MichaelP

I think reactions to this are going to be divided on political lines. The conservatives will celebrate it, whereas lefties like me will be dismayed. Carlton was one of the few outspoken liberal columnists with an outlet in the mainstream media. He was loathed and disparaged by the whole Murdoch stable of high-profile conservative commentators - Devine, Akerman, Bolt, Henderson, Albrecht, Blair, plus the radio rednecks like Hadley and Jones. I like to read a range of views - in the UK I liked the Spectator and Telegraph for their good writing, even if I didn't agree with the opinion. In Australia, however, there is very little media diversity and the quality of the stuff in conservative media is dreadful. The media situation here is a bit like the supermarket situation - Woolworths or Coles, both poor quality, take it or leave it. Murdoch owns most of the newspapers except for the Sydney Morning Herald and Age. I enjoyed reading Mike Carlton even though i didn't always agree with him. He'd been around - including as a reporter in Vietnam war, so he knew the ropes and didn't swallow the political spin. Unlike the Murdoch columnists he didn't parrot the views of one party - he loathed and berated the ALP for their corruption as much as he ridiculed the Libs. He was also very conservative on defence, maybe because of all those books he wrote about the RAN. He was fired for telling a bigot and troll to F*** off in a private email exchange. I'll miss his columns and hope he turns up somewhere else. It's another blow for Fairfax, who recently lost another good columnist in Richard Ackland. Ross Gittins is about all they have left. Like I said, the conservatives will welcome Carlton's demise, those of us who want to hear alternative points of view will have to look elsewhere.

I find the Tele to be a very poor excuse for a city paper. Perhaps I'm spoiled by having lived in British cities with papers such as the Yorkshire Post and the Telegraph & Argus, which really do have a local focus and report stories in a straightforward way without an 'agenda'.

I like Australia but some days I think I'll never understand this place. Really can't fathom the obsessive hatred of the carbon price, especially among ordinary people. I just came back from China where even peasant kids in remote village schools were talking about climate change and how China was going green by adopting solar power and cutting coal use. Meanwhile in AAA-credit rated Australia the well educated population seem to believe that there is a budget crisis and an onerous tax that will costs their families hundreds of dollars a year. Unlike say, GP copayments and the huge increases in university fees that Abbott is bringing in.

If he doesn't have a UK passport you could face tough questioning and possible be refused entry at Heathrow if you say you intend to reside in the UK. I went back with my kids (who have Aussie passports) and we got the third degree from immigration, even though I said we were only staying for three months. You may be better off saying that you are just going for a holiday. Getting residency in the UK is EXTREMELY difficult now thanks to UKIP-inspired new regulations. A non-EC passport holder will find it very difficult to get residency unless you can show you have a lot of money in UK bank account for a year and have a high-paying job. I also found it difficult to get hospital treatment, despite being a UK citizen - I didn't have an NHS number and so they could not put me 'in the system'. If I were you i would work very hard to get that UK passport/citizenship paperwork!

Yes.

Good luck with your search. I used to live in Stanmore (but only from 2011 onwards). It's a fairly small community. I guess you alredy tried this but it would be worth putting up some pictures around the station and at places such as the pub, coffee shops, bus stop and the library (and even the bottle shop) - might jog someone's memory.

Yes put all your money in cash on the table and say goodbye to it. Sydney expensive.

Leeds city station is right in the heart of the CBD or whatever they call it there. I used to use that service - not as far as Harrogate but it was always overcrowded and standing room only. Service was unreliable, often cancelled or just two carriages (not enough space even for standing). Wouldn't want to do it every day, especially in winter. Harrogate is nice in a Hyacinth Bucket sort of way, but VERY expensive for property. Not my cup of tea, (but Bettys cafe and Taylors tea v popular). I preferred Horsforth-Guiseley-Ilkley.

Oh dear not many responses! We are in Chatswood, which is a bit of a hike from Dulwich Hill, but would be interested to know if there are any meet ups somewhere central-ish ...

Tony Abbott has said the $7 copayment is specifically designed "to make people think twice before going to the doctor" - it has been financially costed to reduce GP visits by at least 1%. This is not good medicine or good policy. GPs will tell you they are no over-run with 'timewasters'. On the contrary, there are many people who should be encouraged to see their GP more, not less. Men in particular are very bad at seeing a GP. Teenagers are very reluctant to see a doctor, especially for things like mental health and sexual health. A $7 co-payment, combined with all the other little costs such as extra prescription charges, will be just enough to sway people away from going to see a GP. And as any GP will tell you, it's a false economy. A GP consultation costs the government $36. Treatment in hospital can cost $10,000. The $7 copayment will also apply to vaccinations for children. Joe Hockey will be doing more harm to vaccination rates than all the vaccines-cause-autism cranks ever did.

