FLMTMM Part II

Howdy and welcome to the blog Cyprus, China, Romania, and Thailand, and apologies for a day's post missed and now this latish, shortish, quickish albeit still very cathartic post about the Mental Health stuff that's been dominating local media...been volunteering a bit down at the Mt Gambier Agricultural and Horticultural Show for the last coupla' years, setting-up before and pullin' down afters, but haven't actually gone to the show itself for 7-8 years...yesterday I utilised my new Members ticket to go and just wander about chattin' t' ma' peeps, checkin' it all out, etc...(yeah, b'in meaning to talk to ya' 'bout that-Ed)...what's ya' beef now, chuckles?...

(Look, I don't mean to be critical-Ed)...said the Ed about to be critical...(because I really support what you're trying to do by engaging appropriately with the Democratic process, such as it is in Sow Straya, and get issues into the public consciousness, etc-Ed)...yeahhh?...(and that you're not by any means a mainstream politician, and you don't have personal political ambition, etc-Ed)...buuut?...(but I think you might need to research stuff a bit better and then modify you're behaviour-Ed)...because?...(because when you're out there 'vox popping' you're actually meant to shake people's hands, and then kiss their babies-Ed)...ahhh, no wonder they were getting so upset...(yeah, so perhaps next time there'll be a little less hand kissing-Ed)...no probs mate, and I'm staying right away from the babies...(probably best-Ed)...

Can I do my traditional clown joke now...(oh go on then-Ed)...when I was at the Show I was trying to put the table-tennis balls in the clowns mouth, ya' know, to win a prize...(yeah-Ed)...but the clown kept spitting the balls back at me saying,  "stop that, I'm your local Member of parliament"...(and, taboomtish-Ed)...thankyou, thankyou, don't throw flowers, just money...but seriously, Liberal Tony Pasin had a marquee/booth thingy in the main Hall, and prospective Mayor Allen Smith had a small marquee just outside...just sayin', but it's a lovely segue into the Mental Health stuff given Tony Pasin's involvement in the recent Headspace announcement...

In my travels about the town, only recently I was talking to a young woman who is struggling to get counselling for depressive thinking/depression/whatevs...fortunately she's very much aware of the issues that are causing her this dis-ease, and we've spoken briefly about her stuff and some other shizzle, including about some of my relevant experiences, and she's getting some help and hopefully a referral, etc...

The issue then of course becomes to whom shall she be referred...as is my style, I'm segueing into a disgruntled re-iteration of my previous observations that 1) the current 'moratorium' on referrals, justified with the explanation that there's a back-log of referrals to catch-up on, guarantees a worse back-log when they do (hopefully) resume, and 2) the recent announcement of 'Headspace funding' by local federal Member Tony Pasin, Mt Gambier Mayor Steve Perryman, Council CEO Mark McShane, et al, is a dastardly bastardry conjured so's Stevo mate...(maaate-Ed)...can wave it about like some sort of trophy for the Local Government elections...

I'm in the Mental Health system in Mt Gambier and I haven't attended a counselling appointment (of the 10 1hr appointments I'm entitled to per year)...(sorry, 10 hrs all up for a whole year-Ed)...yep, with a coupla' 'emergency appointments' if desperately needed, and if available...so since February/March I've not attended, and I haven't received a single phone-call from anyone to say 'where the shreck are ya'?'...whilst I do believe that this is in part due to the bigotry and bias toward me by some of the Medical Practitioners I've had to deal with, it's not an uncommon situation in Mt Gambier...

Providers are so underfunded and understaffed and as a result thoroughly overloaded, that they simply don't have the time and/or resources to go chasing after people because they can't even cope with the people actually lobbing on their doorsteps...I stopped going to counselling because of a couple of missed appointments and then having my house 'raided' by SAPol, etc, and by the time I'd remembered it was like all over and stuff sortta'...then when I did stop to think about it, there were several reasons to try to move forward...(ooo, can't believe you said 'moving forward'-Ed)...indeed...

