What's on around Wangaratta - 23 July

Swan, unions at odds over Buy Australia push

• Swan, unions at odds over Buy Australia push - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

  • Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says he does not agree that Australian companies should be given preferential treatment when tendering for government contracts.

    Unions say a Buy Australia campaign is needed to help local companies hit by the global recession.

    They are set to raise the issue at next week's ALP national conference.

    But Mr Swan says a Buy Australia campaign would be counterproductive.

  • Greg says:  If buying Australian would be counterproductive, does that mean the government will AVOID Australian made products and services for the sake of the world economy?
    
    To keep Australian jobs, the Government must purchase Ausstralia products and services unless there is a major economic advantage in buying imported goods/services. They must not purchase imported products/services just for political expediency.  If that is protectionism, it will have no effect on the world economic stage as our country is so small.

Australia needs a space program

Citizens Electoral Council of Australia

Media Release  21^st of July 2009

Craig Isherwood‚ National Secretary
PO Box 376‚ COBURG‚ VIC 3058
Phone: 03 9354 0544 Fax: 03 9354 0166
Email: cec@cecaust.com.au
Website: http://www.cecaust.com.au
 

Isherwood: Australia needs a space program

The 40^th anniversary of the moon landing is a reminder of how far backwards the world has gone under the monetarist policies of globalisation, and a lesson that genuine economic prosperity requires exploration, scientific discovery, and new technologies, declared Citizens Electoral Council leader Craig Isherwood today.

“For that reason, Australia, which under globalisation has collapsed from an industrial powerhouse to little more than a colonial quarry, needs its own space program,” he said.

The Australian economy in the 1950s and 1960s was able to play a key role in early space exploration, including being just the fourth nation to launch its own satellite from its own soil, at Woomera in South Australia in November 1967.

However, it was immediately following that high-point, that Australia’s protectionist industrial policies championed by the great Country Party leader John McEwen, under which Australia had developed world-beating industrial and scientific capacity, were systematically dismantled by British imperial free trade policies, and most of the cutting-edge areas of Australian industrial development, including the space program, nuclear power program, and machine tool production, began to be slashed.

“And look where it got us,” Mr Isherwood said, “$1.2 trillion in foreign debt, collapsed manufacturing, collapsed agriculture, and a quarry economy that depends on China for its survival.

“If Australians want a real economic recovery, don’t look for it in a rise in the stock market, or in housing prices to even more unaffordable levels—look for it in a resurgence in world-class scientific and industrial capacity, which developing our own space program will catalyse.

“We have all of the ingredients for a successful space program: We have brilliant sites for space bases on Christmas Island and Cape York Peninsula, because of their proximity to the equator.

“And we have hardy souls in our scientific community, including our own home-grown astronauts Andy Thomas and Paul Scully-Power, and cutting edge rocket scientists in our universities, who have toiled away with minimal support to develop new space technologies, but who could achieve spectacular results if they were charged to lead a national effort.”

Mr Isherwood concluded, “A space program isn’t a cost, but an investment, which will mobilise our engineering, manufacturing, construction and scientific capabilities, and generate spin-offs for the economy that create jobs and raise our living standard.”

For background on an Australian space program, click here.

Telstra fee hike highlights Broadband inequities

Source: (State MP for Benalla) Bill Sykes Media Release

Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes, said today an increasing trend by Telstra and other utility companies to shift to electronic billing systems highlights the need for the Brumby Government to lobby the Rudd Federal Government to meet its commitment to reach 98% of Australians through its Broadband upgrade project.

From September 14 Telstra customers who receive bills in the post or pay in person at an Australia Post outlet or Telstra Shop will be hit an extra $2.20 administration fee for each bill.

Dr Sykes said, “Telstra’s shift to an electronic billing system penalises those who wish/need to pay bills by conventional means. Further this highlights the broadening of the disadvantage gap by the Rudd Government’s $43 billion broadband upgrade which specifically excludes country communities of less than 1,000 people.