The $7 fee for an emergency visit is bad policy for three reasons 1. Emergency departments are not overun with patients who should really be seeing a GP. They make up only a small proportion, and many are there for good reasons, eg because GPs are not available or they don't have a GP. In some regional areas there is a 2 week wait to see a GP (if you can get on their books) 2. Collecting the fee will be a admin nightmare and also cost more than it raises. 3. The fee may well deter the very people who should be encouraged to go immediately to the emergency department - such as parents whose kids show early signs of meningococcal disease (which can kill in 24 hours) and older people with stroke symptoms. Don't forget that some states already charge $300-$800 for an ambulance to emergency department. Many people die or are severely disabled by heart attacks and strokes each year in Australia because they don't get to the emergency department within the 90 minute 'treatment window'. Extra fees will just make this problem worse.

No the copayment only applies to bulk billing practices. GPs say the copayment will make it unviable for them to offer bulk billing, as they will also lose other Medicare incentives if they waive the copayment for needy patients. So the Liberal program is really about stopping bulk billing. Many GPs will actually welcome this as it will allow them to charge much bigger 'gap' fees. In other words, it will soon cost everyone $70 to see a doctor, with a $32 Medicare rebate.

To get back to my point ... you will now be paying an extra $7 for the doctor, $7 for the blood test, $7 for the X-ray and $5 for each prescription - easily an extra $30 - 40 each visit. Family with two or three kids, five to ten GP visits a year each. Do the math, as the Septics say.

Also worth noting that the biggest donor to the Liberal Party by a country mile ($500,000) last year was Ramsay Health, operator of private hospitals. They will obviously benefit massively financially from a shift from public to private hospital care.

As you probably heard, the Liberal government is to bring in charges to see a GP, and also co-payments for pathology tests and scans. These payments don't count towards the Medicare Safety Net and they're also tightening that so you have to pay more out of pocket costs before you get relief. And there is an extra new prescription charge (of $5 I think). The bottom line is you will be facing much higher out of pocket costs to get medical treatment on Medicare. If you need hospital treatment you will also face longer waits for treatment because the Federal government has cut hospital funding to state (who run hospitals) by an order of billions. Tony Abbott has told the state governments to be creative in how to find the shortfall - including charges for attending an emergency department. So overnight, Australia has gone from having an almost-free medical system to one that will cost you. If you have a young family, you need to factor this in to your living expenses - on top of things like very expensive dental treatment (Labor planned a Commonwealth Dental Scheme for kids, that obviously is now not going to happen). Treasurer Joe Hockey says it's only the cost of a couple of beers (if you drink middies in an RSL on cheaper Tuesdays, maybe) to see a doctor. If you're healthy, have a job and only see the doctor occasionally, maybe that's OK. If you or a family member need to see the doctor regularly or need multiple prescriptions, you are going to be paying out quite a bit of money. The other bad news is that the health minister is seeking to 'remove the burden of regulation' on private health insurers - that's a politician's way of saying they will be allowing them to raise their premiums (which, with selling off Medibank Private, will put upward pressure on health insurance costs). The long term aim of the government is for everyone to have private health insurance, which will in future also have to pay for your GP visits as well as hospital treatment. Medicare will become a system of last resort, overcrowded, underfunded 'poor hospitals' like those that serve the uninsured in the US. And for those with private cover, if you think your premiums and gap fees are steep now, this is just the beginning. The government is transferring the cost of healthcare to the user.

Read the fine print in the Commission of Audit - it recommends the removal of price controls on private health insurance. Last year the new Liberal health minister Peter Dutton approved a 6-8% increases in premiums. Without controls, premiums will rise by a lot more than this. On top of this, the Liberals are also going to sell off Medibank Private, government ownership of which helped keep health premiums in check. So from 2015 you are going to face Medicare co-payments AND much higher private health cover premiums. It's no coincidence that the biggest donors to the Liberal Party are private health insurers such as Ramsay Health ($500,000). They are going to get a very good return on their investment.

A couple of weeks ago Tony Abbott lost his temper when a journalist suggested the NSW Liberal government was corrupt. He called the journalist 'madam' and gave her a patronising public dressing down, saying her claim was "an entirely unjustified smear". At that time Premier Barry O' Farrell had just been forced to resign when he denied receiving a $3000 gift. Since then, we've seen how right that journalist was. The slush funds revealed by the ICAC inquiry have forced the police minister and the energy minister to resign, and several other Liberal MPs have been implicated in corrupt practices. And there is even worse to come, apparently, with further ICAC hearings this week. Corruption seems ingrained in both Labor and the Liberal parties in NSW, and it also seems to extend down to local council level as well. Is there any way to restore confidence in the governance of this state?

