docboat

1. See last line 2. Any comments as to content?

The fact of the matter is, however, that the health care system is just not affordable to government. As a business model, it has increasing costs with reducing revenue, and as such, it MUST fail. From a political perspective that is disastrous - it loses votes. So the governments are trying to prop up an unsustainable industry using more of the same methods which are already failing. It requires a new approach, and such an approach will not come from people who can only think in terms of the past. If we, as a people, were to approach health as a responsibility, not a right, then we would stop smoking, stop or greatly reduce drinking, stop drugs, lose weight, exercise more, treat each other gently, reduce stress, drive carefully, sleep more, drink more water, eat unprocessed foods. We would cut pollution. We would look at "Wellness" and not absence of diagnosed disease as a parameter of health. Attaining better health, we would then decide on the need to spend huge amounts of money on keeping elderly alive for that extra six months. We would decide to defund treating self-inflicted illnesses - drug overdoses, alcohol overdoses. We would limit legal attacks on healthcare practitioners, reducing the cost of providing healthcare by removing all the extraneous paperwork devised with the sole aim of reducing exposure to legal complaints, and freeing up time for patients to be cared. Such an approach (and there is much more to be done) would result in a dramatic lowering of healthcare costs, would make the general population healthier (and wealthier) and allow funds to be freed up to support welfare for the genuinely needy. But, waiting for the outcry now about to follow, the measures will be deeply unpopular for a majority of the population, hence politically unviable, hence the status quo. Hence the programmed failure of the current health service.

If I might make the suggestion - arriving here in advance of the family, I had $700 to my name. I had a job already, and one month later I had two pays (fortnightly) and the family arrived, as planned, to a house I had rented. From there, things went form better to better. It was just perfect. I would strongly suggest that, if you have a job here already, go for it as a united family. The money you could earn here, even if less than what you are aiming for in the UK, will more than be made up by the joy of a united family.

chemical castration does not actually work. Physical castration, on the other hand, does.

So you are advocating that we abrogate our responsibilities when the going gets tough? I think that is NOT what you are saying. I think you are saying that society should take over responsibility for the failure of members of society to look after themselves when they are in strife. So we make it easier for people to fail, and then let them stay in failure because it is a responsibility of society, after all, to look after those who are in strife. In Hong Kong, as an example, there is very little social support, but you do have families, who assume those responsibilities. Asian thinking, you see. Even more so in China proper. But in a society where families are split, where marriage is frowned upon and devotion to one partner " 'til death us do part" is old-fashioned, where it is OK to chuck your partner if the relationship breaks down and run off with another partner, to "do your own thing", for a breakdown in society and all that was considered normal family life until the 1960's, all that used to support the family, the wife, the children has been swept away by time and modern thinking .... and now we need the government to do that which was normally done by the family, the parents, the children, the relatives. The cases of genuiine hardship and distress merge with cases where it is just convenient to ditch your sprog (deliberately using that word, denigrating the child as an example of how low society has fallen) - and we pick up the pieces and think we are doing a good thing. Which we are, but it also perpetuates the root causes of the problem, and that will take a catastrophe to revert. Answer? Dunno. All I know is that type of thinking I see here is a wonderful example of why there is no real progress. It is just a PC-bickering and labelling. Socialist, right wing, thought bubbles and sound bites

Now there is where we can, and should, have welfare support. Unlike in many Asian countries. Where people do actually thrive despite having come to expect that there is absolutely no safety net. Which is why, when they come over here, they are surprised - astounded - that our society chucks so much money away. We are so far away from being able to emulate that thinking, that it would be impossible for us to copy.

No Harpo, that is the essential facts of household budgeting. That is the essence of staying afloat as a household. That is the eternal truth of staying out of poverty. Do not spend what you do not have. Do not plan to spend more than you will have available to make ends meet. Or, put more plainly, do not be a financial idiot.

If you cannot afford a car, do not either buy a car, or commit to repayment schedule - reposession will follow If you cannot afford to eat in a restaurant, do not go in and order a meal If you cannot afford to buy a house, do not buy a house If you cannot afford to feed, clothe and educate a child, do not have a child, and another, and another. We do not want to feed, clothe and educate them for you. As the Meerkat says: "Simples, no?"