“A charge for customers paying their bills in person and receiving paper bills in the post directly disadvantages rural Victorians who remain on low speed dial-up or cannot be connected to the internet due to lack of coverage.

“The changes will also affect country Victorians unfamiliar with email and internet systems, in particular aged people (excluding pensioners who are exempt) and people with a disability,” Dr Sykes said.

The Labor Government’s broadband scheme, which promised 98% coverage prior to the 2006 election, has been downgraded to 90% coverage and excludes communities of less than 1000. That means people living in Devenish, Glenrowan, Swanpool, Jamieson, Lake Eildon, Tolmie, Strathbogie, Longwood, Murchison, King Valley, Mudgegonga and Tawonga will miss out.

“Without high-speed broadband coverage residents in these communities will have little choice but to cop the Telstra administration fee on the chin,” Dr Sykes said.

Telstra have said the changes were designed to cut costs and the new charges were in line with industry standards.

“What this means is that cost cutting measures are being passed onto the customer and that once again those living in rural areas will be disadvantaged.”

Telstra have also increased credit card payment fees from 0.69 percent to 1 percent. Pensioner Discount and Disability Program customers will be exempt from the fee. Health Care Card users will need to apply for individual exemptions.

“An increase in utility providers, such as Telstra and Optus, using paperless bill and payment systems means people in rural areas are being forced to rely more and more on internet services.”

Dr Sykes concluded: “The Brumby and Rudd Governments have a duty to ensure country Victorians are not disadvantaged by the lack of a regional broadband network and must provide high speed broadband coverage to everyone living in North East Victoria.”

Greg's comment:

The Labor Government’s broadband scheme, which promised 98% coverage prior to the 2006 election, has been downgraded to 90% coverage and excludes communities of less than 1000. That means people living in Devenish, Glenrowan, Swanpool, Jamieson, Lake Eildon, Tolmie, Strathbogie, Longwood, Murchison, King Valley, Mudgegonga and Tawonga will miss out.

I have lived in the King Valley for 10 years and find that, due of the lack of broadband access, there are few in the valley who have bothered to become Internet savvy.  I suspect the same would apply to all those other communities mentioned.

These are the very people that would benefit most in transacting over the Internet through E-commerce.  The move widens the IT gap between the urban and rural communities and, unless any broadband service becomes available, these rural communities will drift further into the remoteness of the bush.

Fix country roads: save country lives

Source: (State MP for Benalla) Bill Sykes Media Release

TAC Community Road Safety Grants

The Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes, said today the alarming Victorian rural road toll to date in 2009 highlights an urgent need to invest more in rural roads to save country lives.

In light of an alarming 14% rise in the rural road toll compared to the same time last year, Dr Sykes said it is a timely reminder that the deadline for the fifth round of funding for the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) Community Road Safety Grants Program closes on 14 August, 2009.

“I welcome the TAC Road Safety Grants program but twelve more deaths on rural roads is a tragedy and the TAC program is clearly not going to be enough to address this issue,” Dr Sykes said.

“A decrease in the road toll in Melbourne and regional cities and towns show that Labor should be doing more to improve the state of Victorian country roads to save country lives.

“We must fix country roads to save country lives.”

Dr Sykes said he was hopeful the TAC program would go some way to address the need to improve rural road safety.

The TAC program offers community groups the opportunity to apply for funding for road safety projects which aim to encourage involvement in local road safety programs in line with the Victoria’s Road Safety Strategy, arrive alive (www.arrivealive.vic.gov.au).

“The scope of initiatives through this program is extensive,” Bill Sykes said. “Successful applications in previous years have included projects such as a volunteer supported driver education project, programs to reduce drink driving and raising road safety awareness, increasing the safety of older cyclists, creating safe access to schools for all road users, improving driver reviver programs and volunteer driver education projects,” he said.

“In addition to the unsafe state of rural roads, road users in regional Victoria face specific road threats such as wildlife, gravel and roadside obstacles. I encourage community groups throughout the Benalla electorate to apply their local knowledge, to get involved and help make our roads safer.”

