed)...yes, thank you, I'll do the 'seething fury barely hidden behind sarcasm' shtick if you don't mind...
And damn it all to heck...I was doing a lovely little segue thing, sliding from a frantically facetious piece about the Forestry Sale into a thorough shellacking of the Future Fund proposal and cleverly linking the two, and then I paused to purchase and peruse today's The Border Watch Wednesday 25th September 2013, and there's local member MP Don Pegler, talking about the Future Fund, and stating...
"We had a future fund in the forestry industry and they went and sold that." (D Pegler)
"Quite frankly this announcement is laughable. This is the Premier who has just handed
down the largest deficit in the state's history talking about accumulating profit into a
future fund." (state Liberal leader Steven Marshall)
"Regional SA deserves $1b in spending now, not smoke and mirrors."
(Family First's Rob Brokenshire)
Oh no, I'm agreeing with three politicians...quick, get me out of this...Damn it...quick, fill, fill...(with what?-Ed)...I don't know, um, just cut to the Future Fund bit...three, two, one, and...
Future Fund: What an arrogant, offensive joke spewing from a Labor Party that has absolutely no credibility when it comes to economy, finance, or honesty...this is a sad joke of an announcement...(um, you'd better explain the announcement-Ed)...oh, yeah, ta...Premier Weatherill has announced that Labor is introducing/establishing a 'Future Fund' once the state Budget reaches surplus, and it will then have to have $500million in it before it starts spending...
(So hang on...recover a $1.2billion deficit last year and a current state debt of $14billion and turn it into a surplus, and then the fund starts 'saving', and then has to get to $500m before it starts spending-Ed)...exactly...(oh well everything's fine then...and to think you were worried-Ed)...look, I've warned you about doing my sarcasm shtick...(yeah, sorry-Ed)...
And no doubt the Weatherill Labor government will use a goodly part of that Future Fund to increase funding for the Patient Assistance Transport Scheme that...(pssst-Ed)...reimburses Regional patients who must travel...(pssst-Ed)...for equitable access to Health services...(psssst-Ed)...not provided in Regional areas due to the Adelaide-centric nature of politics in...(psssssst-Ed)...what?...
(Um, sorry, but...Health Minister Jack Snelling has already ruled out any increase to the PATS funding of $7million a year, and the current PATS Review states that the changes they are looking at focus on ways to deny more people access and therefore have 'more to spend on less people' -Ed)...
Please review previous posts re PATS because right about...now, I lose all humour re PATS after attending yet another forum/meeting last evening where a crowd of approx 50 people shared their tales of woe about accessing services, the failures of PATS allowances (the things it doesn't cover, eg, taxi fares), denied claims, missed appointments, compromised treatments and/or health outcomes, etc...and all of that's just the getting to the treatment...
I missed MP Don Pegler's PATS meeting with Review head Dr David Filby on Monday 23rd September but read about it in yesterday's TBW...I had thought that Dr Filby was going to attend the forum organised by endorsed state Liberal candidate Troy Bell held yesterday, and very much looked forward to asking him a few pointed questions...but not to be...
Nor do I have the humour to make some witty quip about the 'Troy Bell - Liberal' sandwich boards outside the forum that had me silently predicting a Liberal party cluster-cuddle rather than a thorough, objective debate...and anyway, I was proven wrong...Federal Liberal Tony Pasin was present but only spoke briefly from the floor re 'Peter's Project' and services at Warnambool, etc...(previous post).
Mr Bell provided copies of the Review Consultation Paper, did a comprehensive Power Point presentation that included comparisons of the rates for different states (that showed SA at the bottom already), and the real costs of travel as opposed to what PATS repays, etc...all in all, very annoying...(annoying?-Ed)...yeah, well people don't tune in to hear me be politely positive about even a prospective politician...and it just doesn't feel right...he's givin' me nuthin'...and it doesn't sit well...
I don't recall seeing any other politicians, Councillors, etc, at the forum...but I may be wrong because I didn't specifically look...and I note with grave concern that one of the Review Advisory Committee members is the notorious Mr Grant King...
I'll close with quotes provided by Mr Bell, that show the immediate inadequacies and inappropriate nature of the current PATS Review.
The Australian Medical Association states;
"The Australian health care system is based on the principle that all Australians are able to
have the same equity of access to the same level of healthcare regardless of where they live."
The PATS Review Consultation Paper says;
"PATS does not seek to create parity between metropolitan and rural residents in access to
medical services."
I'll do another PATS post before the Review submissions are due on Friday 11th October 2013, and I urge everyone to do a submission...ta'...
Tomorrrow: The Rort Report Part IV
An attempt to conclude my hysterical dissertation on the farcical machinations of a Council hell bent and taking everyone else with them...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...laters...
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