Saffin highlights problems with Maclean Hospital senior management staff cuts

On 3 June 2009 the Labor Member for Page, Janelle Saffin, stood in up the House of Representatives and spoke on behalf of the people of the Lower Clarence:

While Maclean District Hospital sits just outside my electorate of Page in Cowper, thousands of my constituents in the Lower Clarence rely on it. Many constituents hold real fears about the future of their hospital, particularly if the EO/DON is transferred to Grafton Base Hospital 45 kilometres away to become the DON for both Clarence Valley hospitals. Ordinarily such a centralisation proposal, obtained by the Daily Examiner newspaper, might make sense. However, coming at the same time as the North Coast Area Health Service is deleting a total of 400 positions from Tweed Heads to Port Macquarie for budgetary reasons, my constituents see this hospital management restructure as a body blow to their smaller hospital. The ladies of the Maclean Lower Clarence Hospital Auxiliary have written to me saying they cannot see how one director of nursing can be expected to provide fair management to two hospitals. Neither can I. They say:

This could well be a precursor to our hospital being downgraded even further and therefore jeopardising the level of service provided to our community, which continues to grow steadily, thus putting more pressure on the hospital and its staff.

While I understand the need for belt tightening in the context of responding to the global recession, I share the community concerns that the target of 400 positions will put too much pressure on front line health workers and potentially affect the quality and viability of hospital services. As a starting point, I am asking that the existing management arrangements for Maclean and Grafton hospitals remain in place and unchanged. I note in today's Northern Star, the newspaper at the other end of my electorate, that the editorial heading is 'Health system needs injection of sense'. I agree.

On a positive note I report that two of my major election commitments from 2007—redevelopment of Grafton Base Hospital's operating theatres and emergency department and the fast-tracking of Lismore Base Hospital's radiotherapy unit—are progressing well. At the end of budget week I returned to Grafton to see the North Coast Area Health Service Lodge a DA for three new operating theatres with the Clarence Valley Council. This was a milestone event for everyone who supports the hospital, particularly its Medical Staff Council Chair, Dr Allan Tyson; Grafton Community Health Committee Chair, Shirley Adams; Area Health Service Advisory Council member, Sandra Woods; and Clarence Valley Mayor, Councillor Richie Williamson. The council is expected to approve the planning application within weeks. The main building works tender will be let in September 2009. Construction is due to be completed in December 2010.

In this year's budget there was an announcement from Minister Roxon that the government would invest in a $560 million network of state-of-the-art regional cancer centres with associated accommodation centres. I am encouraging the Lismore district's medical fraternity and other community leaders to work with me to secure one of up to 10 such centres, enhancing the one that we have under development. We could have our PET scanner and accommodation service.

If you have not yet signed the petition to the NSW Minister for Health asking for reconsideration of these senior staff cuts, contact Jim Agnew on (02) 6646.1685 after 5pm each day for current locations of this petition.

You little ripper, Janelle!

According to The Far North Coaster the Labor Member for Page, Janelle Saffin has secured inclusion of horticultural wind damage losses in the Commonwealth-State flood assistance grants available to those affected by May 2009 NSW North Coast storms and flooding.
Again, Janelle shows she is worth the confidence voters showed in November 2007.

Turnbull admits he also threatened Packer

In a marvellous coincidence this piece in The Age surfaced on a day (when many are wondering about Coalition economic policy) Malcolm Turnbull was probably hoping for a change of subject; Packer made kill threat: Turnbull

"Kerry was, um; Kerry got a bit out of control at that time. He told me he'd kill me, yeah. I didn't think he was completely serious, but I didn't think he was entirely joking either. Look, he could be pretty scary.
"He did threaten to kill me. And I said to him: 'Well, you'd better make sure that your assassin gets me first because if he misses, you better know I won't miss you.' He could be a complete pig, you know. He could charm the birds out of the tree, but he could be a brute."

Notice anything? Why yes, Turnbull also verbally threatened the life of Kerry Packer.

A little further into the article Turnbull is quoted as saying; "I never make threats I don't carry out."

So who is the federal politician with the nastiest temper? Hmmmmm.............

A bit of cheek from North Coast Nationals Luke Hartsuyker concerning local flooding

Nationals Member for Cowper Luke Hartsuyker has been making a bit of noise about people in the Coffs Harbour area affected by flooding in March 2009 not receiving a one-off Disaster Recovery payment.

He states; "We all know Kevin Rudd's a Queenslander but we expect him to be even-handed when it comes to helping people in wake of a disaster.The message he's sending is clear - it's one law for Queenslander flood victims and one law for everyone else."

Leaving aside that Hartsuyker did little about trying to secure this payment at the time, there are many who think that he is being more than a little hypocritical in now offering to table a petition in Parliament on behalf of these residents.

As one Northern Rivers identity remarked to me earlier this week:
He is being a bit cheeky. In 2001 when the cyclone hit Innisfail the Howard Government scooped out the money to help victims but when flooding hit the Clarence, causing comparative damage, it offered nothing.
Nothing like double standards. **

Apparently the Member for Cowper (first elected November 2001) is not above cynically using waterlogged electors to try and score a political point now he's on the Opposition benches.
In government his party frankly didn't give a d*mn.

** Clarence Valley residents well remember when they were hit by a flood, a cyclonic-strength east coast low and another flood - all within the space of weeks in the first quarter of 2001.

Naturally talented photographers of Coffs Harbour

Images from nature by members of the Coffs Ex-Services Camera Club

More delightful photographs can be found on the camera club's website.

One of its members won Overall Top Image in the Interclub Photo Competition at the 33rd annual Northern Zone Photographic Convention last weekend.

Congratulations Margherita Standing.

Is Barnaby Joyce Bill Heffernan's 'love child'?

Listening to the Nationals Barnaby Joyce is a real treat these days.
With Bill Heffernan apparently depressed into near-silence by the Coalition's trouncing at the last federal election, there hasn't been a designated clown regularly performing on parliament's doorstep for over a year.
The new Joycean stream of consciousness turning up in Hansard and the media fits the bill nicely.

"It's like a madman giving you free beers at a pub - you'll drink them but you won't respect him."
"We have had the claim that Malcolm Turnbull is crab-walking on this. I can tell you that Mr Rudd makes Mr Turnbull look like Rudolph Nureyev."
"Don’t worry about your workers in the Illawarra and your workers in the Hunter Valley. No, don’t worry about them. You put on your Giorgio Armani suit and go and do the light fandango at a coffee shop near wherever you live,.."
"The guy's a psycho chook,'' ....."Who in their right mind gets onto a plane and because he doesn't get the right colour birdseed has a spack attack?''
It's an employment termination scheme.......it's an employment termination scheme. {repeat endlessly if you like the sound as much as Barnaby obviously does}
"You are going to have a piece of policy that comes direct from the manic monkey cafe of inner-suburbia nirvana-ville straight to you,"
"Don’t leave me out; I want to be in."

Leave you out? Never, Barnie!

The Australian Economy May 2009: Rudd grins, Turnbull glowers

Graphic: Thomson Reuters

This graph has to be the Liberal Party of Australia's worst nightmare. Not only does it allow the Rudd Government to successfully defend its economic policy to date, it also signals the likelihood of increasingly rebellious displays by its Coalition partner.

The Australian economy may not be out of danger yet, however it is far from the train wreck under Labor predicted by Malcolm Turnbull, Julie Bishop and Joe Hockey.