Given the State Government’s failure to fund long overdue road safety improvements in rural areas the Community Road Safety Grants provides important education and road safety initiatives.

Dr Sykes said the Brumby Government’s lack of commitment to rural road safety was yet again highlighted when it saw fit to cease funding the pre-licence driver education Careful Cobber program.

“Educating our young people on driver safety, in particular on rural roads, is one of the most pro-active steps any government can take toward reducing the road toll. Unfortunately the Brumby Government stopped funding for the Driver Education Centres of Australia (DECA) run Careful Cobber program, a pre-licence driver education program which has assisted thousands of children across Victoria,” Dr Sykes said. “The Government has also failed to assist service club supported programs at Alexandra and in the Alpine Shire.”

The TAC will consider applications up to $20,000. Applications for larger funding can be discussed with a Community Road Safety Grants officer on (03) 5225 6954.

Guidelines and applications forms can be downloaded from www.tacsafety.com.au or contact a Community Road Safety Grants officer on (03) 5225 6954. Applications can be mailed to Transport Accident Commission, Community Road Safety Grants, 60 Brougham Street, Geelong. VIC. 3220.

CEC: Grand hospital reconstruction plan

Citizens Electoral Council of Australia

Media Release  16^th of July 2009

Craig Isherwood‚ National Secretary
PO Box 376‚ COBURG‚ VIC 3058
Phone: 03 9354 0544 Fax: 03 9354 0166
Email: cec@cecaust.com.au
Website: http://www.cecaust.com.au
 

CEC issues call for grand hospital reconstruction plan

In response to the growing spread of A(H1N1) swine flu, which modelling based on the 1918 Spanish flu shows could kill 10,000 people in NSW alone within two months, Citizens Electoral Council leader, Craig Isherwood, today called for an emergency health care reconstruction program to prepare Australia’s health care system adequately for a deadly pandemic—for which swine flu is at the very least a dress rehearsal.

Mr Isherwood explained, “The plan must include the building of new hospitals, research, bio-defence and laboratory testing facilities, acquisition of new medical equipment such as ventilators, expansion of the number of intensive care beds, and crash programs to draw more students into the medical profession, and intensive training programs to bring them, and existing students up to speed.

“Discussion is now breaking out among many governments, most prominently France, over aspects of the physical economic mobilisation required to protect the national interest, under pandemic conditions. France has initiated an emergency plan capable of doubling the number of hospital beds. Even Mexico has ordered new ventilators and other specialised equipment which has been found to be necessary to deal with the respiratory illness brought on by this flu.

“On the other hand, in Britain, central authorities are issuing guidelines on how to make do with scarce ventilators. We cannot have that situation in Australia!”

Animal testing has revealed that this flu virus is able to replicate itself in the trachea, bronchi and bronchioles, i.e. within the lungs, rather than just in the nose and throat as the seasonal flu does. The Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) of 13^th July points out that the high rate of “cases of severe respiratory failure associated with this influenza” calls for “mechanical ventilation for these patients [which] is complex, and requires expertise and specialised equipment.”

“It is high time,” Mr Isherwood stated, “that Australia embark on programs to develop and expand our collapsing health care system—with the use of the most modern technologies and scientific advancements available.”

Mr Isherwood cited the warnings of CEC and LaRouche collaborator, Mohd Peter Davis, who was a virus researcher with the CSIRO in the 1980s, and now resides in Malaysia. Davis wrote to the New Straits Times on 12^th July, saying:

“The flu dress rehearsal reveals the tragic truth that we have completely failed to prepare worldwide defenses to combat a virulent flu pandemic. As a virus researcher 30 years ago with the Australian CSIRO, I was warning my colleagues that another 1918 type flu pandemic was inevitable, given my understanding that viruses rather than merely being the agents of disease had a hidden, more fundamental and essential role in the biosphere... but their civilisation destroying potential had to be controlled by science and technology.