Point 1) the poor bastard is completely snowed-under with the massive workload generated by the lack of services in Mt Gambier, and 2) we'd got to a point of no progression, albeit given that I've gotten some great stuff out of it, and 3) and as evidenced last Friday night at the CAS Forum (October 17th 2014), I've very much turned myself and my life aroundish sortta', and am headed back vaguely in the direction of who I was before the St Martins Child Abuse Cover-up chewed me up and spat me out...(I also find you distasteful-Ed)...bite me...

And call me paranoid, but I don't want to see this critical service further endangered by being seen to be helping me...(this 'guilt by association' stuff hangs heavy on you doesn't it?-Ed)...I'm just very genuinely concerned, given what I know, given what I have extensively personally witnessed of the bullying, harassment, intimidation and threats that people like Greg Muller and Steve Perryman visit on those whom displease them...petty thugs...(and that's why they don't front you, that's why they have never ever had a go at threatening you, because they're petty thugs playing a loaded game-Ed)...indeed...

And that brings us back 'round to the character assassination stuff that's been levelled at myself and other parents whom have pursued the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up and on through there straight to Council's screeching litany of hypocrisy, their precious bloody Children's Charter...(whoa whoa, one thing at a time-Ed)...sorry, 1) because they can't tackle me head-on on pretty much any issue because they'll lose every time, the only recourse is to attack the messenger...(I get it, the message withstands any scrutiny, so the messenger has to be stopped-Ed)...yeah, sortta'...

And of course this is the only way to keep the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up rolling along, attack Nick Fletcher...attack Nick Fletcher and whoever else is stupid enough to stick their ugly head up...attack the victims and ignore the reality that SAPol, the Lutherans, Rory McEwen, Jay Weatherill, Mike Rann, Michael Atkinson, Steve Perryman, Tony Pasin, Rob Lucas, David Ridgway, Mt Gambier ABC indeed the entire ABC, etc, etc, etc, are participants...everyone knows that a class of 7 year old kids were abused at St Martins and our local leaders are the most complicit in covering it up...(whatta' disgrace-Ed)...

And you'll excuse me for constantly bangin' on about St Martins and all that entails, but 1) it is after all that which has brought us all together on this 'ere blog, and 2) it's everyday for me because I can't leave the house without runnin' into these people, or turn on the radio/tv/whatevs without hearing the latest about the Royal Commission...(the Child Abuse one? the one that isn't coming to Mt Gambier or even looking at the St Martins case?-Ed)...yeah, that's the one...

For example, I can't even watch the official launch of the new Mt Gambier Jazz course without being confronted with the extraordinary spectacle of former Liberal candidate Mayor Steve Perryman and Labor Premier Jay Weatherill madly praising each other up, and right there are 2 of the main conspirators in the St Martins Cover-up...(nah, I get it...in any other circumstance it's just political politeness to big-up the opposition, etc, but in the context of their complicity in a Child Abuse cover-up, it's an issue of what they both know they're covering-up when they stand there smiling at each other spewing forth their mutual flattery-Ed)...absolutely...

(Why was that launch held in Adelaide?-Ed)...no idea, but you're not the only one to have commented on that...probably Weatherill refusing to show his face in Mt Gambier...(nice...and what was that bollocks from Perryman about how the $500,000 the state government has provided re this Jazz course, how that somehow makes up for the Forestry Sale? why would he say that?-Ed)...yeah, well that's part of the whole paradigm where political politeness is the thin veneer over personal political ambition...(it borders on offensive to suggest that the damage Labor has done with the Forestry Sale could be excused with any amount of money, let alone the pocket change they've provided here that one would assume they'd be providing anyway to support this excellent course in Mt Gambier-Ed)...well indeed... 

Look, I'm gunna' finish here for today...it's already gettin' on and I'm knackered, my knee is just sore as from carrying, lifting, etc, and I spent an hour washing dishes today at the A&H Volunteers lunch thingy they do...it's just what I'm like that I feel that doing the dishes is their reward for giving me a lovely lunch because the volunteer stuff requires no reward...(also it's like supporting the supporters by taking away that ugly duty after their hard earned lunch-Ed)...absolutely, it's almost like double volunteering, nice, I'll tell 'em that next time...     


Tomorrow: FLMTMM Part III

Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, 16 Kooringa St, Mt Gambier, SA 5290...cheers and laters...