If this government was serious about reducing unnecessary spending it would axe the $7 billion annual subsidies to the private health insurers. That would save a lot more than Medicare co-payments. If left to the free market, private health insurance would not be attractive in Australia - people just weren't interested in taking out cover the 1990s, so John Howard had to start propping it up with massive subsidies. They claim that private insurance helps keep people out of public hospitals. No it doesn't, it just helps people jump the queue - and in NSW they even have private patients being treated in public hospitals - taking up beds! Now Tony Abbott talks about ending 'the age of entitlement'. Are wealthy Australians entitled to taxpayer-subsidised queue-jumping health insurance? If Joe Hockey really wanted to fix his fictional 'budget crisis' he would remove those subsidies. Even better, imagine if the $30 billion that we have given to the private insurers over the last five had been invested in public hospitals and the PBS - more beds, less waiting times and more lifesaving drugs.

There are a lot of myths and scaremonegering being propagated about "vitamin D deficiency" many of them pushed by the vitamins and supplements industry. In fact, there is little evidence of serious vitamin D deficiency in Australia. Severe vitamin D deficiency is a risk for osteoporosis, but it is uncommon (4% of population, typically elderly, housebound). If you want healthy bones, regular exercise is more important than taking expensive supplements. Recent studies have shown that vitamin D supplements have no benefit on a range of diseases. Despite this, people continue to take vitamin supplements. There has also been a huge increase in the number of people having vitamin D tests - no wonder Medicare costs are blowing out. For the vast majority of people vitamin D supplements are a waste of money. A recent study carried out at Concord Hospital found that one in twenty people in Sydney were taking supplements - but they had no better bone health or general health than anyone else. Good independent advice from the NPS here.

A German internee from Berlin, Helmut Neustadter was kept in a camp at the camp at Tatura, Victoria. He changed his name to Newton and went on to became a renowned fashion photographer for Vogue.

Wouldn't mind if we had a decent National Anthem to sing but Advance Australia Fair is a dirge. Sounds like it was written by a tone deaf Scotsman while going home on a bus. Oh, it was. AAF sounds especially bad when sung half heartedly or by people who don't know the words. The thought of having to listen to it every day would drive me bonkers. I'd rather hear the theme tune from Skippy.

Wot he should have wrote: "Dear Nick, Thank you for the wonderful bottle of wine. However, as a holder of public office you should know that I cannot accept gifts of any value, especially from those who may gain from government policy decisions. I am returning the package unopened. I made quite clear when I was elected Premier that we have to put a end to the toxic culture of lobbying and favouritism that flourished under the ALP in NSW. cheers Bazza PS I have noted this unsolicited donation (and its refusal) on my online register of interests."

BOF has not 'done the honourable thing'. He lied under oath to the ICAC about receiving a bribe. He was caught out - he had no option but to quit. He could have got five years in prison for what he did. For those who say it's 'just a bottle of wine', it's not - it's about the whole culture of lobbying, favours-for-the-mates, and being accountable. BOF came in to parliament claiming he would sweep away the rot of the previous ALP government. Within days of taking office he was accepting - with nice little thank you notes - expensive gifts from those he knew were seeking favourable contracts. When put on the spot about this, he vehemently denied it. I've met BOF at a private function and he is not an idiot - he's a very smart guy and knows what a bottle of Penfold Grange 1959 is worth, he wouldn't forget it. Just shows that the NSW Libs have their snouts in the trough as much as the ALP did. Lesson to be learned? NSW needs to to get really tough with the the lobbying/jobs-for-the-mates culture. We need more mandatory transparency on political donations, lobbying and conflicts of interest. We also need more media diversity - with the likes of the Murdoch family and pay-for-comment Alan Jones dominating the media, it's no wonder that BOF and Eddie Obeid can get away with this stuff.

Sad really because O Farrell was a decent bloke by state pollie standards. Saw him at a private function some years ago and he struck me as someone who was pragmatic and was able to listen to sound advice even when it went against the Party line and the vested interests (as with the alcohol restrictions and the hotels/drinks industry). But I don't think he's done 'the honourable thing' - he accepted a bribe then denied it until caught red handed. I don't know what it is with politicians in Australia - both ALP and LNP are corrupt, beholden to vested interests such as property developers and also mediocre in running the most basic of services. Sydney has one of the least developed public transport systems of any city of similar size in the developed world.

Baffled by what people are getting excited about. They come across like a couple of nice chartered accountants from Berkshire. Yes, let me fawn over your baby. At least with Fergie and Di you got a bit of vulgarity and intrigue.