“I proposed then exactly what French scientists are now advocating, namely the mass production of an effective flu vaccine and the vaccination of the entire world population within two weeks of a virulent strain emerging. However, my call for this ambitious international research program fell on deaf ears and we lost a 30 year head start.

“Now most can see the enemy approaching but we have no bullets.”

(Davis also suggested evaporatively cooled, high humidity buildings which can inactivate the influenza virus and help protect health care providers. Click here to read the full article.)

Mr Isherwood called upon the Rudd Government to finally heed Davis’ call. “The government has limited control over whether a vaccine can be produced in time, but what they can do, is act decisively to shore up our health system so it is adequately prepared. This means the garbage economic rationalist approach to health care spending must end—any government that hides behind budget constraints to justify not fixing hospitals will be responsible for killing their own people.”

Read more about the real dangers of the Swine Flu here.

Labor’s natural gas promises still hot air

Source: Sykes Media Release

Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes has again called for an extension of the natural gas network in North East Victoria despite the State Labor Government’s persistent inaction on this issue for many years.

Speaking on the Energy Legislation Amendment Bill recently, Dr Sykes reminded Parliament of a 2002 pre-election commitment by Labor to deliver natural gas to 23 Victorian towns including Mansfield, Bonnie Doon, Alexandra, Yea, Bright, Mount Beauty and Myrtleford.

“Regrettably the money that we thought was earmarked for country local government areas was redirected to meeting the needs of the urban interface local government areas, at the expense of providing the opportunity for those country communities to have natural gas,” Dr Sykes said.

Dr Sykes said the Labor Government diluted the value of their $70 million natural gas extension commitment to regional Victoria by changing the rules to include 9 interface local government areas where a large percentage of the money was spent, leaving very little money for country areas.

“The situation is further exacerbated because many rural towns, such as Violet Town, have a natural gas pipeline nearby but locals are not connected because of the high cost of tapping in,” he said.

“A Violet Town resident recently expressed her frustration at having natural gas close at hand but is forced to rely on the more expensive LPG, as is the hospital, community centre, football ground, bowling club and local hotels.”

Submissions to a Parliamentary Inquiry into Regional Centres of the Future, initiated by The Nationals in 2008, to consider initiatives to assist strong growth in regional Victoria have identified an urgent need for incentives for businesses and industry to set up operations in rural Victoria. The extension of natural gas to country Victorian towns to provide affordable energy is one crucial need.

Dr Sykes told Parliament, “It has been very difficult to attract opportunities for employment and replacement of industries (such as the loss of the tobacco industry in the Ovens Valley) in areas affected by ongoing drought, bushfires and economic downturn.

“The Alpine Shire, for example, was wooing Ito En to put its green tea manufacturing facilities in Myrtleford or at Mount Beauty. One of the reasons why that did not proceed was the high cost of energy,” he said.

Dr Sykes told Parliament, “We need a sound legislative base to enable a better national approach to the supply and distribution of energy. However, we also need to have physical assets – physical structures – in place. We have to have the grids available for the distribution of electricity and gas.”

Dr Sykes said country people have not forgotten the promise made by the Labor Government to extend natural gas to rural areas.

“I question a government that sees fit to spend an estimated $750 million on a pipeline from the drought impacted north to the south of the state, which is not going to be able to deliver the water that is claimed and yet sees no case for extending the natural gas network to rural communities which would have sound economic benefits for residents, industry, businesses and communities.”

Let's grow our own medical professionals

• Study the first step for medical centre -  The Border Mail

  • 
  • A PLAN to build a regional centre at Wangaratta to train medical graduates and retain health expertise in the North East and Riverina has been given a boost with the Victorian Government agreeing to fund a feasibility study.
    
