Comments on: "Letting the market rip"

By: jo

jo — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:38:14 +0000

At the risk of being viewed as monomaniacal, but so the usual suspects can’t say they didnae know:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/childcare-centre-in-court-over-strangling/2008/11/30/1227979844949.html

This is a terrible case of professional neglect which luckily didn’t end in a worse tragedy, but more describes an environment where children were basically unattended etc.

By: jo

jo — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:15:08 +0000

There were a few outrage articles in the Terror today about childcare – all privately owned of course..the headline grabber was about a toddler being left and locked in the centre before the mother had come to pick up.

And another on CFK centres. As I said above, you can put your fingers in your ears:

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24695452-5001021,00.html

By: Adrien

Adrien — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 05:55:30 +0000

Personally, I like the idea of government funding health and education, but not providing it.
.
And not making the choice about who does either.

By: wizofaus

wizofaus — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:37:02 +0000

Well, sure, most people want to have their cake and eat it too.
But I think a lot of voters still remember back to when taxes were higher and hospitals were funded properly, and see that as preferable to the current situation.
The “we can’t stand higher fuel prices but we want to reduce CO2 emissions” issue is obviously a serious disconnect, and one that our political leaders have done a very poor job of addressing. But the problem is that no individual stands to gain anything from paying higher fuel prices (even if it’s voluntarily to buy wind power – the resultant drop in CO2 emissions isn’t going to benefit those of us that do so in any meaningful way) – especially because not a lot has been done to assist consumers in finding ways to reduce their petrol/gas/electricity usage.

By: Chris (a different one)

Chris (a different one) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:22:17 +0000

wizofaus – I think people underestimate the amount of money required for the hospital system and overestimate the effect that forgoing the tax cuts would have had. As important as most people believe that global warming is, why are so few taking up the opportunity to encourage renewable energy production by buying green power? Why do so many people complain about higher petrol prices and when electricity prices go up? Its exactly what is required to reduce CO2 production.

By: wizofaus

wizofaus — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:13:01 +0000

Actually chris, there were polls before the last election showing a very large percentage of people willing to forgo tax cuts in order to boost funding to public hospitals.

Now as it happens, purely because of the threat of recession now upon us, the tax cuts in hindsight were probably a good idea. But I will be truly disappointed with Rudd and the ALP if they don’t have the guts to raise taxes as necessary once it’s clear that recession is behind us.

By: Chris (a different one)

Chris (a different one) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:01:43 +0000

LeftE @ 101 – I think you’re right about emergency care – and overall I’ve had a pretty good experience when I’ve had to go to public hospital emergency centres. However I have been very grateful to have private health insurance for followup care – without it I would have been left for longish period of time before being able to see a specialists – in pain, unable to work and possibly risked permanent damage.

It really is a matter of willingness to increase funding to the public hospital system. Everyone wants more money to go into the system, but a lot fewer want to actually be the ones to pay for it. Like we see with global warming – people want it fixed, but don’t want electricity prices, fuel prices etc raised without being compensated. Thats pretty clear from the woefully low uptake of green energy programs that the electricity companies offer even in rich areas like Canberra.

By: wizofaus

wizofaus — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:10:58 +0000

“the notion that public institutions are incapable of quality service is ideological rubbish”
eronslla
…true, but the more interesting question is whether public instituions are the best use of taxpayer money. I think there are a number of good arguments for health services to be provided by independent institutions, backing by government funding (or at least, single-payer health insurance), but once you’ve established a culture of public hospitals it’s very difficult to move away from it, and probably not worth the hassle. Increasing the funding to such hospitals is far more likely to be successful, especially because of the high level of public support for doing so.

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:40:36 +0000

I agree with Lefty E at 101. Emergency sections need spare capacity so that decisions on priorities can be made in a calm and timely way with waiting periods not affecting medical outcomes. It’s primarily a matter of funding, but also personnel policies and appropriate work practices.

I understand that the Swede’s think more positively about their public institutions than any other country. No guesses as to why.

When I worked in education I saw over 300 schools, public and private, around Australia. At no time while I was working was there more than one private school on my mental list of the best of the best, and of course it was not for profit. There’s plenty of excellence in the public sector in schooling.

When we were in Toronto recently our sister took us to visit a couple of old folks homes – both excellent and both state-owned and run.

I remind you of what I quoted @ 77. Deb Brennan said:

International research shows very clear differences in quality between corporate care and independent owners and community-based services, and the small amount of Australian research we have also points very strongly in that direction.

So far I haven’t heard of a corporate in childcare offering excellence. I’m hoping that Bendigo Bank might be one such because of their different philosophy. But meanwhile I’d respectfully suggest that the notion that public institutions are incapable of quality service is ideological rubbish.

By: wizofaus

wizofaus — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:34:49 +0000

And of course if voters actually had a proper chance to have some say over spending on public health, given poll after poll show support for more spending, the level of service would only improve. I think there’s definitely a case for more direct democracy in such areas – I don’t doubt that people would feel more in control of their taxpayer dollars if they had some real input into top-level budgetry decisions (there’s a number of ways this could be achieved).