OK guys. If you all agree that it is likely that haters will deliberately seek me out to do damage (seriously, are we that kind of society?) and if the dose of truth was a little too strong for general sensibilities, and we ought to return to entrenched fortresses of generalities and bias, then the post ought to be removed.

Agreed. Real examples are needed to make a point, not just opinions or generalities.

No, and no, I am not going to tell you.

I have lived in a country (actually, countries ...) where that is exactly what happens. This is the way in the whole of Asia. If you do not earn your way, and if you have no family, you die. Exactly - tough poop. Should we adopt that here? No. But there has to be a middle way, a compassionate way. I think the budget could .... could, just maybe ... be a start.

But I do. And I have no intention of telling anyone my name or - and this is the laughable bit - give away my ED?

I agree. As I see it, the doctor wears the $7 tax.

And here we see a perfectly good example of what I mean. 1. Did you think I shouted at the patients? Behaved unprofessionally? How dare you, completely ignorant of me as you are. How judgemental of you! And how completely incorrect. I would demand an apology from you for your insult, if I thought your opinion of any value 2. And the issues mentioned completely passed you by, I see. Surprised, I am

That is one of the nice hings about winter - the casual sport of "pom spotting".

This has caught my interest. I realised that there is not a single place in the UK where I would want to live. Food for thought. But if I were forcibly sent there, then I think I would opt for (you did say "one = single" did you not?) Edinburgh. Why? The Festival Edinburgh castle Proximity to Highlands, Trossachs, Cairngorms, East Fife coastal villages, Glasgow, Inner Isles, not too far from Outer Isles Grand architecture Bookshops

Our two are in Bletchley Park - and I can highly recommend it. The headmaster is is managing the school as an independent school, the teachers can be chosen, not imposed, so the teachers come qualified and recommended. I find it supportive, structured and safe. The results in naplan are good, but not great - but that does not reflect the teaching. There are a lot of immigrant families - Asian mostly - with high expectations and parents who are supportive.

OK, let me be the one to pour water on your plans .... but you have been living in a foreign country for 3 years, and have not learned the language? That is a great way to not integrate. Is it possible that you would live in Australia and - once again - decide that there were hurdles too great to let you live in peace here? Is your desire to move conditioned by the difficulties in getting a job using a second language? Or put more plainly, is this another escape fro current reality? I put this out there to see if you have asked yourself what the real reason for wanting another move might be .....

Great that you will have no problems with the visa, but is the wine and chocolate not perhaps part of the reason the BMI is in the range of "morbid obesity" with the attendant risks of premature death and certain risk of chronic ill health?

Each person needs to make a clear decision about which direction they want life to go in. The OP has, in my opinion, despite initial delight at being in Australia, also clearly never had the understanding that Australia is now "home" - which means that she should really have looked at her stay in Australia as an extended break from the UK. The problem may be that her partner has, indeed, made Australia home, and she is therefore in a bad place as regards future actions. As I have often stated before, it is not the situation which is the problem, but the perception of the situation - and that means it is really a matter of the mind, not the situation.

One thing I would definitely recommend you do is create a mind map specifically on the topic of where you want to live. What you get out of it, after all is said and done, and after you have entered all the data you find relevant for your lives, is a numerical, clear, unemotional assessment of what you should aim for. If you are not familiar with mind maps, though, you need to practice the technique so that you do it properly.

I think the authorities would rightly ask why a visa should be extended if the 5 years given were not enough, so the safest option is to come here first - ie now - and avoid the whole predictable hassle you are going to get into in the first place.

Actually, Rupert, yes they are. I have it straight from the horses mouth: there are only 2 issues of interest to the administrators of healthcare: FTEs and budget. Healthcare actually comes a distant "also ran" down the chain. But hey! What does the AMA know?

Let us be very clear about this - our professional bodies have reinforced the advice that no-one should apply for a job in Queensland without first having a very good think about the implications. The QLD government is taking a wrecking ball to the health services, and doctors are going to lose out in many ways. Put another way - don't go there yet.