Is he the love child of Gough Whitlam?

No, I don’t think that is possible. Maybe he is a clone. If I shut my eyes and listen he sounds just like Gough.  

There will be money falling out of the skies and growing on trees.

No matter what, we must provide cold hard cash to every single thing people want. Not always need, but want. We only have a small population who pay all the taxes here. Why? Because half the land is desert. We lack the big rivers of other continents and for many years we have lived above our means.  

But no, Bill will see to it that every Tom, Dick and Harriette will get what they want, even if eventually this wonderful country becomes a third world one.

If it wasn’t so sad and absurd it would be funny. A couple of weeks back I heard Bill say he will pay for every child in Australia to have swimming lessons.  

He is crazy. He so often puts his mouth into gear before his brain.

I was there when Gough Whitlam, the big reformer, went crazy with his new-found powerful voice of change.  

After 14 years of marriage I had no choice but to retrain and get a job. No such thing as a supporting mother’s pension.

I attended an excellent secretarial college in Adelaide. The classes were full of women. As the weeks rolled by I discovered two politicians wives, wives of high-profile working males and others who had no intention of getting a job. It didn’t matter, Gough was paying and I sure appreciated it

At the final exam two passed; a young lady from the a Barossa Valley winery and I.

I was in a state of deep anxiety until I secured a job at a high school, which I considered a blessing after only applying for the one job. A school with law and order and dedicated teachers.

I loved my job even though I had no sick pay and no holiday pay. I was happy.  

Mind you, after a few short years, the union visited me and gave me hell.  

They told me I was being ‘used’ for jobs for which I wasn’t being paid.  

I asked ‘don’t I have some say in this? Isn’t my happiness my own business?’ I was treated like a piece of rubbish and I felt insulted. I lost all respect right then for unions. They won in the end and I received about $3 extra in my pay. Many years later when I did a weekend voluntary job at the Ararat mental home, when the nurses strike was in full force, I witnessed the lovely lady in the kitchen from where the meals were served be brought to tears by a union rep, who came to our locked cottage where very disturbed people resided.  

She had dared to help the one other older lady and I with some of the massive amount of work we had to do. It was another revelation where union power was a disgrace.

I’m sure since then there have been improvements, but as we are witnessing the current fiasco with dedicated Country Fire Authority volunteers, and the paid fire workers (even causing a minister to resign), it seems that at times they kick above their weight, especially if they have Daniel Andrews as the premier.

I’m not fooled by words. We should think carefully instead of saying that we can’t change anything. We can always write letters; no excuses.

RUTH SHEPHERD

Horsham

FUNDING for aged care services, including services in rural and remote locations, is mostly provided by the Australian government. In the shires of Ararat, Pyrenees and Southern Grampians, there a more than 5000 seniors requiring aged care services.

In 10 years, this figure will increase by 47 per cent to more than 7000. To meet demand, these areas will need an additional 176 residential aged care places at an estimated cost of more than $44-million.

Regionally, the Grampians needs an additional 1652 residential aged care places at an estimated cost of $413-million and an additional 1289 home care packages. It is well known and well documented that costs for providing services in rural and remote regions are higher than costs for providing the same services in metropolitan regions.

The Aged Care Financing Authority Report Financial Issues Affecting Rural and Remote Providers tabled in February 2016 tells us that the average operating result for age care providers in rural and remote regions was $2004 per resident per year.  

On average, aged care services in rural and remote locations were financially unviable based on 2014-15 financial and operating data. The report acknowledges Victoria’s regional and remote aged care services face unique challenges in their financial operations, with higher cost pressures and lower financial results.

Further, the impacts of geographical isolation affects critical inputs such as workforce, access to healthcare, availability of reliable and fast information, internet and population mass. In the Grampians, there are more than 5000 health professionals. Alongside health services, aged care services are often the region’s largest employers.

Federal policy and funding decisions since 2014-15 have stripped $3.1-billion from Australia’s aged care system.

There is little doubt these cuts have and will continue to place additional financial pressure on services in regional and rural Australia. Although welcome, the $102-million (over four years) boost to the viability supplement to support regional and rural providers announced in the 2016-17 budget, will make little impact. Seniors living in the Grampians should be able to access appropriately funded, sustainable aged care services in their communities, so they can receive the care they need and deserve, close to family and friends. 

JENNY MATIC

Leading Age Services Australia