    
    • This is the ONLY way to keep medical graduates in rural areas. The, reason we lose our graduates to the city is that, in completing their courses in capitol city universities, they meet and mate with others doing professional courses. Once married (or paired off), they have to consider the professional careers of both parties and the likelihood is that the opportunities they are exposed to are in the city of their tertiary education. Now, with a complete medical training facility in a country location (e.g. Wangaratta), the students will most likely come from regional areas. As they pair off and seek their career location, there is a much higher probability that they will spend their careers in the rural locations. It was once pointed out by a prominantan local politician that "Doctor's wives want to live in upmarket suburbs of the capital cities and living in 'the bush' is inconceivable to these ladies. Breed them here, educate them here, and keep country medicine viable. - post by gnaylor

What's on around Wangaratta - 10 July 2009

Sykes: Petition to revise Patient Transport Scheme Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes, is calling on the State Government to revise and update

Source: Sykes Media Release

Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes, is calling on the State Government to revise and update the Victorian Patient Transport Assistance Scheme (VPTAS).

Dr Sykes said patients and carers continued to raise the issue with him concerned that the current system is unrealistic and that the assistance criteria unfairly disadvantages rural people.

Dr Sykes is urging local residents to sign a petition which will be presented to Parliament during the next sitting. The petition seeks to draw attention to the inequitable nature of the current level of reimbursement under VPTAS and points out that many rural patients are disadvantaged under the current scheme.

Patients wishing to utilise the VPTAS must travel 100 kilometres or more one way from the patient’s place of residence to the treatment location of the nearest approved medical specialist. Patients can also apply for a ‘block treatment’ if travelling an average of 500 kilometres per week for five consecutive weeks or more.

“The actual application of these guidelines means many patients throughout the Benalla electorate are missing out on VPTAS because they either fall short of the 100 kilometres, sometimes by just 1 kilometre or their travel is less than five consecutive weeks.”

Dr Sykes said, “Criticism of the VPTAS system by members of the public has been ongoing. Just this week I received correspondence from a prostate cancer patient, who needed to travel for treatment every day for 2 weeks over a period of two years at a total distance of 5600 kilometres. He was not eligible for transport assistance because the travel was not in a five week block.”

Dr Sykes said in light of ongoing criticisms from members of the public a review of the criteria that underpins arriving at these inconsistent outcomes for patients was essential. He also said any review of the criteria should take into account that medical treatments for many serious illnesses has changed, resulting in some instances, in a reduction of visits by patients.

Dr Sykes also said there was a clear need for the current rates to be reviewed given increasing fuel prices.

The Department of Human Services undertakes a fuel review every two years. From October 1 2007 the State Government raised the transport subsidy from 14 cents per kilometre to 17 and the accommodation subsidy to $35 per night from $30.

Dr Sykes has raised the issue in Parliament on more than one occasion and said; “The issue is that the rate of assistance is very low. These rates have been disappointingly low for a long time but the impact of them has been accentuated or exacerbated by increasing fuel prices.

“More realistic rates for the reimbursement of travel costs in the commercial world are more in the order of 50 to 80 cents or even $1 per kilometre and accommodation costs is more in the order of $100 a night.”

Dr Sykes highlighted that a lot of the people asking for assistance have very little money; “It is really a big call and a big demand on their pocket to be able to find the money to access health services which people living in Melbourne and other large communities take for granted.”

Other key components of VPTAS are the high level of paperwork involved and a delay in the reimbursement of money.

Dr Sykes said he had raised the issue with the Minister for Health and was pleased the minister has undertaken to look at the situation.

“While the minister’s attention at the moment is specific to a particular area of Victoria I would hope he will also look at the bigger picture.”

Media contact: Bill Sykes (03) 5762 2100 or 0427 624 989 www.billsykes.com.au


Bill Sykes MP, State Member for Benalla
Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture & Water
Ph: 03 5762 2100 Fx: 03 5762 4478 Mobile: 0427 624 989
Email: bill.sykes@parliament.vic.gov.au

Save the sausage sizzle

Source: Sykes Media Release

Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes believes that the Brumby Government needs to get its act together and speed up the implementation of amendments to the Food Act.

Current rules require organisers to have to deal with up to 40 pages of paperwork and have a food safety program or food safety supervisor just to run a simple sausage sizzle or cake stall.

