Sometimes Politics Is Really Hard To Follow
Having the privilege of working close to the centre of the NSW political process, one might think that I am better informed and better equipped to understand the strange forces at play. Some days this is true, and other days it is completely baffling. On these “other” days, I am left to read the various media articles, which are by and large “best guesses” of what is happening and how it all works. Take for example the recent decisions around Greyhound racing. I again, from the outset, respect the many different positions on this issue. On the one hand the Premier decreed that the level of animal cruelty was a moral dilemma that could not be ignored. But on the other hand also declared that no other animal industry would be investigated or addressed – apparently their issue was less confronting to the moral. Regardless of your thoughts, you would have to agree that the logic is hard to follow.
And then came the announcement that the Government would build privately funded hospitals. In question time at Parliament, on that same day, the Minister for Health also explained that the chemotherapy under-dosing over the past 7 years, a health catastrophe that scares all of us, could not be investigated because the Doctor in question was working as a private Doctor inside of a public hospital. And yet she declared the new private hospital model to be a fantastic outcome. Again, one was left wondering, if it is so fantastic, why is the whole state not getting this fantastic opportunity; why just some hospitals? And how would future health issues be investigated if something went wrong.
And then we have the electricity generator sell off. Apparently the opportunity for private business to run our electricity providers is a wonderful thing. But, the “wonder” in wonderful, apparently ends at the line where Ausgrid or Endeavour services end. Because the third and final generator business in NSW, Essential Energy, primarily in National Party seats, won’t be sold off, no matter how wonderful the outcome for city folks. So who exactly gets the wonderful and who misses out?
Primarily, I try to be a logical and factually driven member of Parliament, representing our community with my own political allegiances, but there are some days, many days in fact, where logic is an absent fact.
A Future Australia – Is it really that Hard to See
There are some real hot topic issues that are questions of the conscience far more than they are questions of the mind. I come across these issues frequently as I move around the Electorate. Without fail, these issues are emotive and often argued with great passion. At your next family dinner, BBQ with friends or even just walk with a mate, try biting off one or two of these issues for conversation: (1) Same sex Marriage; (2) Australia as a Republic; (3) Dying with Dignity or Euthanasia. Enjoy. And just as a comment on this last issue – I recently listened to a whole series of interviews done by Andrew Denton under the title ‘Better Off Dead’. It is an amazing listening experience that will at times have you laughing and at other times in tears.