Health
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Environment: Trees good. Plastics bad. Why don’t governments turn it around?
Trees are good for the climate and human health. Plastics are bad for the environment and bird health. Where are the good governments when you need them? Continue reading »
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China: decoupling from the West and winning the long game
With the re-opening of China and with the ending of Covid restrictions, a new confidence seems to be surging through the country. While the next two years are seen to be a particularly dangerous time, with the real prospect of armed conflict with the US, beyond that it is felt that China’s time will have Continue reading »
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“Long tail” of COVID-19 impacts disadvantaged Australians’ education most
COVID-19 disproportionately impacts disadvantaged and vulnerable Australians. What does that mean for their engagement in post-secondary vocational education and training (VET)? Continue reading »
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A desperate race to avoid locking in the pathway to human extinction
We are in a desperate race to avoid locking in a pathway to human extinction. This requires brutal honesty on the threats we face. Climate change, not China, Russia or the US, is the greatest threat the world faces; it will only be overcome with unprecedented global co-operation. Continue reading »
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Restoring societal values that make a better future for all
Can we really believe that the power structurers of human societies in 2023 are setting policies and programs that are doing the best for our future? Continue reading »
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Politics, not science, fuelling debate about the origin of COVID-19
Last week 4.8 million people contracted Covid-19 and 39,000 died as a result. The pandemic rages on around the world with, globally, cumulative cases of 675,565,574 and 6,873,798 deaths documented. Continue reading »
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A time for leadership: winning the pandemic war first
In the early 1940s ‘phony war’, before Pearl Harbour in December 1941, many Australians were not interested in the ongoing European war, even given our troops in Greece and North Africa. Continue reading »
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The silicosis epidemic – a symptom of wider regulatory failure
The epidemic of silicosis amongst tradespeople working with manufactured stone was predictable, preventable, and an illustration of a broken OHS system across NSW and the rest of Australia. Continue reading »
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Do China’s COVID-19 numbers add up?
Now that China is opening up, it’s a good time to reflect on their pandemic response. Continue reading »
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Ohio Disaster – will those responsible be arrested?
According to Newsweek, a toxic chemical cloud has reached a radius of 100-miles around East Palestine, the scene of a devastating train crash and chemical burn-off. If true, the people of Cleveland, the State capital 90-miles away, are now at risk of exposure. Continue reading »
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‘Defence’ as an Australian paradox: explaining veteran suicides
It is absolutely essential that society inquiries into the fate of Australia’s war veterans. There are many reasons for our failure to rehabilitate veterans successfully, but unless we confront the nature of military activity, such investigations will remain superficial. Continue reading »
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The difficulties of health reform
When he was Treasurer Paul Keating complained that the resident galah in every pet shop across Australia was talking about microeconomic reform. Over the last few months the galahs have learned a new script: health reform. Continue reading »
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Neurofeedback works for trauma – let’s use it!!!
Everyone who has suffered abuse as a child deserves the opportunity to live free of its detrimental effects. Continue reading »
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Asking the question: making the first move in Voluntary Assisted Dying
On the 28th November 2023 the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2022 (NSW) (the NSW VAD Act) will come into force. Continue reading »
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An insurance mindset is vital for the future of the welfare state
“Lifters” and “leaners”; “makers” vs “takers”; “strivers” and the “skivers”. The language may be different but the pejorative sentiment around the welfare state is similar, be it in Australia, the United States or the United Kingdom. Continue reading »
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Disability can be progressive. Supportive regimes must be progressive too
In 2007, at age forty-four, I stood as a Senate candidate for Victoria in the federal election. In 2011, I moved into a shared support accommodation facility, where I suffered a severe loss of choice and control. Disability can be progressive. Supportive regimes for those subjected to physiological deterioration need to be progressive too. They Continue reading »
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In Kashmir’s cycles of violence, progeny of former counterinsurgents are trapped in traumatic past
Ganderbal, India – The sun has just come out on a grey wintery afternoon and the snow-clad peaks of Harmukh are shining in the distance, casting sharp reflections over the horizon. Continue reading »
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We must address the alarming rates of female veteran suicide
This article discusses suicide. It was 10 years ago that then Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Morrison AO gave his famous speech in support of service women, (written mostly by Catherine McGregor AM). Continue reading »
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Reforms and more funding needed to save Medicare
The release of the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce report has re-ignited discussions about reform of Australia’s primary healthcare system. Continue reading »
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The myth of meritocracy: Resisting the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce Report
The vehemence with which the medical profession opposes any moves on behalf of nurses and other health professionals to move legitimately into Primary Health Care in their own right is telling. A system in which some professional groups spend an inordinate amount of time propping up the work of another is not to be abandoned Continue reading »
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The Medicare Review: how will its aspirations be achieved?
The Medicare Review contains welcome aspirations, but the instruments to achieve them are poorly delineated. Continue reading »
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Australia’s problems with cosmetic surgery: why they have happened and how to fix them
Hardly a month goes by without a new media report (and here) of alleged scandalous conduct of some doctors who call themselves ‘cosmetic surgeons’ but who lack recognised specialised surgical training. These reports have tended to focus on the harm done to patients and generally failed to explain to the public how and why the Continue reading »
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Towards an Australian Centre for Disease Control
Three years into the Covid -19 pandemic the many weaknesses and disconnections within the jurisdictional decision-making arrangements are clear. These fault lines significantly impair our national capacity to reliably detect and respond to this ongoing outbreak in a timely, effective and efficient manner. We urgently need to develop integrated national and international responses to disease Continue reading »
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Commonwealth-State cooperation is essential for healthcare reform
The recommendations of the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce released last week, like almost any serious health reform in Australia, require joint Commonwealth and state action. Continue reading »
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Disaster management: The lessons of 2022
As we start a new year, it is a good time to reflect on the lessons of 2022 – not just from the Covid pandemic but also the floods that wreaked havoc on communities all down the east coast of Australia. Continue reading »
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What’s wrong with addiction
As I watched the Four Corners program, Vape Haze, in 2022, I was struck by the program’s focus on addiction, a bad thing. A mother spoke of her devastation when her 16-year-old daughter told her she was vaping. Continue reading »
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The impact of the housing crisis on the mental and physical health of children
In Australia, we pride ourselves on our egalitarianism, yet now cannot even provide security of accommodation for everyone. How can this be, when older women who have lost their financial security from family break-up and illness, and even young women with small children, end up couch-surfing or sleeping in a car? Continue reading »
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Legal but not in reach: The state of abortion in Australia
Australia’s position as America-lite, a little sibling stumbling along the line between voracious neoliberalism and violent abnegation of its own history, comes into distinct relief every so often. Continue reading »
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Does racism explain our approach to global health problems?
To suggest that China and only China needs to provide negative COVID-19 tests, tests on arrival or even a complete ban of arrivals from China is a political and racist approach to a global health problem. Continue reading »
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The States can act now on ‘broken’ GP system
State and territory first ministers are again pressing national cabinet to consider health care reform as its top priority at the first meeting for 2023. We have heard this song before. Continue reading »
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