“In February 2008 the Treasurer loudly proclaimed how the Brumby Government was going to save the sausage sizzle and implement new regulations,” Dr Sykes said. “However, we now learn that these changes are not going to be fully in place until early 2011.

“Once again we find that Government bureaucracy is over-riding the needs of our communities,” he said.

Dr Sykes has previously raised the issue of reducing regulatory burdens and red tape in Parliament which would save, for example community fundraising efforts such as the sausage sizzle.

“Community organisations such as the Country Women’s Association, Rotary, Lions and Red Cross do magnificent work raising money through cake stalls and sausage sizzles and helping out our volunteers in times of emergency such as the recent bush fires.

Dr Sykes recognised the Saturday morning sausage sizzle outside the local supermarket in rural towns like Bright, Mansfield, Euroa, Alexandra, Myrtleford and Nagambie as a feature of rural life.

“They are a valuable fundraiser; they are a key community building exercise, and they are valuable for fellowship and support particularly in tough times in the country.

“We were all looking forward to these promised changes but because of Government inaction and red tape the whole process continues to be held up,” Dr Sykes said.

“I urge the Brumby Government to take charge of the entire process and, in their own words, save the sausage sizzle by speeding up the implementation of the legislation that makes it easier for groups holding sausage sizzles or cake stalls,” he said.

Media contact: Bill Sykes (03) 5762 2100 or 0427 624 989 www.billsykes.com.au


Rowena Sladdin
Electorate Officer
Office of Bill Sykes MP, State Member for Benalla
Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture & Water
Ph: 03 5762 2100 Fx: 03 5762 4478

Rain must not drown out drought assistance

Source: Sykes Media Release

Recent rainfalls throughout North East Victoria is welcome news for the agriculture sector, but much more rain is desperately needed to end the state’s decade-long drought.

Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes said this week, “The physical drought may well be breaking, which is good news for our farmers, but the recovery period does not stop just because it rains for three days.”

Rainfall figures for January 1 to June 29, 2009 show rainfall across the board was below average with local figures showing Benalla was 134 mm below average, Mount Hotham 315 mm below average and Wangaratta 127 below average.

The Nationals MPs across the State have voiced their outrage that from 1 July 2009 there would no longer be funding for 10 of the 13 drought support programs in Victoria.

“I and my National Party colleagues have repeatedly pushed the Labor Government to put some certainty around these programs, and each year for the past couple of years, Premier Brumby has left farmers in the dark.

“Despite calling on the government time after time to stop playing financial games with people who really need on-going help they continue to stick their head in the sand and adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach,” Dr Sykes said.

The funding cut-off will affect vital support programs such as the Drought Health Services and Community Support, the Municipal Rates Subsidy, the Drought Employment Program, the Drought Apprenticeship Retention Bonus and the Drought Extension Support.

Outreach worker, Ivan Lister, said; “This kind of rain is ideal for crops and while it puts growth on grass it does not instantly put dollars in pockets. It will take years for farms to become viable again.

“That’s where my role, and the role of drought counsellors, is so important in supporting people through the long term stress after years of drought. Not much changes at that level because it rains,” he said.

“You have to be realistic about this and the future still looks grim. Farmers have to recover from high debt levels, they have to find the money to restock and farmers are an aging sector with fewer young people joining the industry. The damage done by the prolonged drought will take a long time to repair.

“That said I encourage farmers to continue to watch out for each other, to support each other and seek out support when needed,” Ivan Lister said.

Dr Sykes said the government must continue drought co-ordinators and counsellors for at least another 18 months and undertake to review the entire sector of drought assistance projects.

Media contact: Bill Sykes (03) 5762 2100 or 0427 624 989 www.billsykes.com.au


Bill Sykes MP, State Member for Benalla
Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture & Water
Ph: 03 5762 2100 Fx: 03 5762 4478 Mobile: 0427 624 989
Email: bill.sykes@parliament.vic.gov.au